The end of the year marks the completion of the 19-month project BlueConnect 2.0 – Reconnecting Science with the Blue Society, implemented under the motto “I Explore”, with the aim of bringing science closer to the public, especially children and young people.
Our Institute participated in the project as one of the partners, together with the universities of Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik, the Institute for Adriatic Crops and Karst Reclamation, and the University of Rijeka Foundation. The common link among all partners was the sea and the marine environment.
Through lectures, workshops, field activities and open laboratory visits, the Institute’s scientists sought to make knowledge in marine sciences understandable and accessible to the wider public.
The Institute’s contribution within the project included a total of 101 implemented activities, such as lectures, workshops and open laboratory visits, involving around 3,200 participants, primarily children and young people, as well as teachers and other interested citizens. The Institute also took part in two European Researchers’ Nights, which together attracted more than 10,000 visitors.
Throughout the project, a wide range of topics related to the marine environment and living world were addressed, from microscopic life in the sea and marine chemistry, through pollution, tides and fisheries, to shellfish, corals, jellyfish, fish and octopuses.
In cooperation with the Marko Marulić City Library in Split, a series of more than 15 workshops for children entitled “I Explore… the Sea” was organised. The Institute also participated in the “I Love the Sea!” festival, and its scientists contributed to the lecture series “Scientists in the Library”, where they spoke about invasive species, marine data, shellfish and the restoration of marine ecosystems.
Although the BlueConnect 2.0 project is coming to an end, the Institute’s activities in science communication and raising awareness of the importance of the sea and its protection continue. We would like to thank all schools, partners and collaborators with whom a valuable network of cooperation has been built, a network that will continue beyond the project’s completion.
Although the BlueConnect 2.0 project is coming to an end, the Institute’s activities in science communication and raising awareness of the importance of the sea and its protection continue. We would like to thank all schools, partners and collaborators with whom a valuable network of cooperation has been built, a network that will continue beyond the project’s completion.
Photos: IOR & CROPIX
