Citizen science and marina sustainability - TransEurope Marinas

Collaboration with ocean science in the LandSeaLot project to help TransEurope Marinas take steps to develop ocean literacy in marinas.

Coastal marinas, facilitating sheltered access to the ocean and serving as a hub for boating communities, could well fulfil a role as key platforms for ocean literacy. Informing boaters, residents and visitors about the vital functions of the ocean in supporting life on earth and about the multiple threats facing ocean health and marine ecosystems, comprises a key strand to a sustainability strategy. For this to occur, basic understanding is required about topics such as biogeochemical dynamics and local biodiversity, together with the nature of boater and marina interdependence within this environment.

Co-creating with ocean researchers

Observations of the ocean’s physical, chemical and biological characteristics are the basis of sustainable development.(1)

UNESCO’s “State of the Ocean Report 2024” emphasises the need for improved quantitative understanding about challenges such as pollutants, acidification and decreasing oxygen levels in the ocean, underlining the importance of ocean literacy in terms of appreciating the ocean’s part in safeguarding human health. The Report’s Key Messages describe how ocean observation is being extended to “non-academic partners”, with an “ambition is to equip the global fleet, including container ships, fishing and leisure vessels with ocean sensors to exponentially increase ocean observations.”

TransEurope Marinas’ involvement in the Horizon Europe LandSeaLot project was born in part through a recognised need to improve ocean literacy in marinas, for which the first step has been initiating a relationship with ocean science. The second is to engage with the precepts of community outreach and gain insights into ethical and equitable public interaction.

The learning process, even at the start of this journey, is profound. The marine environment, particularly around river estuaries, is complex, increasingly congested and in constant flux. As such, it requires a coordinated, interdisciplinary and inclusive “all hands on deck” approach, responding to multiple and diverse uses of coastal waters, such as fisheries, maritime industries, offshore energy, military exclusion zones, shipping lanes, mining, dredging, conservation and restoration, and recreational activities.

The transboundary nature of ocean dynamics and coastal activity ties well with boating behaviour. Watersports enthusiasts make a fitting match for marine citizen science given their nautical skills and access to coastal waters, which as an observation zone, features its own set of specific challenges and study methods compared with land-based projects. Local knowledge of weather systems and currents is of great value, as seen in the Phenomer project, already underway in Le Havre marina, located in the Seine Estuary, one of the project’s 9 integration labs, where familiarity with the colours of local waters facilitates the recognition of harmful algal blooms. For more information about the LandSeaLot Integration Labs, please visit the website: https://landsealot.eu/discover-the-the-landsealot-integration-labs/

Getting to grips with citizen science

One of the aims of this project is to include citizen science among a range of observation and data-gathering resources. The term “citizens” in this case goes beyond civil society to refer very broadly to public groups and individuals other than professional scientists. Public inclusion meets numerous goals, from empowering citizens to better understand and accordingly act in defence of ocean and riverine health, to providing an instructive introduction to the scientific process, including the need for valid and usable data.

The European Citizen Science Association (ESCA) has defined 10 Principles of Citizen Science, to ensure meaningful participation and promote the democratisation of science. Amongst other requirements, projects need to “have a genuine scientific outcome”, and mutually benefit both scientists and citizens. Participants are to receive feedback and be “acknowledged in project results and publications”, precluding exploitative behaviour and fostering sustainable engagement.

In LandSeaLot the process has already started with engaging local oyster farmers in Portugal and leveraging their interest in sea level to help deploy sensors on fixed structures in the estuary. Further win-win synergies are gradually being identified such as where marinas looking to meet certification requirements are motivated to work with effective conservation initiatives. In Sweden, a simple sensor designed to optimise fishing by measuring sea temperature may well gain much wider visibility by being pressed into service for research applications as a low-cost and easily distributable resource.

Framing marine stewardship

As end-users and part of the community located at the land-sea interface, boaters and marinas are inherently affected by the health of coastal waters, serving in different ways as a source of sustenance, a livelihood, recreational space, and an aesthetic and cultural environment.

Conveying the value of this space, the nature of impacts, and the importance of scientific observation of less visible or perhaps less immediately captivating parameters, such as sea temperature or salinity, requires a well-constructed and compelling narrative. Equally important is the need to communicate how individual and collective behaviour can result in environmental change.

An attractive outcome of this project for TransEurope Marinas will be to have gained a much wider perspective on our potential role in coastal communities, and, with a deeper appreciation of the qualities and characteristics of our surrounding waters, be better positioned to contribute to monitoring the health of this valuable resource. We look forward to sharing our own tales of working alongside coastal communities and ocean researchers to become more effective ocean stewards.

1State of ocean report_May2024_final.pdf. (n.d.). Google Docs. Retrieved June 4, 2024, from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GX1Uf8Fvl3NivwOVy-HT4Gu74lhEBQ6p/view

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https://landsealot.eu

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LandSeaLot: Land-Sea interface: Let’s observe together! is a Research and Innovation action (RIA) funded by the Horizon Europe Work programme topics addressed: HORIZON-CL6-2023-01-11: Reducing observation gaps in the land-sea interface area. Start date: 01 February 2024. End date: 01 January 2028.

Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.