Media and press are key players to advance ocean sustainability. This course will provide an overview of the importance of the ocean, challenges faced by the ocean and innovative solutions and case-studies to address these. It will provide insights and tools to allow the development of attractive, accurate and effective story telling about the ocean in media and press. This online course is the first of its kind for journalists and media representatives.

Aims and Objectives

This course will provide insights and tools to allow the development of attractive, accurate and effective story telling about the ocean in media and press. It will provide an overview of the importance of the ocean, challenges faced by the ocean and innovative solutions and case-studies to address these.

Expected learning outcomes

Participants will:

• Understand the importance of Ocean Literacy and the role of media to advance in ocean sustainability.
• Connect ocean issues with global agendas.
• Generate a general understanding on the importance of the ocean, challenges faced by the ocean and tools and approaches for sustainability.
• Learn about different approaches and strategies that can be used to share ocean stories.   
• Access facts, case-studies, media examples and resources to help build stories.
• Identify potential new stories to tell about the ocean.

Target audience and prerequisites

This course is especially targeted for media representatives covering multiple fields, not only environmental journalists. This course does not require any pre-requisite knowledge. Prior participation in the Ocean Literacy General Course is encouraged but not compulsory.

Course contents

• Introduction to Ocean Literacy
• The importance of our Ocean
• The Ocean as a resource for development
• Ocean Sustainability Challenges and Solutions
• Media engagement in Ocean Sustainability
• Developing stories for the Ocean

Learner Assessment

The course will include quizzes and tests. A course certificate will be provided to participants completing all tests and assignments.

Language of instruction

English

Instructors

• Francesca Santoro
• Kerstin Forsberg
• guest speakers

NOTE: The introductory course on Ocean Literacy: Why the ocean should matter to us all is not mandatory for participants attending any of the 3 other sectorial courses.
Sectorial courses are independent from each other and you can apply to one sectorial course only.

Course Format and Duration

This 9-hour long course consists of a series of (online) lectures, case-studies, video messages from guest speakers, activities, quizzes, and online forums. The initial launch of the course will include live webinars for participants, in addition to the self-paced learning modules.

Application Process

Period for Applications: 15 December 2020 - 20 January 2021. Please fill in the online application form on https://bit.ly/2V0n5FJ no later than 20 January 2021 (midnight CEST)

Contacts:

• OTGA Secretariat: ioc.training@unesco.org
• Ocean Literacy: oceanliteracy@unesco.org

In case of need for further clarifications please use the contact(s) above, always using as email subject the name of the course.

Note: UNESCO is committed to promote gender equality. Applications from women are strongly encouraged.

Costs

No tuition fee.

The UNESCO/IOC Project Office for IODE is certified as a Learning Services Provider (ISO 29990:2010). The OceanTeacher Global Academy is a Project of IOC/IODE supported by the Flanders-UNESCO Trust Fund (FUST) of the Government of Flanders, Belgium.