With a €2 Million Start, the SEA BEYOND Initiative Connects Culture, Education, and Science for a Sustainable Ocean Future
At the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, the Prada Group and UNESCO unveiled a landmark initiative designed to anchor ocean sustainability within the global cultural and educational fabric. The SEA BEYOND – Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Connecting People and Ocean represents a significant evolution of their ongoing collaboration, with an initial €2 million investment from Prada Group.
Positioned as the first fund of its kind to merge ocean science, education, and cultural heritage, the initiative reflects a growing shift in sustainability efforts—one that centers emotional engagement and long-term education alongside traditional environmental policy. The SEA BEYOND fund aligns with the ambitions of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, aiming not only to restore ecological balance but to reshape societal understanding of our relationship with the ocean.
The fund will focus on five strategic pillars:
– Blue Education, which seeks to embed ocean literacy into global school systems;
– Youth Empowerment, offering resources and visibility to early-career ocean advocates;
– Ocean Culture and Heritage, which champions the preservation of maritime traditions and their contemporary relevance;
– Science-Policy-Society Interface, bridging scientific insight and civic needs in policymaking; and
– Strategic Communication, designed to evolve public narratives around the ocean and drive meaningful behavioral change.
Projects will be selected through open calls and assessed with the guidance of a dedicated Scientific Committee. This governance model, backed by consensus and expert input, is built to ensure both rigor and inclusion. The fund’s structure also encourages cross-sector partnerships, aiming to unify institutions, academia, non-profits, educators, and private enterprises in a collective mission.
For Prada, this move builds upon a growing legacy of sustainability-focused cultural programming. Since 2019, SEA BEYOND has evolved from a niche initiative into a global platform for environmental education. With the establishment of this new fund, the collaboration between Prada and UNESCO steps into a more institutional and scalable framework—one intended to activate systemic change and long-term impact.
While the fashion industry continues to face scrutiny for its environmental footprint, Prada’s investment signals a deeper ambition: to act not only as a corporate funder but as a cultural driver of sustainability. In bridging policy, pedagogy, and poetic connection to the sea, SEA BEYOND reflects a rare kind of environmental initiative—one that recognizes the ocean as both a scientific frontier and a shared human legacy.
The SEA BEYOND – Multi-Partner Trust Fund will welcome additional partners starting January 2026, with its first official call for project proposals set to launch by the end of this year. Designed to operate for a five-year period, the fund aims to create a lasting, collaborative ecosystem to support ocean literacy and preservation at every scale—from classrooms to coastlines.
