UNESCO-Prada ‘SEA BEYOND’ Initiative Reaches 38,000 Students Through Ocean Literacy Programmes

More than 38,000 students worldwide have benefited from the SEA BEYOND project, an ocean literacy initiative launched in 2019 by the Prada Group in partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. The programme aims to deepen understanding of the ocean and promote sustainable behaviours among younger generations through education, science, culture and community engagement.

Implemented by the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, the project has significantly exceeded its original goals. While it initially aimed to reach 10,000 students, participation has grown to more than 38,000 learners ranging from kindergarten children to secondary school students.

Expanding Ocean Literacy Worldwide

A major achievement of the initiative has been the rapid growth of the Global Blue School Network, which now includes approximately 8,000 schools across 72 countries, far surpassing the original target of 1,400 schools.

The programme integrates ocean-related themes into educational curricula, helping students understand the connections between marine ecosystems, climate change, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

A notable milestone came when Brazil became the first nation to adopt the Blue Curriculum at a national level, embedding ocean literacy into formal education.

Learning Beyond the Classroom

The initiative also promotes hands-on environmental education. Through the Kindergarten of the Lagoon programme in Venice, more than 300 preschool children have explored and learned directly from the lagoon ecosystem surrounding their city.

In 2025, the SEA BEYOND Ocean Literacy Centre was inaugurated in Venice, creating a permanent hub for students, researchers and local communities to engage with marine education and sustainability issues.

The project has additionally organised three Ocean & Climate Villages, travelling science exhibitions that examine the links between oceans and climate systems across Europe and Asia.

Influencing Global Policy

Beyond education, SEA BEYOND has contributed to international policy discussions through the Venice Declaration for Ocean Literacy in Action, a document containing ten recommendations designed to strengthen the relationship between humanity and the ocean. The declaration is now available in 17 languages.

The initiative also helped secure a landmark achievement when Ocean Literacy was included for the first time in the political declaration of the Third United Nations Ocean Conference, held in Nice in June 2025.

Conservation and Community Projects

SEA BEYOND supports several environmental and educational partnerships worldwide, including collaboration with Coral Gardeners, which focuses on coral reef restoration in French Polynesia, Fiji and Thailand. The initiative has helped cultivate nearly 74,000 corals and transplant more than 7,900 coral colonies across 127 species.

Other partnerships include work with Bibliothèques Sans Frontières to improve access to ocean education in vulnerable communities and cooperation with Ca’ Foscari University Foundation on the “Follow the Ice” project, which studies glaciers and preserves ice core samples for long-term scientific research.

A Model for Global Replication

Over seven years, SEA BEYOND has developed educational resources, policy frameworks and community engagement models that UNESCO believes can be adapted worldwide. The organisation is now encouraging member states, UNESCO schools, UNESCO Chairs, Biosphere Reserves and Geoparks to replicate successful aspects of the programme.

Looking ahead, UNESCO and the Prada Group are expanding the initiative through the SEA BEYOND Multi-Partner Trust Fund, designed to attract new partners and resources to strengthen ocean education and conservation efforts globally.

The programme reflects a growing international recognition that improving ocean literacy among young people is essential to achieving long-term sustainability goals, protecting marine ecosystems and fostering climate resilience in coastal communities worldwide.