Schools
Ocean Schools is TBA21–Academy’s permanent educational program at Ocean Space, dedicated to teachers and students of all ages and educational levels. Now in its eighth edition, it fosters dialogue between art, science and education through interdisciplinary experiences that invite younger generations to explore the relationships between humans, the environment and other forms of life.
For the 2026–2027 school year, the program continues its focus on biodiversity, inviting the school community to observe, document and interpret the complex web of relationships connecting living organisms with the environments they inhabit.
What can we discover by learning to observe the world around us? How can we contribute to understanding and caring for biodiversity?
Developed in collaboration with the LTER-Italy Network (Italian Long-Term Ecological Research Network), Ocean Schools offers a free program that brings together scientific education, artistic practices, and active participation.
Online meetings with researchers, field-based observation activities, educational resources, and workshops guide teachers and classes on a journey of discovery into biodiversity, embracing different viewpoints and perspectives.
Teachers training
Three free, pre-recorded online sessions, open to teachers of all educational levels, explore the theme of biodiversity and introduce the methods of ecological research, providing knowledge and tools that teachers can independently use with their classes.
- Friday, 13 November 2026, 4:30pm | Lo sguardo che misura: le osservazioni ecologiche della Rete LTER-Italia
With Nicola Vuolo, researcher, palaeontologist, and science communicator at CNR-IBE, and member of the LTER-Italy Network.
- Friday, 27 November 2026, 4:30pm | Sotto il nostro naso: osservare la biodiversità vegetale nello spazio e nel tempo
With researcher Anna Corli, University of Ferrara.
- Friday, 11 December 2026, 4:30 pm | Come condurre un BioBlitz
With researcher Alice Lenzi.
Participation is free, but registration is required at the following link.
Observe, Explore, Participate
The program invites schools across Italy to engage in practices of biodiversity observation and documentation through BioBlitzes: participatory activities focused on identifying the living species found in a specific environment.
With the support of educational materials and resources that will be provided, classes will be able to independently organise an exploration of the natural environments surrounding their school.
A postcard for Ocean Space. A small fragment of a place to tell the story of the biodiversity around us.
Schools across Italy are invited to observe their everyday surroundings and turn a presence, a trace, or a relationship into a postcard to send to Ocean Space.
Drawings, images, words, maps and small sets of data collected during these explorations will come together in a participatory collection: a collective account of biodiversity, shaped by observations and perspectives from different places.
Visits and workshops at Ocean Space
In spring 2027, a series of free events will give schools the opportunity to visit Ocean Space’s new exhibition and join educational workshops that bring together art, the environment and scientific research.
Tailored to different age groups, the activities will invite students to explore new ways of observing and interpreting the relationships between humans, other species and the environment.
How to participate
All Ocean Schools activities are free of charge.
The online training sessions are open to teachers of all educational levels upon registration.
The observation activities and the project A postcard for Ocean Space are open to schools across Italy and can be carried out independently.
Visits and workshops at Ocean Space are available by reservation, subject to availability.
For further information, please contact: education@ocean-space.org.
