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Description
Blue forests of macroalgae, seagrasses and saltmarshes, are powerhouses of benefits for human well-being through the provision of global and regional ecosystem services such as climate change mitigation, support of biodiversity and commercial species, water purification, coastline protection and disease control.
The aim project is to improve the skills and competences of teachers, media professionals specialized in environmental issues, environmental decision makers, maritime-tourism professionals and future environmental professionals (university students) on the ecological, societal and economic benefits and values of blue forests, to build professional capacity that may increase awareness and drive for conservation of this natural capital. To achieve this, we assembled a team of Portuguese and Norwegian scientists, educators and communicators to deliver a series of education and capacity building events targeting those professional classes, supported by a digital learning platform where educational modules on blue forests will be available. A georeferenced data base on blue carbon will also be developed to store data collected by a turnkey blue carbon project that will be made available tin the platform to be developed by teachers and their students both in Portuguese and Norwegian schools. At least 20 university students from Portugal and Norway in the International Summer School, 60 teachers from the training schools (and hundreds of their students) and 60 stakeholders form the participatory workshops will receive education, training and capacity building on the ecosystem services of blue forests. It is expected that the created network of educators and scientists from Portugal and Norway will be extended beyond the project end to other countries.
Summary of project results
Blue forests are powerhouses of benefits for human well-being through the provision of global and regional ecosystem services such as climate change mitigation, support of biodiversity and commercial species, water purification, coastline protection and disease control. Despite their importance, blue forests lack charisma, and their benefits and values are poorly grasped by the general public, decision-makers and media. This result sin low commitment for the preservation and restoration of these ecosystems.
BlueForests Education brought together an international consortium with rich expertise in science, education, and communications on blue forests.
The project activities delivered a series of education and capacity building events (International Summer School, teaching courses for professors and participative workshops), that have contributed to significantly improve the skills and competences of teachers and their students, media professionals specialized in environmental issues, environmental decision makers, maritime-tourism professionals and future environmental professionals (university students) on the values of blue forests.
The Digital Learning Workshop held at Grid-Arendal, Norway, where all participants joined in person, was a crucial milestone in the project, as it allowed all partners to discuss the Digital Learning Platform and its main features. Included in the platform is a Georeferenced Data Portal on blue carbon that is a repository of data of a turnkey blue carbon project that is available in the platform, to be applied by teachers and their students both in Portuguese and Norwegian schools. The co-design and joint development of the modules and educational tools available in the web platform have resulted in a readily and freely available high-quality product.
Both CCMAR and GRID-Arendal will continue to promote the platform, for example through the Norwegian Blue Forests Network (NBFN), in which GRID-Arendal is a partner. The project will be internationalised beyond Europe, to inform and influence decision-makers and stakeholders in developing countries to conserve and protect blue forests ecosystems. English and Portuguese speaking countries in Africa and America are clear potential beneficiaries of this project. An example of this is the use of the Digital Learning Platform in a recent course delivered in Brazil and the inclusion of the blue carbon data collected there in
the Georeferenced Data Portal.
Summary of bilateral results
The BlueForests Education project highly benefitted from having Grid-Arendal as a partner. Grid-Arendal is a well-known, internationally recognized foundation that produces environmental information products and provides communication services to build capacity in environmental management and motivate decision-makers to take sustainable actions. GRID-Arendal delivers innovative communication tools and capacity building services. In the case of BlueForests Education Grid-Arendal was instrumental for the development and construction of the Digital Learning Platform, including the Georeferenced Data Portal.A key moment in the project was the workshop held at Grid-Arendal where all partners discussed and agreed on the structure and content of the Digital Learning Platform. The previous experience on developing such web platforms such as the Deep Dive project on marine litter mapping (link), which also includes the same functionality and user interface desired for the georeferenced database, was very important for successfully creating the Digital Learning Platform of BlueForests Education. The bilateralcollaboration was very productive with CCMAR contributing with its research expertise on the ecosystem services of blue forests, and particularly on the blue carbon assessment program previously developed for school teachers to use with their students. As well, Grid-Arendal inputs to the organization of the International Summer School coordinated by Ocean Alive, as well as the delivery of ISS lectures, was important.