Participatory Citizen Science against Marine Pollution

SeaPaCS proposes a participatory citizen science (CS) project led by social and natural scientists that mobilises volunteers in data collection, elaboration and sharing on the biological consequences of marine plastic pollution (via in-situ samples collection for plastisphere DNA analysis, underwater video documentation of new ecological niches, plankton evaluation), and in drafting a plan for sustainability-oriented practices based on interviews with fishermen and sailors, in the coastal city of Anzio (Italy) on the Mediterranean Sea.

SeaPaCS project, supported by the European funds of the IMPETUS4CS project is coordinated by Chiara Certomà (DIGGEO@ESOMAS laboratory, University of Turin) and co-coordinaed by Federico Fornaro (Italian Naval League Anzio) and Luisa Galgani (Marine Biochemistry Division of GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel).

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SeaPaCS is intended to raise awareness about the consequences of marine plastic pollution on local biodiversity and to trigger transformative local action for sustainability-oriented behaviours in the coastal small city of Anzio (Rome). It answers two complementary research questions: What microbes are present in the Mediterranean plastisphere (i.e. the living microbial community on plastics and microplastics in marine environments) and how are they affecting the biodiversity of the Mediterranean ecosystem? How can the experience of sea workers and amateurs help decrease plastic debris and promote sustainable behaviours? SeaPaCS combines natural and social science research and engages multiple citizen groups (migrant fishermen cooperatives, students, associations, sailors and divers, scientists, video makers and photographers) in “collaboratorium” meetings, training sessions and co-production of tools for collective sea-going expeditions in the coastal waters (for plastic samples collection, microbial life analysis, interviews and video-documentation of new biological formation and fishing plastic practices), organisation of outreach activities (e.g. video and photo expositions, media coverage, redaction of follow-up plan).

SeaPaCS is included in the Public Engagement projects at ESOMAS Dep.– University of Turin, institutional page available here.

SeaPaCS’s topic and aims situate within the IMPETUS’ Healthy Planet challenge (with specific reference to water and biodiversity subtopics). It connects with the EU Green Deal’s goal of “Protecting our Environment”, notably by maintaining clean water and biodiversity while ensuring no person or place is left behind. It also contributes to U.N. SDG 6 (indicator 6.3) on water-related ecosystems and 14 (ind.14.1 and 14.2) on the consequences of marine plastic pollution towards sustainable use of the ocean; and refers to SDG 15 (ind.15.8) on biodiversity loss.

SeaPaCS focuses on the Mediterranean Sea, a hotspot for unique habitats that hosts 32% of all European-threatened marine ecosystems, and acts as a plastic accumulation zone. SeaPaCS covers the coastal waters (12 miles from shore) of the small village of Anzio (60 km south of Rome, Latium region, 50.000 inhab.) whose local economy is highly dependent on the sea (fishing, commercial boating, and tourism).

Summary report

SeaPaCS proposed a participatory citizen science project led by social and natural scientists that mobilises volunteers in data collection, elaboration and sharing on the biological consequences of marine plastic pollution (via in-situ samples collection for plastisphere DNA analysis, underwater video documentation of new ecological niches, plankton evaluation), and in drafting a plan for sustainability-oriented practices based on interviews with fishermen and sailors, in the coastal city of Anzio (Italy) on the Mediterranean Sea. The innovative aspects of the project resided in overcoming the extractive approach in CS (citizens as “sensors”) by promoting a fully participatory process on the EU ACTION project model; advancing a multidisciplinary perspective and methods by combining cultural geography and oceanography; overcoming the problem of inaccessibility of the marine environment for lay citizens thanks to the collaboration with the LNI; tackling locally cogent issues already identified by stakeholders and mobilises their tacit knowledge; feeding the European database on genetic diversity on plastic debris, filling important knowledge gaps worldwide and especially for the Mediterranean Sea. SeaPaCS entailed a co-design phase with citizen, triggered by artistic photos and videos exhibition; the data collection and result elaboration via citizens+scientists-sailors sailing boat expeditions for microplastic collection with a professional Neuston-net labs for genetic and chemical analysis; the collective expedition on a fishing boat for documenting macro-plastic debris trawling and in-depth interviews with fishermen; two working groups on collection and recycling system for marine plastic and protocol for CS that led to a number of follow-up international projects (notably the EU Call Culture Moves Europe “Tentacular Thinking. Experiencing underwater assemblages of culture and nature”; EU NEB “FishArt. Participatory Art for Anzio Fishermen’s Harbour”; the Horizon EU project “PartArt. Participatory Art for Ocean and Water”), scientific outputs publicly available and local initiatives.SeaPaCS multisectoral team specialized in multidisciplinary and radically participatory exploration, documentation and engagement techniques and informal tools to identify contexts-specific matters of concern and, by building on tacit competencies of local actors and multisectorial design skills, attempt at turning these into transformative knowledge for just sustainability. CS communities involved about 70 active members, all age/gender/education/professional/ ethnic status plus about 150 occasional participants (tourists, resident, visitors), 3 institutional stakeholders (Local Administration, Harbour authority, Harbour society) and 3 local enterprises. We created a supporting and proactive social ecosystems via the involvement of CSs (fishermen cooperatives “Fanciulla d’Anzio” and “Concordia”; Sailors Italian Naval League; Students and teachers of 3 local primary and secondary schools, Divers of Scuba Center “Capo d’Anzio”; Surfers of the Surf Beat association; 3 environmental and cultural associations, sea workers, tourist and residents, artists). To this end, we adopted an engagement approach firmly based on visual products not merely as a mean of communication but also as the base for stimulating debate and gathering attention around contested matters of concern, while documenting the entire research process. Moreover we adopted a face-to-face approach by visiting and inviting potentially involved CSs; personal and telephonic communication for about a month to discuss the issue with interested CSs and stakeholders triggered the local engagement. CS that participated in the project increased the number of their social relationships and forged new purpose-oriented alliances as described above. The project largely improved the perception of being able to change a given situation and that his/her action could make a difference in a specific context. The results obtained with the fishermen’s cooperative in cleaning up the harbour are a clear example. The project had an impact on participants’ way of thinking, attitudes and values as many of the participants individually reported a change in their view about the issue of plastic pollution and confirmed this changed the routine. We dedicated special attention to ensuring female presence at least in all of the activities and in the end we have been able to engage a higher number of women than men. The prize will fund the scaling-up of the SeaPaCS participatory methodology in Anzio’s CS community by establishing a Sailing Lab to serve as a socio-scientific collective lab, accessible for scientific and social expeditions at a nominal fee, to democratise ocean CS.

SeaPaCS team and Contacts/Contatti:

For information and questions please contact / Per ulteriori informazioni e domande, contattare: seapacs2023@gmail.com

Chiara Certomà (project coordinator) +39 338 3858424 chiara.certoma@unito.it; Federico Fornaro (project technical coordinator) leganavale.anzio@gmail.com, federico.fornaro@raw-news.net; Luisa Galgani (project scientific coordinator) lgalgani@geomar.de; Alessio Corsi (project managmenet) seapacs2023@gmail.com; Giuseppe Lupinacci (photographer) g.lupinacciphoto@gmail.com

Supporting voluntary team: Saverio Lalli, “La Terra nel Cuore” and youtuber (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLShELO1LEKQxzEaQgLptiyh38ia8v1Ju5); Nicola Gaggelli, PhD in Chemistry, specialized in the chemical analysis of plastic polymers through spectroscopic methods, University of Siena, Italy.

SeaPaCS page on IMPETUS website here.

SeaPaCS has been endorsed by the UN Ocean Decade programme as UNOceanDecade Activity:

SeaPaCS has joined the Community of Practice on Coastal Ecosystem and Community Resilience managed by Decade Collaborative Center for Costal Resilience – University of Bologna

SeaPaCS collaborates with Trash Talk in Action

Our initiatives – links to blog’s page

SeaPaCS: the teaser of the project!

The teaser of the European project SeaPaCS – Participatory Citizen Science Against Marine Pollution (coordinated by Prof. Chiara Certomà of the University of Turin – Laboratory DIGGEO@ESOMAS, ESOMAS Department – and funded by the European Project IMPETUS) – will be screened for the first time on October 19 at 5:00 PM during the webinar “Riding the Waves of Resilience: Empowering Coastal Communities” organized by the Decade Collaborative Centre for Coastal…

Participatory Citizen Science against Marine Pollution

SeaPaCS team and Contacts/Contatti:

SeaPaCS has been endorsed by the UN Ocean Decade programme as UNOceanDecade Activity:

SeaPaCS has joined the Community of Practice on Coastal Ecosystem and Community Resilience managed by Decade Collaborative Center for Costal Resilience – University of Bologna

SeaPaCS collaborates with Trash Talk in Action

Our initiatives – links to blog’s page

Forms and questionnaires

Documenti del Primo Collaboratorio – Aperitivo Scientifico

Press releases

Privacy information sheets (in Italian)

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