Collective impact for ocean literacy – inspiring the next generation of ocean champions using social marketing

Purpose: This paper aims to describe a case between practitioners and social marketing academics to grow and scale a programme that engages with primary schools, teachers, children and the education network, inspiring students to become marine leaders and ocean champions. Design/methodology/approach: Over a six-year period, the authors first applied collective intelligence to work with stakeholders across society to better understand the barriers and solutions to teaching children (6–12 year olds) about the ocean in schools. Following this, a Collective Impact Assessment of the Explorers Education Programme took place to grow the impact of the programme. Findings: The Explorers Education Programme has grown its numbers higher than pre-pandemic levels. In 2022, the Explorers Education Programme had the largest number of participating children, reaching 15,237, with a growth of 21% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019 and 79% compared to 2021. In 2023, the programme won the “Best Education Outreach Award” category of the Education Awards in Ireland. Research limitations/implications: This research stresses the importance of measuring impact. The long-term impact of the Explorers Education Programme at societal, environmental and economical levels takes a much longer time frame to measure than the six years of these research collaborations. Practical implications: The collaborative approach between academics and practitioners meant that this research had practical implications, whereby necessary and effective changes and learnings could be directly applied to the Explorers Education Programme in real time, as the practitioners involved were directly responsible for the management and coordination of the programme. Originality/value: The value of collaborations and engagement between academia and practice cannot be underestimated. The ability to collectively reflect and assess impact moves beyond “an” intervention, allowing for more meaningful behavioural, social and system changes for the collective good, inspiring the next generation of marine leaders and ocean champions.