Venice and Milan, 4 May 2022 – Today, during a press conference held at Ca’ Corner della Regina, the Venetian venue of Fondazione Prada, Prada Group and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO presented the project “Kindergarten of the Lagoon” with Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Ana Luiza M. Thompson-Flores, Director of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, and local institutions in attendance.

The initiative is part of SEA BEYOND, a programme developed by Prada and UNESCO since 2019 to promote education on preserving the sea and its resources. In January 2021, the project officially joined the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

The educational programme, funded with proceeds from sales of the Prada Re-Nylon collection, made of regenerated nylon, has been extended to more than 300 secondary school students around the world. In June 2021 the project was enriched with two new activities: a training programme for over 13,000 Prada Group employees globally, and the initiative presented today for the city of Venice, consisting of a programme of lessons dedicated to children in preschool based on the principles of outdoor education.

Speaking during the conference were Francesca Santoro, UNESCO Programme Specialist, Fabio Pranovi, professor at Università Ca’ Foscari and specialist in the ecology of the Venice lagoon, and Francesca Milan, expert in environmental education.

The event was also an opportunity to consolidate the collaboration between Prada Group and UNESCO and to officially begin preparing the lesson programme, which will start in September 2022. This coming 27 and 28 May, the Scientific Committee, which includes as active members the above speakers and other educational experts, will meet in Venice to finalize the details of the programme. The educational proposal will be presented to the preschools in the Municipality of Venice during an open day for local families.

The schools will be chosen based on their curriculum and interest in experimenting with outdoor education activities and may participate at no charge. Groups of approximately 25 children aged 3–6 will be led through thematic lessons that encourage them to learn through outdoor experiences. At the end of every lesson cycle, it will be important to assess what the children have learned by stimulating their creativity, perhaps expressed through drawings. Training courses will also be organized for teachers, who will be assisted by facilitators in planning outdoor activities.

Prada Group and the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission officially inaugurate the “Kindergarten of the Lagoon” project today, reaffirming their intention to establish an educational programme engaging a multiplicity of persons to ensure that Schools are an active component of Communities.