Marking the International Day of Education, on Tuesday the Prada Group and UNESCO launched the Kindergarten of the Lagoon, an innovative outdoor education experience for preschool children to better understand the ocean and held in Venice on the Torcello Island.
The project was first presented in May last year at Fondazione Prada’s headquarters in Venice, the Ca’ Corner della Regina.
Kindergarten of the Lagoon is part of the Sea Beyond initiative, which dates back to 2019 and is led by the luxury fashion group and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, aiming to promote education for the preservation of the sea and its resources, in the context of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030.
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The first program involved 40 students from six schools and the event was attended by Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group head of corporate social responsibility, and UNESCO representatives Vladimir Ryabinin, Ana Luiza M. Thompson-Flores and Francesca Santoro, among local institution representatives.
Venice and its lagoon are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“I am proud to attend this first day together with the children of Venice, wishing that the Kindergarten of the Lagoon will continue to grow and that a larger number of young explorers and families will have the pleasure to be part of it,” Bertelli said. “Our ambition is to see the program growing over time and to develop the project in other cities in the future.”
Its syllabus is based on the integration of indoor and outdoor education, with the ambition to help toddlers discover the lagoon, its flora and fauna, understand the factors contributing to sustainability and acquire an inter- and trans-disciplinary approach.
The first cycle of classes will end in June and the new program will start again in September, coinciding with the schools’ calendars.
Sea Beyond is indirectly financed via the sale of fashion pieces crafted from Prada’s Re-Nylon eco-minded fabric.
