Work Package 3 - Phase 2
Education
Led by Agoa Sanctuary
Objective
To raise awareness of marine biodiversity conservation among young Caribbean people
Raising awareness is a priority to help conserve all marine megafauna species, especially vulnerable ones such as sharks, which often suffer from a negative public image. So, in line with the Interreg Caribbean programme priority “conserving, protecting and developing the natural and cultural heritage” this work package aims at encouraging young Caribbeans to engage with marine megafauna conservation issues and the marine heritage in general, through an inter-territorial school twinning program and through a wider dissemination of educational tools.
An inventory of educational tools
Phase 1 highlighted the need to empower young people to influence a wider audience. Indeed, they represent an effective way to disseminate knowledge and raise awareness more broadly, by sharing their knowledge and convictions within their families and in their surroundings.
It also showed that, in the Caribbean, many stakeholders involved in marine protection awareness were already working with students and children, but often lacked educational material resources.
CAMAC 1’ team therefore helped address this by creating CAMACATA, an inventory of educational tools physically or virtually available in the Wider Caribbean Region to help teachers and educators. Learn more visiting the CAMACATA page.
The CAMACATA
Phase 2 - A school twinning program built around an innovative marine environmental education
Phase 2 is dedicated to fostering secondary school students’ active engagement through exchanges. The goal is to promote the idea of a “shared natural heritage” and strengthen their sense of belonging to the Wider Caribbean Region, just as marine megafauna continues to move across the Caribbean, as its first inhabitants once did.
Céline LECOMTE / OFB
Céline LECOMTE / OFB
It is therefore dedicated to the implementation of a school twinning programme aiming to:
- Establish exchange between six schools from different Caribbean territories
- Through an innovative educational pathway
- And organize six ‘one-week’ physical exchange trips between twinned schools
To do so, the program establishes partnerships with local environmental education (ESE) NGOs. These organizations are responsible for delivering educational activities in close collaboration with local teachers. Their role is to strengthen students’ understanding of marine megafauna conservation issues and to encourage concrete and meaningful engagement.
An innovative educational approach for young Caribbean students
2026 and 2027 will see the development of an innovative educational program designed to actively engage young students in marine megafauna conservation, by building students’ confidence, encouraging critical thinking, and enabling them to follow their own paths toward ocean preservation. Students are further encouraged to become proactive, while developing observation skills to better understand and protect the Caribbean Sea.
Also, by the end of this school-year program, students will produce creative outputs reflecting the work they have accomplished throughout the twinning activities. These outputs will take various forms, such as short films, podcasts, visual artworks or collective digital content, and will be developed jointly by the twinned classes.
Lara COTTIN / OFB
Lara COTTIN / OFB
Calendar
- September 2026: Start of the school twinning programs, including marine environment activities in class and on the field, as well as virtual exchanges.
- First semester of 2027: Organization of six physical exchanges, consisting of one-week trips for each participating class.
Contact
Delphine Fortier - Communication and Education officer