Sea Beyond

THE EVENT

In June 2025, in the framework of the SEA BEYOND project, Prada Group and UNESCO-IOC took part in the Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France.
The programme of events included meetings between governments and accredited organizations, as well as public-facing activities with the aim of promoting the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) “Life Below Water”.

Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group Head of Corporate Social Responsibility and Executive Director, as well as Patron of the Ocean Decade Alliance, took part in the official UNESCO side event entitled “Blue Education for a sustainable and resilient society”, moderated by Naka Kondo, Editorial Manager at Economist Impact.
During the event senior representatives of UNESCO, governments and the private sector discussed how to promote a holistic approach to ocean science, culture, environment and education, and highlighted the progress made on Ocean Literacy through good practices. The SEA BEYOND project was presented as a successful example of a public-private partnership.

«It was a significant event, in which SEA BEYOND's contribution to the debate on the importance of ocean education found a new stage, addressing a wide and diverse audience. A further step for the project in which we have held a firm belief for years.»

Lorenzo Bertelli, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility of the Prada Group and Executive Director, Patron of the Ocean Decade Alliance

SEA BEYOND — MULTI-PARTNER TRUST FUND FOR CONNECTING PEOPLE AND OCEAN

Prada Group and UNESCO announced the launch of the SEA BEYOND — Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Connecting People and Ocean. Starting with a contribution of €2 million by Prada, the SEA BEYOND — Multi-Partner Trust Fund will mobilize financial resources from a variety of partners to restore the relationship between humankind and the ocean.

The Fund will be supported by a Scientific Committee, consisting of well-known representatives of the scientific community in different fields of ocean science and ocean literacy, that will provide expert advice on the most relevant themes to be included in the calls for project funding proposals.

“LA BALEINE”

Nice’s Palaexpo hosted “La Baleine”, the Green Zone of UNOC 2025, where fifteen pavilions by a wide range of organizations were open to the public, to address the most urgent Ocean challenges.

The “Kids Ocean-inspired painting workshop” invited children to discover marine creatures and dive into SEA BEYOND through a VR experience.

In addition, Bibliothèques Sans Frontières – a non-profit organization that works to enable access to education for children and young people in vulnerable communities – brought to “La Baleine” the SEA BEYOND Ideas Box, a mobile multimedia center specially set up with ocean-related content.

SEA BEYOND DAY

The day began with an event entitled “Discovering SEA BEYOND and the SEA BEYOND Ocean Literacy Centre in Venice” with Francesca Santoro, Senior Programme Officer at UNESCO-IOC in conversation with Paola Carluccio, Project Assistant at UNESCO-IOC, Luca Bussolino, Partner-in-Charge and Head of Strategy & Innovation at CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, moderated by Naka Kondo, Editorial Manager at Economist Impact.

Another important event of the day saw an in-depth discussion on the role of corals in unlocking the secrets of ocean biodiversity, offering an opportunity to examine the importance of the topic from different perspectives, through a discussion in which the Founder of Coral Gardeners, Titouan Bernicot, marine biologist Giovanni Chimienti, and representatives from the Institute of Marine Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR-ISMAR) and Samsung Electronics took part.

THE COLLABORATION WITH CORAL GARDENERS

During the SEA BEYOND Day, the collaboration with Coral Gardeners was announced. With the support of SEA BEYOND, the non-profit organization will scale its science-based efforts for coral reef restoration. For the occasion, Titouan Bernicot spoke in conversation with Giovanni Chimienti, with the moderation of Valentina Gottlieb, Environmental Advocate.