The Prada Group and UNESCO-IOC support the Ca’ Foscari University Foundation to bring the wonder of glaciers into schools and contribute to new research missions 

Milan, 21 March 2025 – On the World Day for Glaciers, the Prada Group and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC) are delighted to announce their support, as part of SEA BEYOND, for “Follow the Ice – The memory of Glaciers”, a project by the Ca’ Foscari University Foundation to raise awareness of the importance of glaciers as a natural, landscape, cultural and scientific resource and carry out research activities at the same time.

The collaboration involves the development of teaching resources for the fourth cycle of the SEA BEYOND educational module, developed for secondary schools all over the world, starting next September. Many scientific themes will be addressed through written content, as well as interactive activities and live webinars with scientists on topics ranging from the life stages of glaciers to the journey of water from snow-covered mountains to the ocean, and the important role that ice plays in the conservation of climate information over time.
The materials, the result of joint efforts of UNESCO-IOC and the Ca’ Foscari University Foundation, will be made available to everyone and published on the Ocean Literacy Portal, a global platform that offers educational and scientific resources to explore the role of the ocean, as well as with the Blue School Global Network¹.

The educational aspect goes alongside the scientific one: the project foresees three research missions in representative, iconic areas of mountain glacial environments. The expeditions, coordinated by the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy (Cnr-Isp) and by the Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics of the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, will include the Corbassière Glacier in the Grand Combin massif (European Alps), the Baltoro Glacier (Karakoram, Pakistan) and the Newtontoppen Glacier (Svalbard Islands, Norway), with the common goal of extracting deep ice cores. The samples will then be analyzed at the Ca’ Foscari and Cnr-Isp laboratories. One core for each site will be placed at the disposal of the Ice Memory Foundation, with the goal of conserving it in Antarctica to allow the scientific community of the future to study climate developments with the latest technologies.
The first mission is scheduled for May 2025 and will be heading to the Grand Combin glacier, a site at an altitude of 4100 meters that has already been the subject of a previous drilling attempt.

Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, said: “At the heart of the SEA BEYOND program is water, an essential resource. With “Follow the ICE” our journey broadens its focus, recognizing the strong link between glaciers and the ocean in climate change and continuing on a path that reminds us how essential and interconnected all forms of water are on our planet. 

Carlo Barbante, Scientific Director of “Follow the Ice”, Professor of Paleoclimatology at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, and Senior Associate at the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy (Cnr-Isp), said: “Understanding the climate and environment of the past allows us to anticipate future changes. Mountain glaciers conserve the memory of the climate and the environment of the areas where they are located, but are relentlessly receding as a result of global warming, putting this priceless heritage at risk. Since 2015, the Cnr and Ca’ Foscari have been involved in an extraordinary international initiative to preserve this memory. Thanks to SEA BEYOND we can raise awareness among teachers and students throughout the world and coordinate three crucial scientific missions in remote locations.”

The “Follow the ICE” project works in synergy with “Ice Memory”, a program that intends, in a race against time, to save samples of deep ice from twenty high-altitude sites threatened by climate change in order to preserve priceless scientific information on the climate and the environment.

PRADA GROUP
Prada Group is socially engaged to contribute to the sustainable development of communities and stimulate cultural debate in all its forms of expression. The Group partners with recognized players and international entities to develop educational and training programs, promote talent, support scientific research, foster women’s empowerment, and promote local culture and artistic heritage. Prada Group operates in the luxury sector through the Prada, Miu, Church’s, Car Shoe, Marchesi 1824 and Luna Rossa brands.

UNESCO-IOC
The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC) 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, tsunami warning, and ocean literacy. 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 and the basis of peace and sustainable development. The UNESCO-IOC is the entity in charge of coordinating the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (The Ocean Decade). 

Ca’ Foscari University Foundation
Ca’ Foscari University Foundation is a private-sector university foundation established in 2010 on the initiative of the Università Ca’ Foscari Venice and is the direct result of many years’ experience gained by Ca’ Foscari Formazione e Ricerca S.r.l. with the aim of strengthening and expanding synergies and relations with the area. The foundation operates as an instrumental entity of the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, mandated to managing and promoting the activities of Developing the Knowledge of the University. As such, it activates the most suitable channels for transferring and sharing the results of the research of Ca’ Foscari through complex, multidisciplinary projects developed in conjunction with organizations, businesses and institutions in the area. In 2024, it established a center of excellence dedicated to dissemination and science education: ECHO – Science Communication Hub.