ART4SEA - Melting Art, Creativity and Marine Sciences to foster Ocean Literacy in the Mediterranean area -promotes and supports interdisciplinary collaboration between artists, scientists, creative professionals and digital technology experts, focusing on engaging people to change their relationship with the ocean and take action individually and collectively.

Twenty-four international artists will be selected through an open call and trained on ocean conservation, sustainable practices in art and digital technologies. Three small islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Ustica in Italy, Alonissos in Greece and Gozo in Malta, will then host a distributed residency program, where artists will be inspired by the beautiful natural environments, the ancient maritime traditions and the direct relationships with locals to create born-digital and physical artworks.

Website: art4sea.eu

Further readings: art4sea.eu/news

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BCThubs project aspires to build R&I capacities in the Blue Economy sector of the participating Widening countries, focusing on Blue Culture Technologies (BCT) supporting the Underwater (UW) Cultural Heritage (CH) scientific research and tourism valorization. Although the European seas are rich in UWCH sites and assets, only a few of them are exploited sustainably towards social welfare, cohesion and growth. BCThubs aims to build BCT Excellence Hubs supporting with new innovative solutions and products, the sustainable protection, restoration, valorisation, management, accessibility and promotion of UWCH.

Website: bcthubs.eu

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Over three years, OSES will be responding to the general objective of supporting education in and through sport. With the support of nine partners, including four clubs in four different countries, we are helping to develop educational tools for federations and local sport stakeholders, in order to teach young people about ecologically responsible activities and develop an awareness of the environment from a very young age, through sport.

Website: coming soon

Further readings: sportetcitoyennete.com/en/europe/oses

ScienceDIVER aimed to support the development of blue and smart cross-sectoral skills to meet the evolving needs in the labor market of the Blue Economy. Particularly, this project, facing the challenges of UN’s “Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development”, will build solid -long lasting- collaborations and structures between academia and industry in order to offer standardized training and clear career pathways to the diving scientists. The project met the increasing need of skilled and qualified scientists to perform dive-based research - a valuable, highly productive, cost-effective research tool that supports underwater marine science and archaeology related disciplines.

Website: sciencediver.eu

Further readings: hdaneurope.org/en/-/sciencediver

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MPA ENGAGE was an European project focused on the effects of climate change in the Mediterranean, involving seven Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in six countries bordering the so-called Mare Nostrum: Albania, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, and Spain.

Activities included monitoring, vulnerability assessment, and Citizen Science initiatives within the MPA area. The results obtained will allow the identification of best practices to be capitalised on at European level.
The project is led by the Institut de Ciències del Mar of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC), in collaboration with a number of partners, including universities, research institutes, local and national public institutions, private sector representatives and NGOs.

DAN Europe's role was to involve recreational divers in Citizen Science actions, led by scientific organisations in collaboration with Marine Protected Areas. DAN Europe, in partnership with PADI, used its extensive experience in the diving industry and its technical expertise to create a new course in Marine Citizen Science that includes training standards, instructor guidelines, and teaching materials.

Website: mpa-engage.interreg-med.eu

Further readings: daneurope.org/en/-/il-mare-in-pillole_mpa

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DiveSafe, Co-funded by the EMFF programme of the European Union, integrated a number of diving-related technologies, equipment and apps into a comprehensive solution allowing for more efficient and safe scientific and professional diving missions. The project involved 8 partners from Greece, Italy, Turkey, Israel and Malta.

Website: divesafe.eu

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

Further readings: Green Bubbles and the sustainability of diving

CADDY stands for Cognitive Autonomous Diving BudDY. The project was a collaboration between the University of Zagreb – Faculty of Electrical Engineering from Croatia as the project coordinator, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche from Italy, Instituto Superior Technico from Portugal, Jacobs University from Germany, University of Vienna from Austria, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne from the UK and DAN Europe. These seven European partners have kicked off the CADDY project in January 2014 to last for three years with 3.7 million euro funds of the European Union.

Website: caddy-fp7

Further readings: Caddy your future diving buddy - My day-as a dan volunteer research diver