Milan, Nice, 14 June 2025 – Yesterday saw the conclusion of the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference, hosted by France and Costa Rica in Nice from June 9-13. This high-level event offered a key platform to consolidate and intensify global action for the second half of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, launched in 2021 and coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC), seeking to catalyze new opportunities for sustainable development of the marine ecosystem.

SEA BEYOND, a project by Prada Group conducted in partnership with UNESCO-IOC since 2019 to raise awareness of sustainability and ocean preservation, played a leading role through a series of activities held on the final day of the Conference, June 13, at the UNESCO pavilion “Beyond Borders: Ocean Futures” inside La Baleine, the Conference area open to visitors and the media.

The morning opened with a panel introducing the project moderated by Naka Kondo, Editorial Manager of The Economist Impact. During the discussion Francesca Santoro, Senior Program Officer at UNESCO-IOC, Paola Carluccio, Project Assistant at UNESCO-IOC, and Luca Bussolino, Managing Partner and Head of Strategy and Innovation at CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati presented the first physical space of SEA BEYOND dedicated to education: the SEA BEYOND Ocean Literacy Centre in Venice, which opened its doors last April.
To follow, a new collaboration within the project was announced: the support for Coral Gardeners, a non-profit organization working to restore coral reefs. For the occasion Titouan Bernicot, the founder, spoke in conversation with marine biologist Giovanni Chimienti, with the moderation of Valentina Gottlieb, Environmental Advocate.
To conclude the morning, an in-depth discussion on the role of corals in unlocking the secrets of ocean biodiversity offered an opportunity to examine the importance of the topic from different perspectives, through a discussion in which Titouan Bernicot, 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 day continued with a series of interactive workshops led in the afternoon by the SEA BEYONDers, the project's Goodwill Ambassadors. During the first, focusing on corals and entitled “Marine Wonders: preserving Corals for the Future of the Ocean”, Titouan Bernicot and Giovanni Chimienti led participants through the discovery of the coral world, presenting the different types as well as suggesting actions for their protection, offering space for engagement and exchange. In the second “Behind the Scenes, Beyond Cameras”, Elisabetta Zavoli and Enzo Barracco shared their personal experience of how environmental photography can be a tool for change.

Lorenzo Bertelli, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility of the Prada Group, commented: “It was a significant day, 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”.

In addition, special attention was paid to the younger generations throughout the entire duration of the Conference, with dedicated workshops including the “Workshop for Young Marine Biologists” – on board the sailing boat Cassiopea at the port of Beaulieu-sur-Mer, with marine biologist and SEA BEYONDer Carmelo Isgrò – and the “Kids Ocean-Inspired Painting Workshop”, every day at the UNESCO pavilion, inviting children to discover marine creatures and dive into SEA BEYOND through a VR experience. For this activity, SEA BEYOND collaborated with the Satellite Crayon Project by SKY Perfect JSAT, which is contributing samples of its signature “Sea Box” crayons, whose colors are derived from satellite imagery of the world’s waters.

Finally, 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 created by Biblioteche Senza Frontiere Italia with the support of SEA BEYOND, specially set up with ocean-related content curated by the ocean literacy team of UNESCO-IOC.