The overall aim of the project was to spread ocean literacy in general, and more specifically Mediterranean Sea Literacy awareness for the CTM users and providers and to the general public to advance understanding and behavioural changes related to coastal tourism. Ocean literacy and its 7 principles are an already well-known terms, however there is a lack of understanding and awareness of the MSL principles, in spite of the fact that the region and sea is one of the most fragile regions on the world, experiencing several pressures, mostly coming from the tourism sector. The project aimed at providing up-to-date knowledge, tools and information to the target groups and to the general public in all the languages of the Med, because everything starts with education. These materials are easily understandable, engaging but also in-depth and very informative. Building on these materials, the project aimed to visit target group members in person to implement all the materials and enhance the understanding of the MSL principles. Therefore the project created a network of stakeholders in the watersport sector who were made aware of the environmental problems and now have the knowledge to transfer this information to their clients.
The Mediterranean region is a unique and diverse place that is visited by millions of people every year who usually carry out leisure and water sport activities. There Coastal and Maritime Tourism users and providers (CTM) however many times they lack knowledge, time and tools to do their activities in a more environmentally friendly way. Furthermore, there are several languages in the region, and CTM users and providers lack harmonized resources to learn more about marine protection. Moreover, these sectors are vulnerable for changes in the environment due to climate change such as heatwaves, biodiversity loss, extreme events jeopardizing their functioning. The knowledge gap between visitors, providers and their collaboration and participation in marine conservation and ocean literacy is obvious and solutions for this issues are needed. Education and awareness raising play a key role to advance behavioral changes and mitigation of environmental problems with the inclusion of CMT users and providers in the Mediterranean.