Our Vision
Youth and partners involved in our global network are collaborating in transformative ways to grow the movement for a more equitable and sustainable society and a healthy blue planet.
Our Mission and Values
The Ocean Project catalyzes collective action for a healthy ocean and a stable climate. By collaborating with youth leaders, zoos, aquariums, museums, and other community organizations we are growing a global network that effectively engages the public, informs policymakers, and strives to protect our blue planet.
Everything The Ocean Project does is based on the values of collaboration, inclusion, impact, and respect for all people and life. We recognize that a healthy ocean is essential for life, allowing humans and the rest of nature to survive and thrive.
Together, to Protect our Blue Planet
We focus on collaborative conservation and creating collective impact by growing the movement for a healthy ocean and a stable climate. Since 1997, we have worked to protect and restore our blue planet by:
- supporting collaborative youth leadership
- helping aquariums, zoos, and museums develop into community leaders for conservation
- developing World Ocean Day to unite and rally the world for celebration and solutions-focused action
- building a network of thousands of partner organizations in 150+ countries to support collaborative conservation
Primary Strategies
Enhance capacity of youth and our partners to advocate for conservation impact
- Build the capacity of youth and our partners to effectively communicate, educate, and engage with their target audiences, and decisionmakers
Scale solutions within and beyond our network
- Develop our network, sharing successes and catalyzing individual and collective action, ensuring these efforts add maximum value to local, regional, national, and global conservation campaigns and movements
Our Priorities
Youth Engagement and Leadership
Since 2009, we've been steadily building a collaborative global youth initiative and network that supports youth-led and youth-serving organizations to develop a broad, diverse, active, and united youth movement for our blue planet. This innovative initiative focuses on enhancing literacy and growing action and advocacy. We regularly conduct training programs, highlight diverse youth leaders and organizations through many channels including to our 240K+ followers on social media and help connect youth worldwide for action and advocacy. More on the youth initiative here.
World Ocean Day is powered by the World Ocean Day Youth Advisory Council, with 26 members from 21 countries. Thanks to the development of World Ocean Day, the entire month of June has become ocean month around our blue planet. More on World Ocean Day here.
We've grown from a handful of co-founding organizations in 1997 into one of the most extensive networks. Most of our work is done behind-the-scenes, supporting our youth leaders and other key partners to be bolder and connecting with others in our network and beyond to scale success. Together we co-develop campaigns for conservation impact, sharing lessons learned for all involved in our growing global partner network to benefit from. To support our network of diverse partners and the larger conservation community, we openly share our data and insights. Have your organization join today or sign up as an individual to be kept informed. More on our campaigns here.
Our Team
The Ocean Project intentionally does not try to brand itself, but is dedicated to supporting youth and our global partner network. Small by design, we are a data-driven and solutions-focused organization that punches far above its weight. To learn about our team, click here.