Launch of the SEA BEYOND – Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Connecting People and Ocean
Milan and Nice, 9th June 2025 - Today, at the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference, in Nice, 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 agreement was signed at UNESCO pavilion - “Beyond Borders: Ocean Futures” - hosted at La Baleine, Nice's Palexpo, by Ms. Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General and Mr. Lorenzo Bertelli, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility of the Prada Group and Executive Director, Patron of the Ocean Decade Alliance.
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 projects funding proposals.
Mr. Lorenzo Bertelli, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility of the Prada Group and Executive Director, Patron of the Ocean Decade Alliance, declared: “The ultimate goal of the Fund is to reunite new partners who share SEA BEYOND values and mission, and together create an even larger movement for ocean preservation and education, building on what the Prada Group and UNESCO have achieved since 2019. Through the Fund, we aim not only to design impactful projects, but to scale them by embedding ocean literacy into global culture and policy. This is a long-term commitment - because every child empowered through ocean literacy brings us one step closer to a more sustainable and conscious future.”
Ms. Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General, commented: “We must protect the ocean and rethink our relationship with it - and this change starts in the classroom. Through SEA BEYOND, UNESCO and Prada are empowering a new generation to better understand and protect the ocean. This programme will fund youth-led initiatives on every continent, enhancing ocean education and culture.”
