Lisbon and Milan, 29 June 2022 – Today, during the press conference of the second edition of the SEA BEYOND project - moderated by marine advocate Patricia Furtado de Mendonça - the jury composed of (in alphabetical order) Enzo Barracco, photographer and climate artist; Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group Head of Corporate Social Responsibility; Fabien Cousteau, aquanaut, oceanographic explorer and environmental advocate; Kerstin Forsberg, marine scientist and social entrepreneur; Valentina Gottlieb, environmental influencer and activist; Vladimir Ryabinin, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and Assistant Director General of UNESCO; and Hugo Vau, athlete, ocean explorer and surfer, awarded the three winning schools of the international contest at the conclusion of the educational cycle:

First place: MaArt - Newton College, Lima (Peru)
Second place: Seaweed Aquaculture - Shanghai High School International Division, Shanghai (China)
Third place: Video Game-Sea Beyond - Marcelline Tommaseo, Milan (Italy)

Prizes will be used by the schools to invest in the purchase of educational materials.

The second educational programme, which started in autumn 2021 and ended last spring, involved ten secondary schools in the following countries: Brazil, China, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, United Kingdom and South Africa.

Each school took part in a series of webinars led by UNESCO experts to explore the ten challenges¹ of the United Nations Ocean Decade. The students responded actively and with great enthusiasm, establishing a network of collaborative relationships on a global scale.

“For this second edition, we felt the need to thank all the students with an event able to celebrate the commitment that they continue to show towards the SEA BEYOND project. The international Ocean Conference in Lisbon seemed to us the perfect frame to discuss together, once again, an issue that is very close to our hearts: protecting the sea and its resources”, said Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group Head of Corporate

Social Responsibility.

“While UN agencies, countries, NGOs, private sector representatives and ocean advocates all gather here in Lisbon to chart the path to a healthy ocean, we must look to the work and commitment of young people  from all around the world. This second edition of the SEA BEYOND project showed again that no student is too young to make the difference”, said Vladimir Ryabinin, IOC Executive Secretary.

The event is part of the official calendar of side events at the UN Ocean Conference 2022, taking place in Lisbon from 27 June to 1 July 2022.
After the first ocean conference, held in New York in 2017, member states agreed to meet every three years until 2030, to define an action plan linked to Goal #14 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Life Below Water and monitor its results.
This second meeting, slightly delayed due to the pandemic, offers an opportunity for public and private organisations, as well as for all stakeholders involved, to discuss urgent issues concerning the sea.
This is the context for the SEA BEYOND project, a partnership between the Prada Group and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, both convinced that education and culture are fundamental to train young people adopting an aware stance towards the protection of the ocean and our planet.

Participating Schools

Avenues, São Paulo (Brazil); Shanghai High School International Division, Shanghai (China); Istituto Marcelline Tommaseo, Milan (Italy); Colegio Latino, Villahermosa, Tabasco (Mexico); Newton College, Lima (Peru); Markham College, Lima (Peru); Anselmo De Andrade, Almada (Portugal); Agrupamento de Escolas de Vialonga, Vialonga (Portugal); Protea Heights Academy, Protea (South Africa); the Kingston Academy, Surrey (United Kingdom).


¹ The 10 challenges represent the most immediate and urgent priorities for the Ocean Decade, aiming to unite the Decade partnersin collective action on a global, regional, national and local scale, and will contribute to achieving the results of the Ocean Decade.

SEA BEYOND

SEA BEYOND, promoted by the Prada Group and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), is an educational programme to raise awareness on sustainability and ocean preservation.

The project – which has been supported by a percentage of the proceeds from the sales of the Prada Re-Nylon collection – underscores the Prada Group’s commitment to sustainable choices, in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Since its debut in 2019, the initiative has trained more than 600 international secondary school students and, in January 2021, was officially linked to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

The second edition of the project is composed of three main initiatives: an educational module for students all over the world, the launch of the Kindergarten of the Lagoon - a programme of outdoor lessons for children in preschool - and an educational path specifically designed for the 13,000+ employees of the Prada Group.

The 10 challenges of the Ocean Decade

1.  Understand and track the sources of terrestrial and marine pollutants and contaminants and their potential impact on human health and ocean ecosystems, and develop solutions to remove or mitigate them.
   
2. Understand the effects of multiple factors of stress on ocean ecosystems and develop solutions to monitor, protect, manage and restore ecosystems and their biodiversity under changing environmental, social and climatic conditions.
   
3.  Generate knowledge, support innovation and develop solutions that optimise the role of the ocean in sustainably feeding the world’s population under changing environmental, social and climatic conditions.
   
4. Generate knowledge, support innovation and develop solutions for an equitable and sustainable development of the ocean economy under changing environmental, social and climatic conditions.
5. Improve understanding of the ocean-climate nexus and generate knowledge and solutions to mitigate, adapt and build resilience to the effects of climate change in all geographical areas and at all scales, and to improve services, including marine, meteorological and climate forecasting.
   
6. Improve multi-hazard early warning services for all marine and coastal hazards of a geophysical, ecological, biological, meteorological, climatic and anthropogenic nature, as well build up preparedness and resilience of the core community.
   
7. Ensure a sustainable marine observing system in all ocean basins providing accessible, timely and usable information and data to all users.
   
8. Through multi-stakeholder collaboration, develop a comprehensive digital representation of the ocean, including a dynamic sea map, providing free and open access to explore, discover and visualise past, current and future marine conditions in a way that is relevant to the different stakeholders.
   
9. Ensure comprehensive capacity development and equitable access to data, information, knowledge and technology in all aspects of marine science and for all stakeholders.
   
10. Ensure that the multiple values and services of the ocean for human wellbeing, culture and sustainable development be widely understood, and identify and overcome barriers to behavioural change for radical change in the relationship between humans and the sea.

Prada Group

Pioneer of a dialogue with contemporary society across diverse cultural spheres and an influential leader in luxury fashion, Prada Group founds its identity on essential values such creative independence, transformation and sustainable development, offering its brands a shared vision to interpret and express their spirit. The Group owns some of the world’s most prestigious luxury brands, Prada, Miu Miu, Church’s, Car Shoe, the historic Pasticceria Marchesi and Luna Rossa.


UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) promotes international cooperation in marine sciences to improve management of the ocean, coasts and marine resources.
The IOC enables its 150 Member States to work together by coordinating programmes in capacity development, ocean observations and services, ocean science and tsunami warning. The work of the IOC contributes to the mission of UNESCO to promote the advancement of science and its applications to develop knowledge and capacity, key to economic and social progress, the basis of peace and sustainable development.