The Ocean Project advances ocean conservation in collaboration with aquariums, zoos, museums, youth, and other partners in its growing global network. Since its formation in the late 1990s, The Ocean Project has grown from a handful of founding North American aquariums into the world’s most extensive network for advancing ocean education and action. Its growing network includes more than 2,000 partner aquariums, zoos, science, technology, and natural history museums(ZAMS), youth groups, and other education and conservation organizations, in 140 countries that together serve hundreds of millions of visitors each year.

To help its network of partners achieve their missions, The Ocean Project has conducted public opinion and market research since 1998. The Ocean Project works with its partners to apply the research, provide strategic communications insights, and implement innovative public engagement programs and campaigns to collaboratively create a better future.

Primary Strategies: 1) Enhance capacity at partner institutions - Support and empower the communications, education, outreach and activation capacities of ZAMs and other partners to effectively engage their members and visitors, as well as leaders in the public and private sectors 2) Scale solutions within and beyond The Ocean Project network - Develop and expand partner network, sharing successes and catalyzing more effective approaches, ensuring these efforts add maximum value to local, regional, national, and global conservation movements

Activities

The Ocean Project seeks to complement and build upon the work of existing institutions and organizations and has three primary initiatives:

Priority Initiatives:

1) Collaborative Conservation Campaigns Based on 20 years of comprehensive public opinion and market research, The Ocean Project works in partnership with leading ZAMs and others to develop, implement, and evaluate innovative conservation campaigns. The emphasis is on improving public engagement and increasing both the number of participating institutions and the impact of their efforts. This work builds upon the success of The Ocean Project's Innovative Solutions Grants + program developed with NOAA, as well as other initiatives, including those supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the SeaLife Trust, and UN Environment.

2) World Oceans Day The Ocean Project has been growing World Oceans Day since 2002 as a way to raise the profile of the ocean and rally the world every 8th of June, with expanded involvement and action year-round. Under The Ocean Project leadership, World Oceans Day has grown from a handful of events in a few countries before 2002 into a global celebration of our ocean with more than 1,500 events in 140 countries in 2018. We place emphasis on celebrating our shared ocean that we all need to survive and thrive and provide ways for individual and collective action for ocean conservation.

3) Youth Initiative Based on The Ocean Project market research that underscores the importance of engaging younger generations in conservation, The Ocean Project collaborative youth initiative helps to develop a broad, diverse, active, and united youth constituency. Connecting with ZAM partners and other youth-focused organizations, the initiative seeks to accelerate youth engagement and leadership worldwide. The Ocean Project empowers youth to become ocean champions and provides opportunities to connect directly with policymakers and corporate leaders. Among The Ocean Project youth activities, the World Oceans Day Youth Advisory Council shapes and grows development of World Oceans Day and leads conservation action year-round ; the Sea Youth Rise Up annual advocacy campaign connects youth from within and beyond The Ocean Project network and provides a platform for youth to express their ideas directly with decision-makers.

External links[edit]

• Official website
• World Oceans Day website