OSACANA > Global Project
A Multi-year Global Project on the Role of Aquariums
A Journey to Rethink What Aquariums Are For
Building on the work of Aquarium Navigator™ Ao-pen, OSACANA is running a long-term project that visits aquariums around the world to explore a simple question: what roles can aquariums play in the societies of today and tomorrow?
Project Aims
Aquariums do far more than display living animals. They serve as hubs for environmental education, conservation, community partnerships, and catalysts for tourism and the economy. Through this project, we aim to:
- Document the practices and learning of people involved with aquariums—volunteers, staff, researchers, and more.
- Understand how the “place” of the aquarium is embedded in its surrounding community and region.
- Study how aquariums collaborate with professional associations, government, schools, companies, and NGOs.
We gather these perspectives through on-site visits and interviews, then share the insights with both Japanese and international audiences.
Four Core Themes
Management & Partnership
We focus on the ecosystems around aquariums: differences in ownership and governance, and the networks that link aquariums with other organizations. We study how aquariums balance sustainable management with meaningful social impact through institutional design.
Volunteer & Community
We visualize the roles of volunteers and their management processes—recruitment, training, and support. We look at how volunteers function as "communicators" connecting exhibits to visitors, sustaining the space as true partners in co-creation.
Dialogue & Action
We define exhibits as spaces for dialogue. We analyze how stories embedded in exhibits reconstruct the relationship between humans and nature, leading to action. By updating worldviews, we design pathways for visitors to choose intrinsic actions.
Pathways & Growth
Starting from incidental participation, we identify the growth pathways and environmental conditions that transform individuals into societal "key players." We demystify the nurturing system that enables proactive role formation beyond personal traits.
Across these four themes, we share our findings through video content, written features, and academic outputs such as conference presentations and papers.
Phase 0: Europe — Reconstruction of Stories and Behavioral Change
The starting point of this project is a set of leading aquariums and ocean museums in Europe.
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By visiting eight institutions across Europe, we traced how the role of aquariums has evolved—from "Observation and Learning" (pursuit of knowledge) to "Conservation and Environmental Education" (transforming awareness), and now toward "Experience and Behavior Change" (co-creation and practice), using participatory exhibits and hyper-reality expressions.
- Oceanogràfic de València (València, Spain)
- Nausicaá - Centre National de la Mer (Boulogne-sur-Mer, France)
- Aquarium Berlin (Berlin, Germany)
- AQUATIS Aquarium-Vivarium Lausanne (Lausanne, Switzerland)
- Skansen-Akvariet & Baltic Sea Science Center (Stockholm, Sweden)
- Nordsøen Oceanarium (Hirtshals, Denmark)
- Musée Océanographique de Monaco (Monaco)
- Deutsches Meeresmuseum, MEERESMUSEUM & OZEANEUM (Stralsund, Germany)
- By comparing each institution’s mission, exhibit concepts, and relationships with their local communities, we outlined how learning processes and experience value can connect to behavior change.
- These findings are shared through the YouTube video "The Future of Aquariums: Europe Edition" and related articles and talks.
Phase 1: North America — Environmental Design for Nurturing Key Players (Planned)
In Phase 1, we visit six leading aquariums on the west coast of North America to take a close look at how volunteers and communities support and co-create the aquarium experience.
- Our focus is on the processes of recruitment, training, and evaluation, as well as teen programs and citizen science, where "participation" is sublimated into a specific social "role" (Pathways).
- Findings will be shared through our upcoming video and research reports on volunteer management in aquariums.
Future Development (Expanding Across Regions)
Building on the insights from Europe, we plan to spend the coming years visiting aquariums in multiple regions and cultural contexts, focusing on volunteers, careers, behavior change, and management.
- Introducing initiatives where “people” are at the center, such as volunteer programs, citizen science, and youth initiatives.
- Making visible how careers and civic identities are shaped in and around aquariums through the life stories of volunteers and staff.
- Examining how exhibits, interpretation, guides, and programs connect learning to behavior change.
- Comparing governance and roles of aquariums by looking at ownership structures and partnership networks.
Beyond public videos, we will also share outcomes through conference presentations, articles, and reports, contributing to discussions both within and beyond the aquarium and zoo community.
Outputs and Collaboration
- Video storytelling: Series on the YouTube channel “Aquarium Navigator™ Ao-pen” and in-depth features on the blog “Do We Need an Aquarium in Our Town?”.
- Research & Reports: Studies on volunteer management, aquarium management and inter-organizational collaboration, and careers in and around aquariums.
- Spaces for Dialogue: Workshops and symposia that bring together professionals, volunteers, and researchers to discuss the future of aquariums.
We welcome collaboration with aquariums, zoos, educational institutions, researchers, companies, and government bodies. Please feel free to contact us from the top page.