Marine Ecomed
Marine Education and Communication Network on the Mediterranean
An Erasmus+ Project to foster education and research through a strategic partnership
Overview
Status: Completed
Topics: Conservation, Public Awareness, Research
Start date: 01/11/2018
End date: 31/12/2021
Parent project:
Project website: https://marine-ecomed.net
Funding institutions: Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union
Target species:
Tethys role: Leader
Project leader: University IUAV of Venice
Project manager for Tethys: Elena Politi
Project subcontractors:
Project staff: Elena Politi, Simone Panigada, Joan Gonzalvo
Project other staff:
Milestone project:
Detailed description
The MARINE_ECOMED project was established with the support of the Erasmus+ EU Programme. Its main objective is to build an international strategic partnership that enhances research and education in sustainable marine management and related communication strategies. The project operates within the Mediterranean’s unique natural and socio-economic context.
It is a three-year initiative developed by a trans-sectoral international network of institutions, including universities and non-governmental organizations. These institutions are geographically distributed along the European coastline, from the eastern (Greece) to the western (Spain) Mediterranean.
This diverse network of institutions was carefully designed to integrate the various research and teaching approaches across the region’s different professional contexts, fostering collaboration and the exchange of good practices.
- The implementation of an Intensive Study Programme (ISP) for university students and the development of new educational materials. The ISP focused on the multidisciplinary field of planning and management of marine and coastal areas. It involved students from different academic institutions and backgrounds, who were trained through innovative, integrated approaches. They collaborated in an international workshop to apply and combine their knowledge interactively by working on a real case study.
- The creation of new educational materials, including Open Educational Resources (OER) on the planning and management of marine and coastal areas, as well as on ocean literacy.
- A MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on the planning and management of marine and coastal areas.
- A Handbook on marine education and communication in the Mediterranean.
These materials were produced through the collaboration of the experts of the partnership and made freely available for download from the MARINE_ECOMED website from 2020 to 2026.
Results
A total of three ISP were conducted:
- 2019 at Aix Marseille University (France): 27 students participating and 18 teachers (programme)
- 2021 at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki: 30 students participating and 15 teachers (programme)
- 2021 at IUAV University of Venice: 30 students participating and 15 teachers (programme)
Each ISP included two long-distance learning modules and two-weeks workshop.
The MOOC represents a synthesis of the ISP conducted and was available from the project’s website (https://www.marine-ecomed.net/marine-ecomed-mooc/). Video lessons (syllabus downloadable here) are also available on Marine_Ecomed YouTube channel.
A Handbook on Integrated Ocean Management in the Mediterranean was published.
Output
After each ISP edition an international event was organized in order to disseminate results and enhance involvement of experts and institutions external to the partnership.