Coasts are hotspots of endangered Biodiversity in need of effective conservation and monitoring activities. We explored the potential of a Citizen Science (CS) generalist project called Wild Coast Adriatic (WCA) (https://sites.google.com/view/wild-coast-adriatic/attività-e-risultati?authuser=0) for a brief assessment of exotic species on the central Adriatic coast. WCA is a CS multi-taxa project supported by the iNaturalist platform that has been active since 2020 and includes the seashore of the Molise and Abruzzo regions embracing several sites of conservation interest (LTER: Long Term Ecological Research, N2K network, coastal protected areas).

We extracted from WCA the 139 records reporting aliens referable to 50 species. 94 records are of Invasive Alien Plants (IAP) of 15 taxonomic families (Asteraceae 28% and Fabaceae 10%) and 29 species coming from America (74%) and Africa (13%). 15 plant records are of two species of Union Concern (Acacia saligna, Ailanthus altissima). 45 reports are of alien fauna relative to 21 species coming from Asia (35%), North America (26%), and South America (18%). The most represented taxa are Insects (43%), Mollusks (24%), and Mammals (9%). 17 reports are of three aliens of Union Concern (Myocastor coypus, Trachemys scripta, Gambusia holbrooki).

From 2020 to 2023, the number of observations increased. Observations are evenly distributed across all seasons, with autumn recording the highest number of alien reports (43).

Alien species are heterogeneously distributed along the coast, with more records in southern Abruzzo. Most records (85) are outside protected areas. 54 records are inside N2K and LTER sites.

The considerable number of records of non-native species highlights the potential of CS to depict the distribution and spread of exotic species in coastal areas.

Information technologies have reshaped teaching and learning in schools, and consequently, the ways we approach education. Nowadays, schools make significant use of instructional technologies as a support for inclusive learning. In Italy, ecology is not a study topic in itself but is embedded in civic educational curricula for both primary and secondary school cycles. In this context, the initiative “EcoLogicaCup” represents an opportunity based on a web platform, for schoolkids to participate to a non-formal learning path about ecological issues. It is a national online competition open to students from primary to high schools, aiming to stimulate the interest of youngest generations towards ecosystems and ecological sustainability. Every year different ecological topics are available on the LifeWatch platform for participants to study, exercise and finally challenge themselves to be the winners, answering questions organized around 5 difficulty levels. This implies that participants must learn about the topic and related key concepts. Schools have to officially join the competition, though single classrooms can be enrolled, depending on teachers’ availability to engage. The topic proposed for 2024 edition was ‘Sandy Beaches’. Sandy beaches are fascinating ecosystems connecting land and sea, providing several ecosystem services yet highly impacted by anthropogenic pressures. Given the large coastal extension of Italy (about 8,000km), sandy beaches are key ecosystems to be protected for both their ecological value and the economic resource they represent. EcoLogicaCup results pointed at a higher occurrence of incorrect answers in middle-schools compared to the high schools, though no incorrect answer was recorded for the “ecological value” set of questions. Primary schools’ engagement also resulted lower than middle and high schools. Overall, this highlights the need to make ecological information less fragmented and more consistent along school levels, to accompany young citizens and provide them with knowledge and skills to care for the environment.

Pantelleria, a volcanic island located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, is part of one of the global biodiversity hotspots and since 2014 it has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This island from a social point of view is at great risk of depopulation due to economic conditions and lacks educational and employment offers to the inhabitants. In 2023 the project "Educating Community Enterprise. Relationality and local ecological knowledge" responds to a social and environmental emergency. This project aims to enhance the local ecological knowledge that a community has of the ecological system of its territory, and to propose community enterprise as a participatory and community-based economic model to develop environmentally sustainable work alternatives.
Four educational courses with active methodologies were proposed for secondary and high school students. Excursions to learn about the island's biodiversity and build an 'ecological identity. Another path saw the young people accompanied by expert tutors together with the inhabitants holders of local ecological knowledge such as the Art of the Creeping Olive Tree, a unique olive-growing technique that makes it possible to counteract the island's aridity and strong winds. Another path was to create a Pantelleria nursery of native wild plants starting with seed collection to create gardens without introducing invasive alien species. Lastly, a course to develop interpersonal and communication skills and learn how to design a community enterprise. Currently the first year of this project has ended, in which the students have shown a high level of activation and participation. In May 2024 a Conference was organized by all partners togheter the students at the end of the 1st year of the project. We look forward to the second year of the project to present discussions and conclusions.

Games, due to their inherent propensity, combine knowledge to discern patterns, making them extremely useful for science education. Ecology, the science of patterns’ recognition, has significant potential for gamification. Within this framework, we developed the game "Tracce nel Mare – Ecosistemi da Salvare" wherein ecological principles are translated into game mechanics. This approach aims to significantly enhance students' comprehension of marine ecological patterns. The primary ecological concepts incorporated into the game were: 1) habitat fragmentation, encompassing both the identification and understanding of the various factors driving fragmentation and its potential impacts on ecological patterns; 2) the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; 3) the provision of ecosystem services linked to the functions of key habitat-forming species. The game begins with a "Puzzle Duel," designed to familiarize players with the target habitats: Posidonia oceanica meadows, vermetid reefs and coralline algae beds. Elements for success in ecology, such as exploration (i.e., monitoring) and information synthesis, have been integrated into the game's five challenges (i.e., boxes). These include: "Question Points", designed to stimulate the creation of a knowledge baseline on the target habitats; "Ecological Memory", aimed at memorizing habitat threats and the ecosystem services associated with healthy habitats; "Carbon Challenge", to facilitate learning about carbon cycling in coralline algae; "Vermetid Craft", to explore the functioning and services provided by reef-forming species. The game set contains a "master" box for teachers to guide the adventure, along with five challenge boxes. Each box is equipped with materials for two teams (2-10 players). The game has been donated to four Sicilian Marine Protected Areas (https://eeb.unipa.it/tracce-nel-mare/), to a local library/community centre and to the eco-museum in Palermo, and to an aquarium in Malta. The game was developed as a scale-up action of a capitalisation project Interreg VI-A Italy-Malta “CapSenHAR”, co-financed by the European Union's, Regional Development Fund.

Designed as hybrid courses, Erasmus Blended Intensive Programmes (BIP) are based on innovative teaching, learning and training methodologies for students and teachers, combining virtual teaching and short periods of physical mobility. These programs involve a minimum of three international academic partners, fostering transnational and multidisciplinary curricula, while ensuring access to different teaching models and learning methodologies.

The BIP "Marine Environmental Threats” (MET) is a 6 ECTS course, coordinated by the University of Pavia (UNIPV; Italy), with the participation of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU; Spain) and the University of Azores (UAç, Portugal). It is focused on the main issues jeopardizing the health of the marine ecosystems and addresses them from a transdisciplinary perspective, based on the UNESCO declaration of the Ocean Decade (2020-2030) and SDGs 4 (quality education) and 14 (life below water). In particular, MET includes an online virtual mobility component, which combines synchronous and asynchronous teaching taught by UPV/EHU and UAç (1 ECTS each), ensuring flexibility and accessibility to all course contents, with English as the main vehicular language. The virtual component evolves simultaneously to other curricular subjects and students develop digital competences, communication and time management skills, while working on subjects related to ecosystem health, marine pollution, biomonitoring, overfishing and fisheries management. Following the virtual phase, the students from all three universities attend a physical mobility week (4 ECTS) organized at UNIPV and consisting in multiple activities that include seminars, lab activities, field work and workshops. These activities address multiple subjects such as climate change, underwater sound pollution and bioinvasions. Throughout the duration of the course, participants are immersed in an interdisciplinary and multicultural atmosphere that promotes development of interpersonal skills, including active listening, multilingualism, and teamwork.

The collaboration between different scientific communities within the cross-disciplinary field of environmental sciences is essential to exchange data, protocols, methods, etc. This collaboration is also crucial to integrate scientific knowledge in a clear and unambiguous manner. This is particularly important in a world undergoing significant environmental changes, where the impact of humans on all ecosystems is becoming increasingly evident. Conventional and technology-driven research activities produce a vast amount of data and other research products such as algorithms, software, models. However, these outputs often remain inaccessible and cannot be reutilised by other scientists. The adoption of FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) and Open Science practices can facilitate the endeavours in the conservation of ecosystems’ functioning and services by promoting data sharing and reutilisation. From this perspective, e-Science tools are highly effective and useful for achieving the FAIR data principles, particularly in the context of interdisciplinary research. The ITINERIS project aims to provide a unique, integrated access point to FAIR products and services provided by the 22 participating Research Infrastructures (RIs) covering all four environmental domains. The ITINERIS Hub will integrate a terminology service to facilitate the search and discovery of Semantic Artefacts (SA) which can be also used to annotated data and/or metadata of research products, thereby strengthening semantic interoperability across RIs.

Nature-based environmental education is crucial to improve the public awareness towards the benefits generated by protecting biodiversity locally. Seagrasses, from this perspective, support a rich biodiversity and deliver important ecosystem services, but widely remain poorly known.

In the frame of the "Sunrise" project, we assessed the public knowledge/perception about the seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L.) and its beach-cast accumulations (called "banquettes"), contributing to spread the notion about the importance of "marine naturalness, biodiversity and ecosystem services" in the context of Genoa City (Italy, NW Mediterranean). We administered a questionnaire to 250 pupils (aged 11-17) of 14 school classes then showing 'in the field' what discussed in classrooms. Elderly people, also, were involved to get info from their memories about P. oceanica and banquettes in the past.

Results show that only 14% of pupils recognizes P. oceanica as a “marine plant”, while 68% perceives the presence of banquettes along the beaches as a “noise”. Moreover, regarding their experience, about 60% answered rarely at the question if topics of Ocean Literacy and marine science issues were included in their school’s curriculum.Elderly reported a vivid memory of the past presence of P. oceanica and banquettes, without any negative perception as it was ‘natural’. Such evidences stress the urgent need i) to include (marine) ecological concepts in school programmes and ii) to promote inter-generational exchanges about environmental perceptions.

Further, according to the literature on emotional connections and cultural ecosystem services, we will investigate the affiliation of the pupils with coastal ecosystem, with the aim to bring out emotional affiliation, a factor on par with others traditionally recognized for behavior change, such as knowledge or interest.