PARLEY IS THE SPACE WHERE CREATORS, THINKERS, AND LEADERS COME TOGETHER TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR THE BEAUTY AND FRAGILITY OF OUR OCEANS AND COLLABORATE ON PROJECTS THAT CAN END THEIR DESTRUCTION.

Parley for the Oceans addresses major threats towards our oceans, the most important ecosystem of our planet. 

We believe the power for change lies in the hands of the consumer – given he has a choice – and the power to shape this new consumer mindset lies in the hands of the creative industries.

Artists, musicians, actors, filmmakers, fashion designers, journalists, architects, product inventors, and scientists have the tools to mold the reality we live in and to develop alternative business models and ecologically sensible products to give us earthlings an alternative choice, an everyday option to change something.

To succeed, we need to find ways to synchronize the economic system of humankind with the ecosystem of nature. And make environmental protection fiscally lucrative for pacesetting major companies. 

Parley has been created to accelerate a process of change that is already in progress. No other big movement in the history of humankind has developed faster than the environmental cause. We want to make sure we are fast enough to meet the ultimate deadline and turn the ship around before we lose a treasure we have only just started to explore and still don’t fully understand: the fantastic blue universe beneath us — The Oceans.

IF THE OCEANS DIE, WE DIE.

Captain Paul Watson

“We need to defend diversity on land and in the sea and we need solutions, and these solutions can only be realized by harnessing the imaginative side of human culture – the arts.”

DOUG AITKEN X PARLEY: UNDERWATER PAVILIONS

Underwater Pavilions is artist Doug Aitken’s large-scale installation and collaboration with Parley consisting of three temporary sculptures submerged beneath the water's surface as a symbol and catalyst for the oceans cause.

The living artwork's first destination was off Catalina Island, California.

“Parley is a wonderful platform because it brings all of these different artists, scientists, and people from the STEAM brain: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. You put them all together to talk about the problem and it brings them into the domains where the issue has not been talked about.”

Fabien Cousteau

NEW YORK, PALAZZO CHUPI

The first Parley on February 7, 2013 was hosted by artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel at his Palazzo Chupi in New York. A select group of guests came together with the shared mission of sounding the alarm on the importance of protecting the world’s oceans. The aim of the discussions was to brainstorm how the creative industries could lend support to and cooperate with leading global non for profit organizations, in order to raise awareness and fund operations.

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BERLIN, FASHION WEEK

Parley in Berlin, July 2013, addressed the rapidly growing threat of plastic waste in our oceans and raised discussions on solutions for retrieving the waste and recycling it into new products. Influential creative figures from across multiple industries—spanning art, film, music, and fashion to product design, architecture, technology and science—came together, along with ocean sentinels who dedicate their lives to the protection and conservation of the oceans.

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NEW YORK, UNITED NATIONS

June 29, 2015. Parley “Oceans. Climate. Life.” was held at the United Nations, on the occasion of the High-Level Meeting on Climate Change convened by the President of the General Assembly. It aimed to raise awareness on critical conversations leading up to COP21 in Paris, where the international community is expected to deliver a new, ambitious agreement to protect present and future generations from the negative impacts of human activity on the planet—and on the oceans. 

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“I think as I understand Parley, the idea is to create an atmosphere of collaboration and to bring disparate parties together who might not meet each other and might not know that they can work together on something.”

Dianna Cohen

Everything starts with inspiration. Therefore every Parley is a curated gathering with a dedicated topic, presented by Parley Speakers to a carefully selected audience. The talks are meant to give an overview of the State of the Oceans in general, to present a specific cause, and to get the support for a related initiative or project.

Once there is serious interest to support the cause and to start a collaboration or to join an already existing project or initiative, the Parley team will help to get the process going by developing an individual idea or concept, connecting to potential partners, and moderating the collaboration process from idea to finalization of an agreement.

The signature on an agreement is the kick-off for the actual collaboration process. The Parley team supports the collaborators by translating needs and ideas to each partner, managing expectations and keeping the partners on track with a realistic roadmap. It sounds simple, but the success of a collaboration lies in its implementation.

Featured Parley collaboration:

OCEAN PLASTIC PROGRAM

THANKS TO ALL HOSTS, SPEAKERS AND SUPPORTERS, PARLEY IS GROWING INTO A MOVEMENT.

If the oceans die, we die.

Captain Paul Watson