MERCATOR OCEAN JOURNA: 
SEPTEMBER 2021 
3.3 Policy Tools 
3. OCEAN LITERACY AND OUTREACH 
Ocean literacy, education and outreach are important parts 
of the Copernicus Marine Service’s strategy for reaching a 
wider audience and providing Information about the 
ocean'’s physical state and the challenges it faces. 
3.1 Societal Awareness 
Through outreach events, partner initiatives, and museum 
exhibitions, we estimate that our actions have reached out 
to about 2.2 million citizens. The Copernicus Marine Service 
provides access to marine data and ocean literacy 
information, as well as technical support to build 
educational tools. During awareness events, scientists 
“rom the Copernicus Marine Service are also able to 
engage in sharing ocean literacy tools and materials. 
A key part of this is developing partnerships with non- 
profit organisations, as well as leading and participating in 
awareness events. Through ocean literacy networks, non- 
profit partners (such as Children for the Oceans, Coral 
Guardian, Emily Penn’s eXXpedition) and events, the 
Copernicus Marine Service and Mercator Ocean share 
scientific knowledge with civil society and promote 
sustainable ocean initiatives. 
3.2 SDG 14 Sulitest ocean literacy module 
on behalf of the EU 
The European Union has a demonstrated commitment to 
the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development that 
specifically highlights actions on SDG 14. As a part of 
addressing United Nations Sustainable Goals (SDGs), 
Mercator Ocean, in the frame of the Copernicus Marine 
Service has Joined Sulitest to create an educational module 
on SDG 14 on behalf of the EU and it will be translated into 
10 languages. It covers key mechanisms of and challenges 
facing the ocean. For example, it will highlight ocean 
acidification, for which the Copernicus Marine Service has 
developed a suite of datasets and indicators (including 
contributions to EUROSTAT/EEA in support of SDG 14). 
A new section of our site is dedicated to understanding 
marine policies on a European and international level. This 
can help users to see the larger picture and how our ocean 
data is key for the deployment and implementation of a 
wide range of policies in areas such as the Arctic region, 
environmental conservation, climate change, biodiversity 
protection, water quality, coastal regions, plastic pollution 
and international cooperation. Since 2020, the Copernicus 
Marine Service has been working to support the European 
Green Deal, a roadmap for making the EU’s economy 
sustainable, and which provides a set of policy Initiatives 
and climate action plans. It is a new growth strategy that 
aimstotransform the EU’s economy to ensure a sustainable 
future. For example, through the EU40ceanObs project, 
which serves to strengthen international ocean governance 
and commitment for a comprehensive global ocean 
abserving system, the Copernicus Marine Service is 
recognised for providing data management infrastructure 
and access portals, both key parts of the value chain. 
3.4 Plastic Pollution 
Marine plastic litter is damaging to marine ecosystems 
and wildlife and it is an issue that countries around the 
world are increasingly interested in addressing. We 
released a new section on our website on this topic that 
presents themes to understand marine plastic pollution, 
monitoring methods, sources and iImpacts, exploring 
mitigation and reduction policies and initiatives, and how 
the Copernicus Marine Service can support this cause. 
3.5 Monitoring the Ocean 
"he Copernicus Marine service data comes from globai 
and regional numerical models, in situ observations, and 
satellite observations. The ocean variables provided by the 
Zopernicus Marine Service can be divided into three main 
zategories, referred to by their associated colour: the Blue 
‘physical), the Green (biogeochemical) and the White (sea 
ıce) Ocean. The Copernicus Marine Service has developed 
specific content to explain these marine variables and 
make them more easily available to users. Over 20 
aducational videos are a part of this series designed to 
demystify different ocean parameters and their applications 
ın the real world.