The European Marinas Network Scoping Action aims to explore the potential of marinas as essential infrastructure for ocean observation, marine science, and citizen involvement. The overarching goal is to establish a comprehensive network that positively impacts the marine industry’s environmental footprint, harnesses its potential for science, and fosters community engagement and stewardship.
Within the European context, the approximately 10,000 inland and coastal marinas transcend their utilitarian role as mere embarkation points, assuming the status of vibrant socio-economic nodes. Functioning as focal points for boating enthusiasts, water sports aficionados, visitors, thriving marine enterprises, and, on occasion, local fishing fleets, marinas emerge as dynamic hubs with multi-faceted implications.
- Alberto Sonino, Venezia Certosa Marina, Italy
- Alexandra Pavlidou, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), Greece
- Eirini-Asimina Stamatopoulou, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
- Francesca Coccon, Italian Consortium for Managing Research Activities Venice Lagoon (CORILA), Italy
- Melanie Symes, TransEurope Marinas
- Natascha Oppelt, Kiel University, Germany
- Philip Easthill, European Boating Industry (EBI)
- Toste Tanhua, GEOMAR, Germany
The JPI Oceans Scoping Action European Marinas Network aims to explore different avenues to capitalize on the value and potential of marinas as infrastructures for ocean observation, ocean research and citizen science. Firstly, the Scoping Action can add to the body of ocean science and policy-making data via an integrated European network of marina-based data hubs. This will empower marinas, boaters, and visitors to assume more collaborative and proactive. Secondly, it can provide ocean stewardship roles, and thirdly, it can advance the digitisation transition by contributing to the generation of a digital twin of the boating sector within a larger digital twin of the ocean.
With water-based facilities and structures such as floating pontoons that can support sensors, and often managing a strong multi-channel communication platform, marinas offer a perfect set of conditions for generating and transmitting environmental data. Given the much smaller nature of marinas compared to commercial ports and being widespread across Europe, they provide plenty of potential locations for data gathering. Marinas could therefore be used to improve observation data quality, coherency and coverage.