EDUCOAST - Nature-Based Education in Coastal GeoSciences – A field station in southern Portugal

Experimental learning offers a variety of experiences that cannot be acquired in the typical classroom environment, especially in the scope of natural sciences. Fieldwork-based education promotes critical thinking and problem solving, which assists in the retention of new concepts.

The EDUCOAST project aims to promote nature-based education in the area of coastal and marine geosciences and will take advantage of the facilities of IPMA's Experimental Molusciculture Station in Tavira (EEMT), in southern Portugal.

This Station is located in a unique coastal environment, which includes dunes, marsh, lagoon, barrier islands and beaches. Moreover, it is equipped with a new research laboratory - "Pólo Tavira EMSO-PT" - dedicated to the study of sediments, in the area of sedimentology (funded by the National Roadmap of Research Infrastructures).

The project's training offer is diversified and includes activities such as visits by schools of various levels of education and local social associations; training for maritime-tourism companies; training and professional internships for polytechnic and university students; training for secondary school teachers and summer schools. The trainees will have the opportunity to collect field data and analyse them in the laboratory/office, as well as to interpret the resulting data and information.

The set of activities proposed by the EDUCOAST project are framed in the priority theme of preserving and protecting the environment with special reference to the importance and sustainability of the coastal systems using the Ria Formosa as an example.

Besides the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere, I.P. (promoter), the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, the Portuguese Environment Agency, I.P. and the Tavira Ciência Viva Centre participate in this project.

The EDUCOAST project is funded by the EEA grants Blue Growth Programme under call #5 - Education (www.eeagrants.gov.pt/pt/programas/crescimento-azul/projetos/projetos/educoast/).

Project webpage: https://educoast.ipma.pt