Among the participants there are children from different Asturian and Catalan schools, as well as teachers and general public.
Last June ended "La Mar de Medusas", an educational and outreach project conceived and developed by scientists of the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM) of Barcelona that has reached almost 10.000 people among children from different Asturian and Catalan schools, teachers and general public.
The initiative aimed to inform society about the latest scientific advances on jellyfish and other organisms belonging to the gelatinous plankton, as well as to promote scientific knowledge and raise awareness among the participants about the alterations anthropogenic activity can cause in the marine environment.
"These alterations result in the loss of biodiversity and, in some parts of the world, favour the proliferation of jellyfish, which has a great impact on many human activities", warns the ICM researcher Macarena Marambio, one of the project’s initiators.
Another purpose of "La Mar de Medusas" was to bring this line of research in which women have always been and still are predominant closer to girls and young women through the figure of active female researchers.
In total, during the school year 2020-2021, 10 Asturian schools and 10 Catalan class-groups have participated in the project. All of them have attended 5 theoretical-practical sessions and have been provided with a series of resources to broaden their knowledge about jellyfish and the changes they are experiencing as a consequence of human activity and climate change.
Catalan schools have been able to enjoy the presence of the scientists in their classrooms, while in Asturias, due to the situation caused by the pandemic, the sessions have been carried out online. Also, a large amount of information about jellyfish has been shared in the social networks of the project.
Still in the framework of this initiative, in collaboration with the FECYT- Ministry of Science and Innovation, workshops open to the public have been held in Catalonia during the Biennal Ciutat i Ciència 2021, an event organised by the Barcelona City Council that took place last June.
Among the resources developed for this project we can find the game "The message of the jellyfish", species identification guides, protocols of action in case of stings and support dossiers for educational centres that seek to incorporate the marine scientific knowledge and, specifically, the one related to jellyfish and climate change, in them.
"All these resources will help citizens to better appreciate the sea and to adopt more responsible attitudes that guarantee the good health and future of marine ecosystems", concludes the ICM researcher Janire Salazar, another of the project’s leaders.
In Asturias, the project has been carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Education of the Principality of Asturias, while in Catalonia, the training action has been recognised by the Department of Education of the Catalan Government.