METHODS OF ACCOMPLISHING PROJECT GOALS

The Ocean Education Project plans to accomplish its goals by employing a number of innovative strategies:

• Educational Television and Media: The OEP will produce and distribute a one hour PBS Documentary Special on marine protected areas, tentatively titled "American Treasures Undersea", for nationwide television broadcast and international broadcast in Europe and Asia. Edited versions will be created for exhibits and inclusion with educational teaching tools and lesson plans. Coordinated print, radio and PSA campaigns will support the effort.


• Teaching Tools: Collaboratively creating educational teaching tools, curricular and lesson plans buidled with media-based teaching aids will be distributed to school systems (7th through 12th grades) by professional educational materials distributors. They will be presented in school classrooms through programs designed and administered by OEP Outreach Collaborators. Working with groups and organizations trusted by educators, curriculum planners and school boards, the OEP can effectively distribute the materials to a broad audience. 
OEP Outreach Collaborators include lesson plan writers and distributors, grassroots community organizations, and national educational organizations.


• Educational Outreach - Public Exhibits and Events: Organized outreach and media-based programs will be developed and carried out by the OEP Outreach Collaborators in a coordinated outreach effort. Public exhibits and media-based presentations will be organized and coordinated with established public serving organizations and associations. Events will be held at aquaria, zoos and natural history museums and at other public facilities, and through touring exhibits and media presentations and screenings at colleges and universities. Government and industry stakeholder outreach will be coordinated with a variety of government and private organizations. These include the "Sea Is Our Sanctuary" radio and traveling multi-media project produced by the NW Hawaiian Islands Reserve offices in Oahu.

• The Empowerment Toolkit: Web site and web enabled DVD: Creation of an interactive web site and DVD -  an indepth information resource where individuals can learn more and find ways to take action.

• Merchandize: The OEP is exploring the limited distribution of a book on marine reserves and other merchandizing opportunities. Revenues from such merchandizing will applied toward educational outreach.

  BENEFITS & PROJECTED OUTCOMES

  The Ocean Education Project, through its outreach and its media components, has the potential to reach a vast mainstream audience in classrooms and living rooms, and at special events and screenings around the country. The concept of employing a collaborative approach, rather than a competitive one, through a coordinated effort by  established organizations is unique and suggests far-reaching results. For example, aquariums, natural history and science museums, nature centers and zoos across the US and around the world are visited by some 140 million people in the US each year and are trusted sources of information for the general public who are still largely unaware of importance of ocean environmental issues.

  Informed citizens voting with their consumer dollars and at the polls are more likely to support effective ocean resource management.  And informed students are more likely to include critical thinking on sustainability issues in conversations with their parents and friends, affecting choices made by their families.

  The information conveyed by The Ocean Education Project will educate and encourage individuals to support the creation of marine reserves and the use of an ecosystem based approach to sustainable fisheries management.  Multiplier effects potentially include the use of OEP materials by government agencies, international organizations and by NGOs, educators and industry stakeholders as a training tool, and by aquaria, zoos and museums in featured exhibits and other outreach efforts. 

  The educational teaching tool components of the proposal alone have the potential to reach hundreds of thousands of students across the country, and engage them in hands on activities. Public television broadcasts of the documentary special can reach millions of viewers in the U.S. and abroad.

  The issues surrounding the creation of marine reserves are of global concern. Pressure on government and industry to develop and implement sustainable resource management methods comes directly from greater public awareness and concern, which in turn advances environmental agendas and environmental research.

  The Ocean Education Project, through its events, media and teaching tools can offer an important overview and explain the significance of the issues to a broad and diverse audience, and suggest solutions we can all support.