Terms of Reference (ToR) | Ocean Innovation Academy (IOC-UNESCO/PANERAI)

Objective

To establish an interdisciplinary, international Ocean Academy with participating Universities that empowers young students and professionals through capacity building, mentorship, and collaboration to develop innovative solutions for ocean sustainability, aligned with the UN Ocean Decade and Agenda 2030.

Scope of Work

The project is structured into five key phases, each designed to achieve specific milestones in the journey of the Academy. The timeline is detailed below:

Phase A: Preparatory Weeks | Format: Remote

Key Activities:

• Universities support the promotion of the project and gather groups of interested students 
• Groups of multidisciplinary students are formed and contact with UNESCO is established 
  • A focal point for each working group is identified

Phase B and C: Induction Weeks & Mentoring | Format: Remote

Key Activities:

• Students participate in an introductory webinar and are introduced to the Academy concept, ocean challenges, sustainability frameworks (e.g., Agenda 2030, UN Ocean Decade), and the next steps of the project.
  • Peer-to-peer networking and support.
  • 1 networking and team-building activity.
• When possible, visits to the PANERAI boutique will be organized, considering locations where stores are located.
• IOC-UNESCO will Facilitate connections between youth and high-level mentors (start-ups, labs, scientists, and PANERAI experts on sustainability and the watch industry).

Phase D: Incubation | Format: Blended (online and on-site) 

Key Activities:

• Students develop contest materials (e.g., prototypes) to be evaluated by an international jury panel.
• IOC-UNESCO organize a group-leader visit to Venice and the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe.
  • IOC-UNESCO to facilitate access to local experts, labs, and start-ups in Veneto and Lombardia, Italy.

Phase E: Contest | Format: Final Ceremony

Key Activities:

• Projects developed by students will be evaluated by a high-level jury panel selected by Panerai and IOC-UNESCO.
• Award the best project idea at a final ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris with the participation of group representatives, mentors, and high-level speakers.

Roles and Responsibilities of Universities, students and teams

• Universities: to actively promote the project within their networks, incubation facilities, student centres, meetings and other opportunities
  • Support the creation of multidisciplinary groups 
• Students:
  • Actively participate in all phases of the Academy.
  • Develop and present innovative projects addressing ocean challenges.

Students profile: 

Universities can nominate multidisciplinary groups and students from the following areas:

• Engineering
• Design
• Sustainability
• Communication and Marketing
• Business 

IOC-UNESCO will evaluate the University team suggestions and contact select 50-60 students to participate in this project. 

How can my University participate? 

Every university should nominate 5 students at least. Universities nominate students via oceanliteracy@unesco.org

• New Deadline: 9th February
• Notifications: 17th February 2025

Commitment:

The foreseen committment is the participation to 5 webinars of 1 hour/each, a one day/half day visit to the Panerai boutique/office in their city (if you are in a city where a boutique is present), and the development of the final project proposal (I think 4/5 days of work). 

If the project is selected as the best one, it is foreseen the presence of the group members in the final ceremony (travel and accommodation covered by the organizers. The location is tbc but will be or in Paris – France or in Venice – Italy).