Conference Agenda

The UN Ocean Decade draws much needed attention to the Ocean’s needs and the urgency of a sustainable human-Ocean interaction. In particular, Challenge 10 calls for restoring society’s relationship with the Ocean by addressing not only knowledge deficits, but also attitudes, values, and mindsets (Intergovernmental Oceanic Commission, 2024). Academic Marine Education Programmes (AMEPs) play a key role in shaping the human-Ocean relationship of future Ocean professionals. Considering Challenge 10 of the UN Ocean Decade, it is therefore essential to critically assess the content and underlying assumptions of existing AMEPs at a global scale.

This study is situated at the intersection of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and marine education. While ESD aims to equip learners with the knowledge, skills, and critical capacities needed for sustainable development (Naji, 2016; Wiek et al., 2011), it has largely evolved within terrestrial contexts. This raises the question to what extent AMEPs worldwide incorporate key concepts that support an Education for Sustainable Marine Education aimed at restoring students' relationship with the Ocean.

To address this question, the study examines whether AMEP curricula include concepts considered essential for transforming human–Ocean relations, in line with UN Ocean Decade Challenge 10.

The theoretical framework builds on critical sustainability education and draws from three interconnected strands: ESD, Ocean Literacy, and critical perspectives on human–nature relations. Scholars argue that environmental degradation is closely linked to hierarchical and oppressive modes of thinking that position humans as superior to nature (Gottschlich & Bellina, 2017; Kahn, 2008; Oakley, 2019). From this perspective, restoring the human–Ocean relationship requires addressing not only environmental knowledge, but also deeper cultural and ethical assumptions embedded in education.

A critical lens is particularly relevant given the western dominance in the development of Ocean Literacy and marine education frameworks. OL originated in the United States and has been further shaped mainly by European, North American, and Australian institutions (MacNeil et al., 2021; McKinley et al., 2023). Research shows that this framing can be perceived as narrow and exclusionary when viewed from non-western or Indigenous perspectives, highlighting the need for greater epistemic plurality in international marine education.

Based on this critique, the framework identifies two key concepts as indicators of a more holistic ESMD:

1. Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK):
   TEK represents Indigenous and local knowledge systems developed through long-term relationships with marine environments. While increasingly recognised in Ocean governance, TEK remains marginal in academic marine curricula, reflecting broader patterns of epistemic exclusion in western education (MacNeil et al., 2021; Whitehouse et al., 2014). Incorporating TEK can support more relational, place-based, and culturally inclusive understandings of the Ocean, which are particularly relevant in a European and international context marked by cultural diversity and global cooperation.
2. Anti-Speciesism:
   Anti-Speciesism refers to the moral justification of instrumentalising non-human animals for human use (Ferreira & Matsuoka, 2025). In marine contexts, this often manifests through anthropocentric framings that define the Ocean and its inhabitants primarily as “resources”. Both Ocean Literacy and global sustainability agendas, including the SDGs, frequently reinforce such perspectives (Santoro et al., 2017; United Nations, 2023). Addressing Speciesism in marine education challenges these assumptions and supports ethical reflection on human–Ocean relationships beyond utility-based thinking.

By analysing the presence of these concepts in AMEP curricula worldwide, this study contributes to an international discussion on how academic marine education—particularly within Europe’s strong role in marine research and higher education—can support the transformative aims of the UN Ocean Decade.

As socio-ecological crises intensify, a weakening of human–nature relationships are increasingly recognised as a core driver of unsustainability. Across psychology, education, sustainability science, and the humanities, scholars call for a reorientation toward deeper, more relational forms of human–nature engagement (Ives et al., 2018; Zylstra et al., 2014). Central to this reorientation is the construct of Connectedness with Nature (CWN): a multidimensional capacity involving emotional, cognitive, experiential, material, and philosophical dimensions of relationality and awareness of human embeddedness within all the natural world (Ives et al., 2018; Zylstra et al., 2014). CWN has been associated with well-being, pro-environmental behaviour, and ecological identity (e.g., Capaldi et al., 2014), and is increasingly viewed as an educationally mediated phenomenon.

While considerable work has explored CWN in early education and psychological research, higher education (HE) remains a markedly underexamined context. This is striking given HE’s critical role in shaping future professionals, citizens, and decision-makers. Yet, across many institutions, CWN remains constrained by curricula that prioritise abstract, disembodied, and anthropocentric modes of knowing (Orr, 1994; Sterling et al., 2018). Though recent scholarship identifies HE as a site for transformative sustainability education (Singer-Brodowski et al., 2022), efforts to embed CWN meaningfully remain fragmented and uneven (Lumber et al., 2017; Sheffield, 2020). Existing reviews offer insights into primary education (e.g., Barrable, 2019), psychological outcomes (e.g., Capaldi et al., 2014), and conceptual developments (e.g., Tam, 2013), but few examine pedagogical interventions within HE. To date, there is no theory-informed synthesis of how, when, or for whom CWN may be supported in these settings. This limits the capacity of educators and institutions to design learning environments that foster not only sustainability knowledge, but enduring relational engagement. It also leaves underexplored the ways in which pedagogical structures and institutional contexts shape students’ ability to remember and reconfigure their relationship with the more-than-human world.

To address this gap, we conducted a realist synthesis of 36 empirical studies on pedagogical interventions related to CWN in HE. The review examined what kinds of pedagogical interventions enable students to (re)activate their sense of CWN, how these interventions work, under what conditions, and for whom. Rather than treating CWN as a fixed trait or outcome, the review frames it as a context-sensitive, emergent process, that is co-produced through the dynamic interaction of learners, pedagogies, environments, and institutional structures. Drawing on relational, critical, and post-anthropocentric paradigms, the study adopts the notion of “remembering” CWN (Macy & Brown, 2014), not as discovery, but as the reawakening of relational capacities often marginalised by dominant Western epistemologies. To guide the synthesis, we developed three Initial Rough Programme Theories (IRPTs) as analytical heuristics prior to data extraction. These IRPTs were informed by theoretical and conceptual work in environmental education, critical pedagogy, and post-humanist thought, and served as hypotheses and interpretive lenses for examining how pedagogical interventions in HE may support CWN. The first, “Affective–Sensory Engagement”, posited that emotionally rich, multi-sensory experiences in nature may foster students’ emotional affinity and closeness with the more-than-human world (Wilson, 1984; Lumber et al., 2017). The second, “Transformative–Ecological Reflection”, posited that critical reflection on socio-ecological issues and personal positionality may prompt value shifts and reconfigure students’ ecological identity (Mezirow, 2000; Kahn, 2010). The third, “Relational Ontological Reorientation”, posited that engaging with more-than-human beings as co-participants in learning may support a shift from human–nature separateness toward ecological (re)entanglement (Barad, 2007; Bennett, 2010; Latour, 2005).

This synthesis contributes to a theory-informed, pedagogically grounded understanding of CWN in HE. It speaks to Network 30’s interest in how education can engage learners in reconfiguring human–nature relations through relational, critical, and transformative pedagogies.

Climate change education initially emerged within the frameworks of environmental education and education for sustainable development, directing early research toward identifying climate-related knowledge to be included in curriculum. In this context, the themes encompass various aspects, including exploring the root causes of climate change, creating an interdisciplinary problem-solving framework through multidisciplinary approaches, and so on (Kagawa & Selby, 2010). Subsequently, CCE further defined its educational objectives, with the primary focus on inducing behavioral change. The concept of “climate literacy” was adopted to encompass understanding the fundamental principles of the Earth's climate system, evaluating climate science information, and communicating effectively about climate change while making informed and responsible decisions (USGCRP, 2009). To bridge the persistent gap between knowledge and action, scholars have proposed three core principles for effective climate change pedagogy: participation, relevance, and interconnectedness (Allen & Crowley, 2017). Among these three principles, localized themes and learning resources play a pivotal role in shaping learners’ attitudes and behaviors, empowering them to better apply their knowledge in real-world contexts.

Therefore, this study first reviews the theories that employ localization as a method to enhance teaching in the field of CCE. Then, the study evaluates the teaching strategies that were validated and refined through CCE case implementations by seven teachers in schools across mainland China. It further explores which of these strategies may be transferable beyond their local contexts. The overarching research question addressed in this study is: What teaching strategies did teachers adopt in climate change education programs in mainland China?

Bioregionalism is an interdisciplinary philosophy and action framework that asserts that “natural ecosystems and cultural contexts should dictate, or at least influence, how humans organize their relationships with the environment” (Ankersen et al., 2006).

In recent years, bioregions and bioregionalism have been increasingly promoted by various stakeholders involved in the global sustainable development movement, gradually evolving into localized actions. Hubbard et al. (2023) identified three key trends in the theory, which are the ontological trend, the critical trend, and the process-oriented trend. This process of learning is not a top-down localization of “global best practices” nor an isolated ecological action, but rather the development of an understanding of what is local, using personal actions as a catalyst for systemic change (Wearne et al., 2023).

Nathan S. Hensley (2013a, 2013b) further introduced the CIDER framework to explore the potential applications of bioregionalism in education, with a focus on specific teaching dimensions and strategies. CIDER is an acronym derived from the initial letters of five English words: Connecting, Inquiring, Decentralizing, Emphasizing, and Reinhabiting.

Place-based education shares key concerns with the CIDER framework, as both emphasize the importance of a strong sense of place (Sánchez Contreras & Murga Menoyo, 2019). Educational programs based on this concept typically involve three core activities: learning about stormwater management, mapping local water bodies, and conducting field visits to stormwater management facilities (Hensley, 2014). The CIDER model served as a methodological framework for developing these instructional activities. Although it has not yet been applied specifically to the design or analysis of CCE programs, its use in other educational contexts offers a valuable point of reference.

Previous studies have shown that teachers can intentionally select questions that are relevant to students’ backgrounds to capture their interest. Approaches to enhancing localization can consider: students’ past daily experiences within their local communities, their future roles as local scientists responsible for local communities, and the community service opportunities available to students in the present. These considerations inform the selection of course elements, such as knowledge topics, learning materials, learning connections, and instructional methods. This study focus on students' connection with the natural environment.