Our drive is our love for the ocean!

Meeting the ocean and its secrets at eye level allows us to reach new horizons. Our aim is to open these doors to as many people as possible, so that fascination for the ocean gives rise to the drive for protecting this habitat. Okeanos supports partners and projects that are actively involved and encourages young people in particular to create their own tools and voices to engage in processes of environmental protection and social transformation.

Okeanos – Foundation for the Sea

A fabulous seventy per cent of the earth is covered by oceans. They are the fascinating and mysterious heart of our planet and the powerful lungs that make human life on land possible. Despite their seeming inexhaustibility, our oceans are fragile systems, finite and vulnerable. Protecting them is a fundamental prerequisite if we want to ensure human life on land. And action speaks louder than words.

“Fifty years ago, we perceived oceans as inexhaustible and indestructible. Today we know that this was a huge misconception. So let’s act accordingly!
Dieter Paulmann

Therefore, we have been working with various partners in the Pacific for more than ten years to develop sustainable maritime transport and support research projects aimed at long-term system changes. In Germany, we primarily support youth and young adults in their ecological and social commitment, among others through youth initiatives like waves of action. On their way to becoming strong activists and spokespersons, we support young people by guiding them in their personal development and giving them self-care tools that make their engagement truly sustainable.

Extract from the projects:

Okeanos Foundation Project

OceanCamps

Europe
Since 2022

The WAVES OF ACTION ‘OceanCamps’ took place for the fourth time during the nationwide summer holidays.

Okeanos Foundation Project

Scholarship Ocean Journalism

Europe
Since 2023

For the second time, the research scholarship for marine reporting took place on the Vaka Okeanos in the Mediterranean. Young journalists from various regions came together to spend a week on board the catamaran researching and reporting on the Mediterranean and its pressing problems.

Cooperation

‘Active Hope’ - from resignation to shaping the future

Frankfurt am Main
2024

Being confident sounds good, but is easier said than done. After all, we stumble from crisis to crisis, one bad news story tops the next in the news, and part of society sees itself as the ‘last generation’ that has to manage to turn the tide on climate protection and species extinction in a short space of time.

Image sources

  • 12_2200a_TAH_PIC_Tahiti__0: © Okeanos Foundation
  • Benedikt König_03: Benedikt König
  • Whalefall-Cover-web: Ada Isaacs
  • whaleday: © Okeanos Foundation
  • Erdkugel Pazifik: iStock | loops7