The pillars of the sea: strategies to achieve successful marine citizen science programs in the Mediterranean area

TL;DR

This paper explores how marine citizen science can help protect Mediterranean ecosystems while creating new job and business opportunities.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new perspective on marine citizen science in the Mediterranean through three pillars for societal and economic benefit.

Findings

Marine citizen science can enhance site valorization through community involvement.

It offers career opportunities for graduates in marine science.

Diving centers can benefit from new business opportunities through MCS programs.

Abstract

Marine ecosystems are facing a dramatic loss of biodiversity worldwide, together with a widespread collapse of habitats and their functionality. In this context, Marine Citizen Science (MCS) can be a powerful tool to monitor these changes over time. The flowering of very well-structured international projects is strengthening the scientific credibility of MCS data, especially when data are collected after specifically designed training programs and shared in public user-friendly repositories. Here we present a new perspective on the use of MCS in the Mediterranean area, along with the main benefits for the stakeholders (i.e., diving centers, trainers, and policymakers) and the users (i.e., divers), resumed in three pillars: Pillar I – MCS as a tool for the site valorization; Pillar II – MCS as a new career opportunity for graduated students; Pillar III – MCS as a business opportunity for diving centers. In the frame of the Quintuple Helix Approach, for which there is a strong need of a socioecological transition of the society and economy, we show how MCS can be a win-win-win solution for all the actors involved, providing the vision for new and highly qualified job and business opportunities for the diving sector.

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