Turkish Marine Environment Protection Association (TURMEPA) was founded in order to leave Turkish coasts and seas clean for future generations. The association initiated the “Blue Belt Movement - Istanbul Strait Project” in 2013. For 27 months, attention was drawn to the pollution in Istanbul Strait and the threats the ecosystem face through awareness raising activities such as trainings.

The purpose of the follow-up study, just as it was in the initial evaluation, is to develop the knowledge and awareness levels of primary, secondary and tertiary level students towards the marine pollution in Istanbul Strait and the threats against the ecosystem in the area.

The most desired outcome of training activities in general is the successful attainment of the subject matter by the trainees. In other words, the main purpose of trainings is transforming a less knowledgeable group into a more knowledgeable one. Moreover, developed countries in terms of education define success as the use of learned knowledge in real life situations, thus seeing education from this perspective. This project is mainly based on the second idea built upon the first one.

What is more, the study also aims to put forward the effectiveness of the trainings conducted. A total of 2310 students from 21 schools (10 primary schools, 7 secondary schools and 4 high schools) were given the data collection tool; however, only those who volunteered participated actively in the study. Firstly, in order to determine the target participant group, pre and post achievement tests were matched at 1-4, 5-8 and 9-12 grade levels. To this end, pre and post test data was collected from 397 students at 1-4 level, from 779 at 5-9 level, and from 244 students at 9-12 level. However, not all the students in these groups filled in the survey. The pre-test, post-test and survey data collected from 200 primary students, 133 secondary students and 110 high schools students were consequently matched.

The results of the analyses reveal that students obtain information about marine pollution and protection mostly in science and social studies classes at all levels, that there is a significant difference between pre- and post-test results at all levels, and that students have similar mean scores according to gender at all levels.