The scientific-technical program of conferences Networking Fridays promoted by the Atlantic International Research Center (Air Centre) hosted a session on the international initiative Educational Passages, and more specifically, on the activities undertaken by partners of the iFADO project.
The session, in addition to presenting the Educational Passages program and the iFADO project by its director and coordinator respectively, showed the different initiatives undertaken to date by iFADO partners such as the Marine Institute (MI), Pole Mer Bretagne Atlantique (PMBA), the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), the National Oceanographic Center (NOC) of the United Kingdom and PLOCAN, in relation to this educational program through the construction, equipping and launching of educational miniboats in collaboration with local secondary schools across Europe.
PLOCAN presented the projects for the construction and commissioning of two educational miniboats in partnership with IES Eusebio Barreto during 2021 and 2022, the second of which is still active and heading to the Caribbean after seven weeks of sailing from its launching in Tazacorte harbour (island of La Palma, Canaries).
Educational Passages is a not-for-profit organization that spreads ocean and environmental literacy. Its Miniboat Program offers an extraordinary way for people of all ages to learn crucial STEAM skills, discover maritime careers, and build connections that will last a lifetime. The program introduces participants to sailing, engages them in collaborative learning through international cultural experiences, and increases the understanding of the value of water on our planet as a shared resource through ocean literacy. The program creates an ocean classroom, whether you’re on the coast or landlocked.
The AIR Centre is an international collaborative framework to address global challenges and local priorities in the Atlantic Ocean. It promotes an integrative approach to space, climate, ocean and energy in the Atlantic, supported by emerging technological innovations and advances in data science, and through South-North and North-South cooperation. The AIR Centre aims at becoming a leading internationally distributed and collaborative network. We want to act as a framework for scientific and technology collaboration and development of ideas, policies, research programmes and projects within the Atlantic Ocean context, aligning national priorities and global challenges through joint actions.
The aim of the iFADO project is to create marine services on a regional and sub-regional scale, using European Union waters as a case study. Filling the existing technical gaps, iFADO will use the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) to demonstrate the application of innovative products. The project will combine traditional surveillance with profitable, cutting-edge technologies: remote sensing, numerical modelling and emerging observation platforms such as gliders and oceanic buoys. iFADO has received funding from the Interreg Atlantic Area program of the European Union under the grant EAPA 165/2016.
