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On 21 May 2026, during European Maritime Day in Limassol, CoastalPro ran “Blue Schools & Blue Skills: Classroom Experience Design” — a teacher networking event and practical design workshop organised jointly with the Next BlueGeneration (NEBS) project and delivered together with Sea Teach and the European Marine Science Educators’ Association (EMSEA).
The Lab was deliberately not a lecture or a platform training. Its aim was to help teachers translate blue-economy and sustainability themes into interactive, participatory classroom experiences, connecting the project’s blue-skills agenda to everyday teaching practice and to the EU4Ocean / Network of European Blue Schools community.
Around 21 participants took part — classroom teachers and educators from primary through to lower-secondary level — working in small groups of four to five at movable tables. A pre-event survey collected teaching levels, subject areas and expectations two weeks in advance so facilitators could tailor examples and pacing to the room.
The half-day programme opened with a welcome by NEBS and an introduction to the blue economy by Sea Teach and EMSEA, followed by a 2.5-hour design lab and a closing certificate ceremony. Each team worked on the Classroom Experience Canvas — the session’s only printed template — drawing on a projected slide of scenario sparks: a classroom challenge on sustainable coastal tourism, a student activity on environmental responsibility, an innovation challenge linked to a local issue, and a participatory activity built around teamwork, decision-making and creative problem-solving.
Teachers practised the core design moves the Lab is built around: defining their own learning objectives, selecting and combining CoastalPro modules, shaping learning pathways and adapting activities to their specific classroom context. Generative-AI tools were used selectively along the way — to refine tasks, draft templates and structure activity flows — with a GenAI Prompt Library available via QR code, treated as an embedded aid to design rather than a topic of its own.
The session was facilitated by Odysseas Spyroglou (CoastalPro Project Coordinator), Silja Teege (Managing Director, Sea Teach and Chair of the Legal Board, EMSEA), Evy Copejans (Co-founder & Managing Director, EMSEA) and Dominika Ewa Wojcieszek (Marine Conservation Specialist and Project Manager, EMSEA).
Every participant left with a concrete idea for an interactive classroom activity and a workshop certificate, with NEBS certificates awarded to certified Blue Schools. A Take-Home Pack sent around 48 hours later shared the canvas, the prompt library and supporting materials so teachers could refine and run their scenarios with their own students.
The Lab answers directly one of the recommendations of our policy work: start earlier and use existing ocean-literacy channels. By reaching educators across primary and intermediate levels and connecting to the Blue Schools network, it turns blue-skills content into classroom practice with a clear path to reuse beyond the event.
