Prada partners with Unesco on ocean sustainability education program

Italian luxury fashion house, Prada and Unesco’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) have announced developments in Sea Beyond, an education program for secondary schools around the world to promote awareness about ocean preservation and sustainability.

The project, which comes after the launch of the PRADA RE-NYLON capsule collection, emphasises the Prada Group’s commitment to sustainability, with the goal of educating and raising awareness among the next generation about the importance of adopting more responsible and mindful behaviour toward the ocean, in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In spring 2022, the Prada Group and Unesco-IOC will run a competition for students to interpret one of the ten Ocean Decade challenges using text, images, or interactive content. The winning schools will be announced at the United Nations Ocean Conference on June 29, 2022.

The second edition of the programme includes ten schools from Brazil, China, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

In September 2022, Sea Beyond will introduce “Kindergarten of the Lagoon,” an educational project for children that will focus on the concepts of outdoor education.

Prada’s ocean literacy training is still continuing on for its 13,000+ employees, with the goal of raising awareness and encouraging them to take a more active part in ocean protection.

Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group head of corporate social responsibility, said that on this crucial day for our planet, let us remember that sustainability and the preservation of our resources are strongly linked to education. Even though finding solutions to the climate disaster that surrounds us is tough, they can only concretely expedite the change they need via education and daily modest actions.

Vladimir Ryabinin, executive secretary of Unesco’s IOC, said that Unesco-IOC is glad to continue its excellent relationship with the Prada Group. They emphasise the importance of learning about the ocean and ‘walking the walk’ with science-based actions that lead to real-world solutions. Investing in ocean literacy will aid in the development of the next generation of ocean stewards and the long-term sustainability of ocean action.