Algunas propuestas que ayudan a mejorar el concepto de variable como incógnita

Politi Eirini and Rory Scarrott

Marine and Renewable Energy Ireland, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Beaufort Building, Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork, Ireland

E-mail: [email protected]

In the era of Big Data, satellite remote sensing plays a major role in marine and coastal research, by contributing long archives of datasets to the scientific community for a wide range of applications. Various large-scale projects have exploited these archives, however, until recently, scientists had to deal with the daunting task of mining large datasets for suitable data, and often from various different sources. In addition, as the datasets increased in volume, the processing has become slower and demanding of better computing facilities. The European Commission (EC) H2020 Coastal Waters Research Synergy Framework (Co-ReSyF) project aims to tackle these issues, by developing a platform for combined data access, processing, visualisation and output in one place. The platform is based on cloud computing to maximise processing effort and task orchestration. Co-ReSyF will address issues faced by inexperienced Earth Observation (EO) researchers, and also target EO and coastal experts and downstream users, with main focus on enabling EO data access and processing for coastal and marine applications.

The Co-ReSyF capabilities will be supported and initially demonstrated by a series of early adopters, who will develop new research applications in the coastal domain, guide the definition of requirements and serve as system beta-testers. A competitive call will be issued within the project to further demonstrate and promote the usage of the Co-ReSyF release. It is envisioned that over the course of the project a “pull” will be generated in the wider end user community, creating a niche to sustain the use of the system beyond the end of the project. Due to the user-orientated and user-central character of the Co-ReSyF project, effective and efficient communication with various users at different stages of the project is crucial to ensure the successful implementation and outcomes of the project.

The EO team in the Marine and Renewable Energy Ireland (MaREI) centre, University College Cork (UCC), have extensive experience in science communication in the fields of marine and coastal research. As a result, the authors have developed an outreach and promotion plan to efficiently implement the Co- ReSyF communications strategy. This includes the development of a consistent and flexible Co-ReSyF brand that is identifiable, relevant and up-to-date. Different audiences are being targeted at different levels of expertise, using various communications routes to suit both the audience type and the purpose of communication. For example, the use of social media platforms helps with dissemination of news and updates for the project, and enhances and facilitates user interaction with the consortium. Interviews and an online survey as well as consultations during dedicated user meetings are being used to gather user requirements, feedback and recommendations on the platform, and guide its development and evolution. In addition, interpersonal communication at various events, helps build a large network of coastal and EO scientists, who will potentially become advocates and users of the platform. Overall, Co-ReSyF aims to build capacity in the scientific community for new knowledge generation and innovation growth by combining various communication means and a collaborative research environment.

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“Municipalities, the missing link between marine science and its

communication with the public” – Cascais case study

Rijo Andreia1_{, Ana Ferreira}1-2_{, Sara Faria}1 _{and Sara Saraiva}1

1 _{Cascais Ambiente, Environment Municipal Company of Cascais, Complexo Multiserviços, Estrada de}

Manique no.1830, 2645-550 Alcabideche, Portugal E-mail: [email protected]

2 _{Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), Department of Life Sciences, University of}

Coimbra, Portugal

Marine science can be very appealing and it is not unusual for common people to be overwhelmed when a scientist is talking about his field work and his discoveries. However, the challenge is to transform a simple conversation into marine science communication, explaining in an accessible way several facts and concepts behind the science, promoting the link between our day to day tasks and the importance of this science in our current life and future generations. The concepts are complex and many times not easily perceived by the majority of the population that uses the ocean for leisure and feeding purposes.

Cascais is a municipality surrounded by sea and highly dependent on the sun and sea tourism activities that are responsible for the main portion of the 466 000 visitors every year. The Municipality focuses heavily in communication and efforts to improve its services. This work intends to present several practical examples of marine science communication addressed to different target audiences.

Since 2007 the municipal environmental strategy created different agencies and started a new environmental program focused on marine conservation and biodiversity protection for different target audiences. In 2012 the new municipal strategy integrated those agencies in one called CASCAIS AMBIENTE (Environment Municipal Company of Cascais). Depending on the target audience, CASCAIS AMBIENTE created several imaginative solutions to interact with our population and visitors. Some examples are public conferences, social networking, theater plays, educational program or even comic books.

The Environmental Education and Awareness Program for all schools concerning different subjects such as Oceans, Nature, Energy, Waste and Citizenship results from the collaboration between the scientific community and our municipality in accordance school curriculum. During the last school year the environmental education task group of CASCAIS AMBIENTE performed 808 activities for 20 304 students raging from kindergarten to secondary school the majority of which were related to oceans (265 activities) and nature (235 activities).

One other example is “Clean up the Atlantic”. It is an annual awareness event where scuba divers are invited to clean a small part of Atlantic Ocean near Cascais center simultaneously with coastline clean up event with other volunteers. Since the first edition in 2008 it was collected over 9 tons of marine debris and has had the participation of over a thousand volunteers.

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Engaging youth across Europe with the ocean – Experiences from the