A Sea Country Learning Partnership in Times of Anthropocenic Risk: Offshore Coral Reef Education and Our Story of Practice

Overview & Synopsis

This is a researched account of an offshore coral reef education partnership formed during a time of rapid environmental change (the coral bleaching events in the years 2015 to 2017). The aim of the partnership is to encourage a learning connection with Sea Country. Framed as civic environmentalism, this article explores the dimensions of practice between a reef tourism provider, local schools, a local university, and local Indigenous rangers that enables primary, secondary and university students, rangers, and educators to travel together on day trips to the outer Great Barrier Reef and islands and have immersive and sharing educational experiences. Offshore environmental education and higher quality marine education is increasingly important in the Anthropocene, when Australian reefs are subject to the pressures of climate change and other impacts other impacts that diminish their resilience.