This month, Ocean Eye had the opportunity to step into two very different spaces: Bluedots in Milan, Italy, and the Villars Institute in the Swiss Alps. Both are quite unusual marine conservation venues, far inland by alpine rivers and high up in the mountains. However, as we know, glaciers and the cryosphere are very connected to the ocean. Cryosphere stores 70% of the freshwater on the planet, and it’s critical to ocean circulation, temperature control and the big picture well-being of our planet. Not so far removed places after all. And in both places, one thing became clear: ‘We already have all the solutions to save the Ocean, what we need is more and better partnerships, finance and storytelling to bring the public and the decision makers on board with us’.
About Bluedots & the Villars Institute
Bluedots Milan is an innovation and capacity-building event that brings together startups, SMEs and institutions to explore solutions for regenerative marine tourism. It creates a space where ideas can connect across industries and scale into real-world solutions.
The Villars Institute is an initiative focused on accelerating intergenerational collaboration for systemic change. It connects innovators, young leaders, scientists, and decision-makers to address global challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable development.
These platforms are not just events; they are ecosystems of ideas and action.
Bringing Ocean Eye Into the Room
At Bluedots Milan, our founder shared Ocean Eye’s vision on stage, highlighting the gap between marine tourism and real regenerative impact that includes both community and biodiversity and ecosystems.
At the Villars Institute, we were also part of a workshop, where we pitched Ocean Eye as a solution to scaling critical marine data collection among other innovators working on marine data solutions. This was an important moment for us, placing Ocean Eye within a broader dialogue of systemic change for a healthier ocean.
Across both platforms, we shared a simple idea:
What if every marine adventure, every biodiversity encounter could directly support data collection, create conservation impact and financially support local communities?
For many people we spoke to, this was a new perspective. Conservation is no longer an abstract that is done by ‘ others’. It becomes immediate, visible, and a personal responsibility.
Moving Forward
Throughout the events, we connected with a diverse group of people from other innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs and young leaders. Being part of Bluedots Milan and the Villars Institute reminded us that we are not alone in this journey. And that there are many others, thinking alike and joining forces to gain greater and faster changes.
For Ocean Eye, this means continuing to:
- Expand our network across marine tourism and conservation projects,
- Create a working partnership with other technologies and platforms to reach scale faster.
- Strengthen partnerships with data sharing and collecting organisations to make sure our data is contributing effectively to global understanding of the state of the Ocean
- Saving the Ocean is not a competition, but a series of partnerships that bring in synergy, enforce our joint vision and pool resources and knowledge most effectively.