Connecting with the sea: digital marine citizenship

AHRC Impact Acceleration Account Fellowship
Person taking photo of the sea
 
Digital technologies offer a promising approach for addressing some of the challenges of engaging people in place. They can help create new connections with place and foster a sense of connectedness to nature, as well as provide tools to empower communities to actively participate in shaping their physical environments.
The use of digital technologies can be particularly valuable in coastal and marine contexts. By fostering marine stewardship, influencing policy and management, and building community capacity for addressing environmental concerns, it can create a broader impact on marine engagement conservation
This project aims to explore and share ways digital technologies can foster stronger connections with our coastal and marine environments.
In collaboration with the Sea for Yourself project and the Plymouth Sound National Marine Park, it will develop and showcase innovative approaches to digital engagement.
More broadly, the project seeks to deepen understanding of how such engagement can promote marine citizenship in coastal and marine cities across the UK and around the world.
Five postgraduate students walking by the sea on Plymouth Hoe (full bleed)
 
Digital Seascapes primary students working on a rocky beach

Knowledge exchange and training

A key focal point of the project is to support and develop knowledge exchange and capacity building between three key organisations in the city, which have a common aim to build resilient coastal cities. The technological knowledge and design skills will be shared collaboratively to explore and test new ways for communities to engage with the sea as a common space.

 

Project partners

Plymouth Culture – Sea for Yourself project

Plymouth’s heritage and connection to the ocean are at the heart of an inspiring new cultural and artistic programme, through which we invite Plymouth residents to reconnect with the sea. Creating opportunities for artists and audiences, sparking curiosity, and celebrating Plymouth Sound National Marine Park, Sea for Yourself is a once-in-a-generation initiative that will blend creativity, technology and community engagement to create meaningful experiences that highlight our connection to the natural world.

Plymouth Sound National Marine Park

The UK’s first National Marine Park is about forging a new relationship between the city and the sea. Encouraging people to become ‘Marine Citizens’, developing closer connections with the ocean, learning to care about our coastal environment and changing the way we behave to protect it.
 

Funded by

 
 

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