Courses & Training
The Ocean Literacy Project is a distributed, scalable training model that delivers locally relevant, globally aligned Ocean education across business, communities and people. Built on a train-the-trainer model, it empowers employees, educators, and community leaders to facilitate place-specific versions of the Ocean Literacy Certification, ensuring that learning is culturally relevant, scientifically rigorous, and action-focused.
The framework is adaptable across diverse contexts, from coastal communities and schools to supply chains, health partnerships, and corporate networks, creating a unified yet flexible approach to ocean education that connects science, culture, and commerce.
For corporates, this model supports ESG, TNFD, and SDG commitments by extending sustainability education beyond internal teams to community and supply-chain partners, strengthening brand purpose and measurable social impact.
By embedding Ocean literacy within learning, sustainability, and partnership strategies, organisations can scale authentic Ocean-positive action, building resilient, informed, and connected communities working together for Ocean health.
The Core Course:
A foundational 2 x half day certification builds shared understanding of Ocean–climate–biodiversity systems and the actions we can take. This is aligned with the UNESCO Ocean Literacy Principles and the developing strategy for England and translates knowledge into personal and organisational pledges and actions.
Bespoke Pathways:
From this foundation, we tailor the learning to specific audiences, ensuring relevance and measurable outcomes:
Dive Tourism: Ocean literacy as an add on for multi-day dive packages ensuring responsible dive tourism
Corporates: aligning Ocean-positive actions with ESG and sustainability reporting.
NHS & Health Workers: linking blue and planetary health.
Artists: harnessing creativity for Ocean storytelling and advocacy.
Government Ministers & Policy Makers: embedding Ocean knowledge into strategy and decision-making.
Coastal Communities: building resilience, tourism, and conservation capacity.
Immersive Add-Ons:
For participants who would like additional experiential training, we run field programs alongside global partners. These include marine conservation experiences in biodiversity hotspots across the globe. These immersive programs turn knowledge into lived action, creating powerful personal connections to the ocean that last a lifetime.
Founder’s Story:
The Ocean Literacy Project was founded by Professor Leanne Hepburn, a marine scientist and educator, with over twenty years of experience at the intersection of science, education, and sustainability.
Leanne’s career began in the field, studying coral reefs and community resilience across the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. Through two decades in academia, she became a leading advocate for transforming how we teach and understand our relationship with the Ocean. As Professor of Education and Environment at the University of Essex, she developed an interdisciplinary BSc in Global Sustainability, directed research teams, and contributed to pioneering work on regenerative growth.
Now an honorary Professor at Essex, Leanne’s focus is on turning knowledge into practical, fundable tools that create measurable impact for people and the planet. She founded the Ocean Literacy Project to bridge the gap between scientific understanding and everyday action, scaling Ocean literacy from classrooms and communities to boardrooms and international policy.
Leanne’s work blends rigorous science, experiential learning, and eco philosophy, inspiring workplaces, leaders, educators, and communities to reconnect with the Ocean as our shared life-support system. Her mission is to make Ocean literacy accessible to everyone, ensuring that education becomes the foundation for regenerative, Ocean-positive change.
For more about Leanne’s work, publications, and speaking engagements, visit her personal website.
