This year again, the environment festival in Brussels offered a good opportunity to carry the message of World Ocean Day. On 2 June 2024, in the spacious Tour and Taxis park in Brussels, in what was once the largest railway station for goods in Europe, families and visitors from the vicinity in Schaerbeek and whereabouts flocked to the activity tents and food stalls, never in risk of overcrowding. Mundus maris welcomed visitors in Tent no.17 throughout the day.

The core message to the many visitors at our tent was about appreciating the importance of the ocean for our lives, even if we do not live on the coast. As ocean literacy is not a significant topic in ordinary curricula in Belgium – or in Europe for that matter – celebration of the day is all the more important to start filling the gap. Indeed, visitors stopped happily to explore our demonstration of ocean acidification on the calcareous shells of molluscs, corals and other ocean dwellers and engage in discussions about how to collaborate to protect the ocean and ourselves more effectively. The conversations led to a number of new subscribers to our monthly newsletter and suggestions for collaboration after the event. And, of course, at a festival, never to neglect the playfulness of testing one’s ocean knowledge with the well-tested Ocean Game or exploring the minimum reproductive size of fish with the fish ruler and the FishBase Guide app. The weather remained stable throughout the day, in the afternoon the sun made a showing thus adding to the relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. The map of the event space is here and the pictures below capture moments of visitor interaction throughout the day. All pictures of Mundus maris asbl.