FORUM: “REIMAGINE: Beyond the world we know, a new relationship with our ocean” World Oceans Day 2026. Reimagining a better future is the first step to building it. For too long, we have treated the ocean as something vast, distant, and separate from us. We created that distance ourselves. The ocean has always flowed through us, in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the climate that makes our lives possible. Now we are being called to reimagine that relationship. For the first time in a generation, humanity has chosen to govern a significant part of our shared ocean together. The entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement is not the end of negotiation but the beginning of a transformation that no treaty alone can complete. ‘Reimagine‘ asks us to close that distance together. To move from passive inheritors of the ocean’s generosity to active guardians of its future. To govern not just beyond our borders but beyond our blind spots, beyond the habits of taking, operating in silos, and the belief that the way things have been is the way they must remain. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #WOD2026, #WorldOceansDay, #8june, #ReimagineourrelationshipwiththeOcean, #Oceans, #campaign, #awarenessraising, #advocacy, #BBNJagreement.
EVENTS: On Monday, June 8th, the event to mark the UN World Oceans Day 2026 will be hosted by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Office of Legal Affairs (DOALOS) in partnership with Oceanic Global. Register to participate!
Jun 05 - World Oceans Day Festival - scheduled - Sea Cliff Puerto Vallarta+ Google Map.Jun 05 - Common Waters: One Ocean Many Voices - scheduled - Arch Enemy Arts+ Google Map.
Jun 05 ( World Oceans Day Argentina – Festival 2026 - scheduled - Buenos Aires Planetarium+ Google Map
Jun 08 - World Ocean Day for Schools - scheduled
Jun 08 - Blue Carbon-New FDI Channel - scheduled - virtual+ Google Map
Jun 08 - Launch of Music Celebrating World Oceans Day 2026- scheduled - virtual+ Google Map
Jun 08 - World Oceans Day – Together for Our Blue Planet - scheduled - Street Ilioara, nr 16, Bucharest, Romania+ Google Map
Jun 08 -The ocean is closer than you think - scheduled - Kiln, Portland+ Google Map
Jun 08 - Sustainable Fishing Means Co-Management That Works: Nigeria Community Action Plan to National Enforcement - scheduled - Akungba Akoko+ Google Map.
Jun 08 - Gulf Bank Beach Clean-up - scheduled - Kuwait Towers+ Google Map.
Jun 08 - World Oceans Day 2026 I Reimagining our relationship with the ocean - scheduled - Centro Cultural de España, Costa Rica+ Google Map.
Jun 10 - The Ocean Gala onboard Peace Boat – June 10 - scheduled - Peace Boat – MV Pacific World ship+ Google Map.
Jun 11 - World Ocean Day 2026: Makatumbe Island Cleanup - scheduled - Makatumbe Island Marine Reserve+ Google Map.
Jun 13 - World Oceans Day - scheduled - Marine Environmental Education Center+ Google Map
Jun 17 - Skarks and Ocean - scheduled Paris+ Google Map.
Jun 18 - Blue Innovation Reception for the Nature Pledge in Panama on Peace Boat - scheduled
Peace Boat – MV Pacific World ship+ Google Map.
Jul 03 - The Future of the Oceans and Seas – Conference on International Ocean Governance - scheduled Representation of the State of Bremen to the Federal Government+ Google Map.
PUBLICATION: WOD2026 Discussion Guide.
This Discussion Guide is designed to support global communities, organizations, and leaders in engaging with United Nations World Oceans Day 2026 (8 June) through meaningful, inclusive, and action-oriented dialogue. It is intended for a wide range of participants - from youth and educators, to scientists and storytellers, to business leaders, policymakers, and local communities - anyone interested in shaping the future of our ocean. In 2026, we are called to reimagine our relationship with the ocean. For too long, the ocean has been treated as distant - vast, separate, and inexhaustible. Yet it has always been intimately connected to our lives: in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the systems that sustain us. To reimagine is to close the distance we have created. It asks us to move: ● From passive inheritors → to active guardians ● From fragmented efforts → to collective stewardship ● From stagnant systems → to transformed possibilities This moment - marked by global cooperation through frameworks such as the BBNJ Agreement - is not the conclusion of progress, but the beginning of a deeper transformation that must be carried forward by all of us.
Who This Guide Is For?
This guide is designed to be adaptable across contexts and audiences. It can be used to support:
● Youth & Educators Classroom discussions, student-led forums, and educational programming that foster early connection, curiosity, and responsibility.
● Scientists & Researchers Conversations that bridge research with real-world application, public understanding, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
● Policymakers & Government Leaders Dialogues that explore governance, shared responsibility, and implementation of global frameworks such as the BBNJ Agreement.
● Businesses & Industry Leaders Internal workshops or public-facing panels to rethink operational models, supply chains, and corporate responsibility in relation to ocean health.
● Community Leaders & NGOs Local gatherings, grassroots activations, and community-based discussions that center lived experience and collective action.
● Cultural Voices (Artists, Creators, Storytellers) Creative explorations that reimagine how we communicate, experience, and emotionally connect to the ocean.
● Ocean Advocates & the General Public Open conversations, events, and social activations that invite broader participation in shaping a shared future.
How It Can Be Used?
This Discussion Guide is designed to be integrated into:
● Event Programming ● Content Creation ● Panel discussions and roundtables ● Community forums and workshops ● Classroom sessions and youth activations ● Corporate or organizational strategy sessions ● Creative and cultural activations.
Each section invites participants to: Reflect → Challenge → Reimagine → Act.
Objectives
● To inspire a renewed understanding of our interdependence with the ocean ● To challenge existing systems, assumptions, and boundaries ● To create space for new ways of thinking, relating, and acting ● To catalyze collective, cross-sector action rooted in shared responsibility.
1. Reimagining Our Individual Relationship with the Ocean.
Where does the ocean live in your life? We often think of the ocean as a place. Reimagining begins when we recognize it as a presence within and around us.
Discussion Prompts: ● Where do you feel the ocean’s presence in your daily life - even far from the coast? ● When did you first feel a genuine connection to the ocean? What created it? ● Where in your life do you recognize a sense of distance from the ocean? ● What would it mean to move beyond that distance into a more connected relationship? ● What is one belief or habit you would be willing to leave behind to step into that new relationship?
2. Reimagining Community & Shared Responsibility.
What does a new relationship look like - together? A shared ocean requires a shared way forward. Discussion Prompts: ● What does the practice of unity around the ocean look like in your community or organization, where does it exist and where is it missing? ● How does your community currently treat what belongs to everyone - and therefore to no one? ● Whose voices are missing from ocean conversations, and how does that shape outcomes? ● What would your community need to leave behind to move from passive awareness to active stewardship? ● How can communities better reflect the interconnected nature of the ocean in their decisions?
3. Reimagining Systems & Governance.
What does it mean to govern beyond borders - and beyond blind spots? We are entering a new era of shared ocean governance - but systems must evolve alongside intention. Discussion Prompts: ● In your field, what would it look like to go beyond what has previously seemed possible? ● What are the blind spots in how your institution or sector relates to the ocean? ● Where is the gap between individual willingness to act and institutional commitments? ● What is the greatest barrier to transforming our relationship with the ocean at a systems level? ● How can global frameworks (such as the BBNJ Agreement) translate into real, local impact
4. Reimagining Innovation & Solutions.
What becomes possible when we think beyond existing systems? Innovation is not only about technology - it is about rethinking what is possible. Discussion Prompts: ● What solutions already exist that we are not scaling or supporting enough? ● What would innovation look like if it prioritized regeneration over extraction? ● How can organizations foster creativity by challenging existing assumptions? ● What new models - economic, environmental, or social - could redefine success in ocean sustainability? ● Where can bold, unconventional thinking unlock new pathways forward?
5. Reimagining Access & Connection
How do we bring the ocean closer to everyone? Connection drives care. Care drives action. Discussion Prompts: ● How can we make the ocean more tangible for those who have never experienced it directly? ● What barriers - geographic, economic, cultural - limit connection to the ocean? ● How can education, media, and experiences close this gap? ● What role do art, culture, and storytelling play in making the ocean accessible to all? ● How do we ensure that access leads to sustainability - not over exploitation?
6. Reimagining Collective Action
What becomes possible when we act as one? The future of the ocean will not be shaped by isolated efforts - but by aligned action. Discussion Prompts: ● If we succeed, what does a thriving ocean look like in one generation? ● What decision can you or your organization make today that future generations will recognize as a turning point? ● What is your role in bridging the gap between the ocean we have and the ocean we need? ● What does “acting as one” look like in practice over the next 12 months? ● How can we sustain momentum beyond World Oceans Day?
7. Reimagining the Integration of Indigenous, Traditional and Local community Knowledge & Stewardship.
What can we relearn to move forward? Long before modern systems of governance and science, communities around the world lived in deep relationship with the ocean - guided by knowledge systems rooted in observation, respect, and reciprocity. To reimagine our future, we must also reconnect with what has long been known. Discussion Prompts: ● What Indigenous, Traditional and Local community Knowledge systems already embody a more connected relationship with the ocean? ● Where have modern systems created distance from these ways of knowing - and what has been lost as a result? ● What would it look like to center Indigenous, Traditional and Local community Knowledge alongside scientific knowledge in ocean decision-making? ● How can we ensure that the integration of Indigenous, Traditional and Local community Knowledge is respectful, equitable, and led by the communities it belongs to? ● What practices, values, or perspectives could we restore or relearn to guide a more regenerative relationship with the ocean?
8. Reimagining the Blue Economy What does prosperity look like in balance with the ocean?
The ocean is a source of livelihoods, innovation, and economic growth. Yet too often, economic systems have prioritized over-extraction over regeneration. To reimagine the blue economy is to ask: what if economic success was defined by the health of the ocean itself? Discussion Prompts: ● What would a truly sustainable and regenerative blue economy look like in your region or industry? ● Where do current economic systems create harm to ocean ecosystems - and why do those systems persist? ● What existing models or solutions demonstrate that economic growth and ocean health can coexist? ● How can businesses and industries transition from overly extractive practices to regenerative ones? ● What decisions can be made today to ensure that ocean-based economies support both people and planet, for generations to come?
9. Reimagining Youth Advocacy & Leadership
What becomes possible when the next generation leads? Young people are not only future leaders - they are already shaping the present through advocacy, innovation, and action. To reimagine our relationship with the ocean is to expand who leads - and who is heard. Discussion Prompts: ● How are young people currently influencing ocean action in your community or field? ● What barriers prevent youth from meaningfully participating in decision-making - and how can they be removed? ● What would it look like to design systems that effectively engage youth leadership, not just youth participation? ● How can intergenerational collaboration strengthen ocean solutions? ● How can current leaders support, resource, and amplify youth-led initiatives?
10. Reimagining Intergovernmental Collaboration
What does it mean to act beyond borders - together? The ocean connects all nations, yet governance has often been fragmented across borders and sectors. Today, global cooperation - for example through the BBNJ Agreement - signals a shift toward collective action. To reimagine collaboration is to move beyond coordination toward true collective stewardship. Discussion Prompts: ● What does effective intergovernmental collaboration look like in practice for ocean sustainability? ● Where have international efforts succeeded - and where have they fallen short? ● How can countries move beyond sectorial approaches to prioritize the health of our shared ocean? ● How can global agreements translate into meaningful action at regional, national, and local levels?
CALL TO ACTION: Closing Reflection A shared ocean. A shared future. A shared way forward. Invite participants to complete the following: ● My new relationship with the ocean looks like: ● One action I'm taking towards a new future: Engage with UN World Oceans Day Post a photo and tag @UNWorldOceansDay on Instagram of your in-person, hybrid, or virtual event that integrated the Reimagine Discussion Guide. Let us know how the discussions progressed. Share any revelations or reimagined actions that came from it. Reimagining a better future is the first step to building it. It’s time to act as one.
MARKETING ASSETS: Find a selection of photos, social posts with suggested captions, and additional posts launching June 8. Tag @unworldoceansday on Instagram to amplify your posts. Download Shareable Assets
LIVESTREAM: Watch WOD 2026 Conferences, Webinars and Workshops!
