Meet the schools series

Meet the schools: Karahantepe Primary School

Ocean & Waters Ambassador #3 of the year 2025 (Open Call #2)

Our 3rd winner of the Ocean & Waters Ambassador award is the Karahantepe Primary School, located in the city of Şanlıurfa, Türkiye.
From February to July 2025, the school carried out the powerful blue project “Water Ambassadors for a Vibrant Environment – Shaping Future Leaders in Sustainable Water Practices” (WAVE) that was showcased in Italy, Spain and Kosovo and received great honours in its home country of Türkiye by being marked as a national success story.
Over the six-month period, 17,000 students took part in over 50 activities, including the province’s first ocean literacy-themed virtual reality lab and the VOCEAN podcast series, inspiring a new generation of Blue Wave Ambassadors.

children involved

VOCEAN podcast episodes

teachers involved

Activities:

The WAVE project realised many activities through a blend of creative, scientific and community-driven approaches, including:

Carbon footprint calculation: For many students, this project was their very first introduction to water and ocean literacy. They explored sustainability themes with their families by calculating personal and household carbon footprints, sparking real conversations at home about everyday impact.

Creation of reusable bags: A lot of workshops were organised, including the ‘Upcycling Tote Bag’ workshop. In this workshop, parents and children collaborated to create reusable bags from old T-shirts. The result? Several families reported eliminating plastic bags from their homes completely after the event.

Immersive VR experiences: This experience helped students to explore underwater ecosystems, enhance their scientific vocabulary (e.g. conservation and biodiversity) and develop an empathy for the planet. All while having fun!

Awareness-raising videos: Students selected real, science-backed ocean facts (e.g. ‘Plastic waste harms sea animals’), then wrote and recorded one-minute ocean awareness videos in English. These were later uploaded to the official Blue Wave Ocean Lab YouTube channel, amplifying their voices globally.

A recycled fashion show: In collaboration with 20 high schools, a recycled fashion show was hosted, featuring outfits made from recycled materials. The show celebrated the water heritage of Mesopotamia, blending history, sustainability, and artistic expression.

A children’s storybook: Students from Karahantepe Primary School and 14 international schools co-authored and illustrated a children’s storybook entitled “Luna and the Secret of the Ocean”. The story follows Luna, a young girl who discovers the deep connection between oceans, rivers, and human responsibility. The book celebrates diversity through contributions from each partner school.

Podcasts: Students co-produced 42 VOCEAN podcast episodes in English, tackling topics such as sustainability, ocean literacy, and international awareness days, and sharing local voices with a global audience.

“The WAVE project has conclusively demonstrated that ocean and water literacy can be successfully implemented in inland, disadvantaged regions, turning Şanlıurfa into a European leader in sustainability education.”

Twinning activities

International collaboration was at the heart of the WAVE project. The project developed partnerships with 14 countries and over 30 schools, elevating local activities to a European level and producing international collaborative outputs, such as the VOCEAN podcast and the children’s storybook.

Network of European Blue Schools

The WAVE project directly led to the accreditation of six schools, including the Karahantepe Primary School, in the Network of European Blue Schools. This achievement made Şanlıurfa the first inland city in Türkiye to reach such a concentration of accredited Blue Schools.

Dissemination activities

The WAVE project was featured in the MoNE R&D Bulletin, establishing it as a model project at the national level and ranking it among the top 10 provinces nationwide for innovative impact.
Student outputs were showcased during a local event of the European Maritime Days in Spain and at a Blue Schools exhibition in Italy, giving Şanlıurfa students a platform on the European stage.
In September 2025, the WAVE coordinator was invited to Kosovo to present the project and its results as a European best practice.