As reliable fixed infrastructure bridging the land-sea interface, marinas have a great potential to contribute to coastal resilience and sustainability, as we all face a growing imperative to address pressing societal challenges that directly impact marine and coastal environments.

Beyond offering safe berthing and landing for boats, marinas provide a reliable base for the installation of oceanographic sensors (water temp, sea level, wave-height data, etc.). Equally, marina communities, comprising boaters, divers and other water sports enthusiasts, can also assume a role in participatory sampling in hard-to-reach coastal areas, identifying harmful algal blooms or monitoring sea temperature or salinity; helping scientists and researchers generate a better understanding of the complex workings of our shorelines and estuaries, and how they are impacted by human and climate-related stressors.

TransEurope Marinas is a partner in the LandSeaLot Horizon Europe project, involved in promoting citizen engagement in ocean observation within marina hubs. The focus for marinas is on win-win solutions that use low-cost sensors and other accessible initiatives to provide crucial environmental data in coastal areas and estuaries.

Participation in structured ocean observation initiatives can benefit marinas in a number of ways:

• Meeting environmental stewardship criteria for certification or accreditation.
• Optimising operational efficiency and risk management via detecting pollutants or turbidity or studying and justifying sea level and wave activity over time, particularly in extreme weather conditions.
• Improving ocean literacy in marinas and coastal communities by gaining a better understanding of ocean dynamics.
• Monitoring coastal health and contributing oceanographic data for scientific models and policy development, thus demonstrating a commitment to environmental stewardship and advancing CSR efforts.

Increased knowledge about ocean dynamics and climate and human-induced pressures encourages marina managers to connect with other coastal stakeholder experts and ideally start to measure and mitigate their own environmental impact. Acquiring this deeper understanding means that marina teams are better prepared to participate in debates around marine spatial planning, or coastal resilience and stewardship initiatives.

Greater capacitation also helps marinas develop environmental education material for boaters, visitors, and residents, along with visualisation tools to help convey the insights the data provides. Creating and supporting citizen science or participatory sampling roles in nautical tourism can create exciting avenues for diversifying traditional tourist activities and may help encourage more responsible behaviour on the water.

By embracing their capacity as ocean observation hubs, marinas can become integral nodes in the global marine monitoring network. This shift not only enhances operational resilience and market appeal through sustainability credentials but elevates marinas’ roles in shaping evidence-based coastal policy, ultimately leading to a more informed and adaptive blue economy.

LandSeaLot recently launched the Citizen Science Hub, an initiative for sharing ideas and projects that unlock the potential of different community stakeholders - including marinas - for observing the land-sea interface. The LandSeaLot Training Academy will also be launched in the coming months, a space anchored on the project website to explore how LandSeaLot is building observation capacity with different groups and communities that can act as ocean observation hubs. For more information, please visit: https://landsealot.eu/citizen-science-hub/