The evolution of ocean literacy: from education to ‘emoceans’.

First introduced in the early 2000s, the concept of ocean literacy has undergone a significant evolution in recent years. Increasingly positioned as a mechanism for change across ocean governance, this is evidenced particularly through the inclusion of the concept within United Nations Ocean Decade's goals and Challenge 10 outcomes. Since its inception and building on early definitions of ocean literacy and its formal education roots, there has been increasing recognition of a range of additional dimensions which contribute to an individual or collective sense of ‘ocean literacy’. Drawing on a rapidly emerging landscape of ocean literacy research, this presentation explores the evolution of the concept of ocean literacy, highlighting multiple dimensions including knowledge, communication, behaviour, awareness, attitudes, activism, ‘emoceans’, access and experience, and more. Further, the talk presents an overview of current ocean literacy research, identifying gaps in knowledge and understanding, and crucially, highlighting opportunities for future collaboration and initiatives needed to foster ocean literacy as a global societal outcome, benefiting both people and the ocean.