Ocean Decade Challenge 10 underscores social dynamics in marine sciences as critical to transforming human–ocean relationships

Abstract The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030) seeks to deliver “transformative ocean science solutions for sustainable development, connecting people and the ocean.” Yet, traditional scientific methods and data collection alone are insufficient to catalyze the societal change needed for ocean sustainability and equity. This article focuses on the vital role and significance of ocean literacy as central to operationalizing one of the foundational challenge areas within the Ocean Decade framework—Restoring society's relationship with the ocean (Challenge 10). It draws attention to the key insights in the recently published Challenge 10 White Paper and the broader Vision 2030 ambition-setting process. First, it highlights the need to shift beyond sustainable ocean management to include managing human behaviors that impact ocean health. Second, it reframes ocean literacy as a “societal outcome,” offering a unifying lens to capture contextualized human–ocean relationships, science-policy-society connections, and insights to bridge the knowledge-action gap. The authors present a novel figure integrating four key drivers and operational activities offering tangible pathways to strengthen and restore ocean-society relations.