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Protecting Children’s Rights to Development and Culture by Re-Imagining “Ocean Literacies”
Summary
This paper is not about microplastics. It explores children's human rights in relation to ocean health and environmental education, arguing that ocean literacy programs should incorporate diverse knowledge systems and environmental justice perspectives. While ocean pollution including plastics is part of the broader context, the paper is a legal and educational policy analysis rather than a study of microplastic contamination.
Abstract This paper explores the relevance of existing international legal standards on children’s human rights to a healthy ocean. In particular, we reflect on the still underestimated importance of a healthy ocean for children’s human right to development and cultural rights. Focusing on environmental education, we argue that the concept of ocean literacy should rather be conceptualised as a plurality of “ocean literacies”, better to account for multiple ocean knowledges. Ocean literacies in environmental education should be re-imagined to emphasise a systems approach to the ocean, integrating aspects of environmental justice and avoiding the psychological pressure on children to be responsible for the future of the environment. The paper concludes by providing specific recommendations for contextualising and re-imagining ocean literacies in a time where there is an increased global focus on ocean literacy through the UN Ocean Decade.
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