July is one of the months most closely associated with the sea. In the framework of the Interreg NEXT Black Sea Basin EOL project, last week, HSPN coordinated three seminars (dissemination trainings) focusing on environmental education and more specifically on ocean literacy, bringing to the forefront the importance of truly understanding the role played not just in our lives but for the entire planet by the seas and oceans. Or rather, by the one ocean of our precious planet.

EOL as a project, beyond its focus on the Black Sea, emphasizes the empowerment of local communities that live, are active in, and visit its coastlines, as well as the areas around and connected to them. The 2 multi-day seminars (Training of Trainers – ToT) organized in spring in Thessaloniki and Burgas respectively, were simply the starting point for the training of colleagues from Civil Society Organizations, Universities, Public Authorities and Managing Bodies coming from the three participating countries (Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria). Now, returning home, they are ready to transfer the knowledge they received to local communities with an emphasis on young people aged 18 to 35.

Our first stop for this purpose, and the launch of our “small” discussions, was the welcoming space of Ok! Thess with the contribution of two of our trainees from the organization Greek Eco Project who now hold the role of trainers! There we had the pleasure to present these themes, on the concept of Ocean Literacy, and also to get to know the Black Sea a bit better. A greeting at the beginning of the talk was offered by the founder of Greek Eco Project, Mrs. Avgi Metaxa.

We then visited the offices of the environmental organization Callisto, where in addition to our presentation, we also made extensive reference to the Thessaloniki training seminar, with our trainee, now trainer, and member of the organization’s team presenting his experience! Vaggelis explained to us how many new things he learned about the Black Sea, which is so close to us, yet so far away.

In the same spirit, we continued by visiting the offices of the environmental organization iSea! Diving deeper into the waters of the Black Sea, we discussed not only issues of literacy and environmental education, but with the help of our trainee at the Burgas training seminar and member of the iSea team, we had the opportunity to make the experience more hands-on, playing a game dedicated to the region’s biodiversity. Ilaeira’s experience in the field of Marine Life and in the discussion around it, as well as the challenges the Black Sea faces, revealed the importance of actions like this for knowledge-sharing and awareness-raising.

We thank again for the hospitality the space of Ok! Thess, Callisto and iSea, as well as all the participants for their vivid interest and participation.

The ‘small’ discussions on the Black Sea and the ocean literacy concept will continue in the near future!