For immediate release

Roseto degli Abruzzi, Italy, May 11th 2015 - DAN Europe proudly announces its participation in the Green Bubbles project which conduction is planned for the coming four years until December 2018.

Green Bubbles is an EU-funded project dedicated to recreational SCUBA diving , an activity engaging millions of people worldwide. Green Bubbles will maximise the benefits associated with diving while minimising its negative impacts, thus achieving the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the system.

Funded by European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 643712, Green Bubbles is run by a consortium of nine entities, including universities, research organisations, educational organisations and SMEs from Italy, the Netherlands, Malta, Turkey, South Africa and the United States.

The project’s overall goal is enhancing research and innovation staff exchange (RISE) in the diving industry on a national as well as global level. Exchange will take place on two main case study locations: Sodwana Bay (South Africa) and Portofino (Italy), both famous top-ranking dive spots, which were declared Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the wake of their popularity in 1999.

The Green Bubbles approach is a systemic one, first conducting an assessment of the situation, then developing innovative products and, later on, tailored business models and marketing plans. The project vital parts are the engagement of its stakeholders - divers, professionals, operators, certification agencies, including CAs, MPAs, NGOs –, the enhancement of dialogue among these entities, ensuring relevant feedback throughout the project’s lifetime, and the effective uptake of results at the end of the project.

In the future, Green Bubbles will potentially function as blueprint for further dive locations with possible application to other marine environments worldwide. Case studies – Portofino and Sodwana Bay – will cover both coral reef and non-coral reef marine environments.

In addition, Green Bubbles will create a quality label that considers environmental, social and safety aspects by analysiing environmental and safety-related behaviour of divers, professionals, and operators in the water and outside. It will develop and implement IT tools, and promote Ocean Literacy as well as Citizen Science, partly by gamification and introduction into school curricula.