Explore

Founded in Concarneau in 2013 by Roland Jourdain and Sophie Jourdain Vercelletto, Explore is a public-interest fund that supports explorers and pioneering projects working to protect the living world. By bringing together entrepreneurs, innovators and citizens in a unique collaborative ecosystem, Explore turns shared knowledge into concrete action to address today’s environmental and societal challenges.

Its Ocean & Society Programme brings this vision to life. Led by a consortium including the MNHN - Concarneau Marine Station, the Villefranche Oceanography Laboratory (Sorbonne University - CNRS), FDJ United, the European Space Agency and start-up FairScope, the programme is built around four pillars: scientific research aboard the We Explore catamaran, open-source technological innovation, knowledge-sharing through the Explore Campus, and citizen engagement. At its heart is plankton, the invisible cornerstone of marine ecosystems, responsible for producing 50% of our oxygen and a key indicator of climate change.

The programme’s flagship project, the free Play for Plankton mobile app, enables anyone to actively contribute to ocean research and conservation by classifying images of plankton collected at sea, while learning about the vital role these organisms play and the impacts of climate change.

Since 2015, Explore has been building a true citizen science laboratory in Concarneau, driven by one strong belief: protecting the ocean cannot be left to a handful of researchers working in isolation.

What drives us? Making knowledge a common good, shaped by the coming together of science, innovation and citizen engagement. As our oceans face accelerating degradation, we need a collective response that is rooted in local communities and open to as many people as possible.

With the support of the AETHER Fund, we will be able to welcome new audiences aboard We Explore, using the Route du Rhum 2026 as an opportunity to raise awareness and visibility. It will also enable us to further develop the Play for Plankton app and expand our model of citizen engagement to other regions on a larger scale.