Participants in the 6th UN Ocean Decade Foundations Dialogue gather beneath the historic Vasa at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. Photo courtesy of Voice of the Ocean Foundation.

What can philanthropy accomplish when foundations working across ocean science, conservation, and sustainable development come together around a shared purpose?

That question was at the heart of the 6th UN Ocean Decade Foundations Dialogue, held September 7–9 in Stockholm, Sweden. The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation joined philanthropic organizations from around the world for three days of discussion, collaboration, and planning focused on accelerating progress during the second half of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Facilitated by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), the UN Ocean Decade Foundations Dialogue is a growing network of more than 30 philanthropic organizations committed to advancing ocean science, collaboration, and action. Since its creation within the framework of the Ocean Decade, the Dialogue has provided foundations with a space to exchange ideas, develop partnerships, and explore how philanthropy can help advance a healthy and resilient ocean.

Hosted by the Voice of the Ocean Foundation (VOTO), this year’s gathering began with From Depth to Action, an Opening Forum that brought nearly 100 leaders from the Swedish and international ocean community together at Stockholm’s Modern Art Museum. By opening the conversation beyond philanthropy to include representatives from government, science, business, finance, and civil society, the forum created an opportunity to bring different perspectives into the same room, build new relationships, and explore where greater collaboration could help address the most pressing challenges facing our ocean.

Highlights from From Depth to Action, the Opening Forum of the 6th UN Ocean Decade Foundations Dialogue in Stockholm. Photos courtesy of Voice of the Ocean Foundation.

The afternoon included discussions on ocean literacy and ocean observations, as well as a preview of GO Ocean, a new campaign designed to build awareness, engagement, and funding for sustained ocean observations. The forum concluded with a special screening of Ocean Dreams, a new IMAX documentary produced by Deep Sea Productions in collaboration with VOTO.

As VOTO CEO Sanna Thimmig Johansen put it, “The ocean is one, yet too often we work in silos. The Foundations Dialogue gives philanthropy a global platform to share knowledge, find synergies and achieve greater impact together.”

Over the following two days, Foundations Dialogue members gathered for working sessions focused on both progress and what comes next. Participants reflected on prior commitments made, explored ocean observations as a shared investment priority, discussed the role of philanthropy in ocean science diplomacy, and considered new opportunities for collaboration and investment. 

Photos of working sessions courtesy of Voice of the Ocean Foundation

A particular focus was the road to the 2027 UN Ocean Decade Conference in Rio de Janeiro, which will be an important milestone as the Ocean Decade moves toward 2030. Foundations began developing ideas for collective pledges to be announced in Rio and considering how they could engage other partners in the effort. The gathering also looked inward at the Foundations Dialogue itself. Sessions considered how to strengthen collaboration among members, improve the way philanthropic impact is measured, and develop the network’s governance, membership, and communications as it continues to grow.

These conversations took place in a setting with deep connections to the sea. Voice of the Ocean welcomed participants to Skeppsholmen, an island in central Stockholm that served as a base for Sweden’s naval fleet for centuries and was once home to shipyards and workshops where vessels were built and maintained. At the close of the first working day, VOTO hosted an extraordinary dinner at the Vasa Museum. Participants gathered beneath the Vasa, the remarkably preserved 17th-century warship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 and remained beneath the Baltic Sea for more than three centuries. The setting offered a striking reminder of humanity’s long relationship with the ocean as participants considered what that relationship should look like in the future.

Photos of VASA Museum dinner courtesy of Voice of the Ocean Foundation

The Stockholm meeting came at an important point in the Ocean Decade. With 2030 drawing closer, the emphasis is increasingly on translating commitments into action, strengthening partnerships, and ensuring that ocean science and knowledge can contribute to meaningful solutions.

The Living Oceans Foundation was pleased to be part of those conversations and grateful to the Voice of the Ocean Foundation for the tremendous care they put into hosting this year’s gathering, and to UNESCO-IOC for continuing to bring this growing philanthropic community together.

As the Foundations Dialogue turns its attention toward Rio in 2027, Stockholm offered both an opportunity to reflect on how far the Ocean Decade has come and a reminder of how much more can be accomplished when organizations work together.