As a participatory citizen science project, SeaPaCS engaged multiple citizen groups, from migrant fishermen cooperatives, sailors and divers, to associations, students, scientists, tourists and residents, video makers and photographers in “collaboratorium” meetings, training sessions and co-production of tools for collective sea-going expeditions in the coastal waters, as well as the organization of outreach activities.

Indeed, it mobilized 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 on the Mediterranean Sea in Italy.

In order to create transformative knowledge for just sustainability, SeaPaCS multisectoral team adopted an engagement approach firmly based on visual products not merely as a means of communication but also as the base for stimulating debate and gathering attention around contested matters of concern, while documenting the entire research process.

 “Making Science Public. A Catalogue of Participatory Explorations on Plastic Entanglements with Life in the Mediterranean Sea” (https://www.raw-news.net/photos/), with photographs by Giuseppe Lupinacci, presents artistic shoots that portray the collective construction of coastal and sea knowledge mediated through the investigation of the marine plastic pollution issue.

Artistic and creative expression is a powerful means to stimulate the citizens’ interest in and fascination with the ocean, and has the capacity to motivate, trigger and support commitments to socio-environmental issues. During the SeaPaCS project, photography called citizens to engage with the problem not merely cognitively, but also socially and emotionally. Something that did not exist before becomes visible in people’s lives and the gaze of the photographer gives meaning to the image and guides us in the discovery process.

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