SMARTLAGOON at the 2024 European Researchers’ Night
The European Researchers' Night is an annual event that takes place in hundreds of cities across Europe, aimed at bringing science closer to the public through interactive activities like experiments, talks, and exhibitions. Funded by the EU, it engages people of all ages, promoting science education, fostering public understanding of how research addresses global challenges and impacts everyday life, and inspiring young people to pursue careers in research. On September 27, we were excited to present our latest prototype at the 2024 edition of the European Researchers' Night in Cesena, organized by the University of Bologna at the Malatesta Library, near the Cesena Campus. The...
SMARTLAGOON at the RAMONES Summer School on Environmental Intelligence
Last July, the Environmental Summer School of the RAMONES project, held from July 3rd to 7th, 2024, took place in Methana, Greece. Part of the SMARTLAGOON team attended the school at the invitation of the RAMONES team. The event focused on the monitoring of radioactivity in marine ecosystems and brought together around 30 participants from different scientific disciplines and backgrounds, including students, professors and research professionals. The opening session of the Summer School was chaired by Theodoros Mertzimekis and Eleni Petra, both from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). Together with the representatives of the municipality, including the Mayor of Troizinia-Methana, Mr Tasos Mougios,...
SMARTLAGOON 2024 Annual Meeting
During the last week of June, the SMARTLAGOON team gathered together at the UCAM HiTech Innovation hub for the 2024 annual meeting. This was the occasion to discuss the project's progress, address pending issues, and plan future activities as the project comes closer to its conclusion. Here is a recap of the meeting's key sessions and discussions. Monday, June 24 SMARTLAGOON Project Status After an official welcome session, an overview of the project's status was presented, highlighting significant milestones achieved and outlining the objectives for the last months of the project. Mar Menor - Erken Lake Monitoring The monitoring activities for Mar Menor and Erken Lake were reviewed, focusing...
Highlights from the II Environmental Intelligence Summer School
SMARTLAGOON and WATCHPlant are delighted to announce that the II Environmental Intelligence Summer School, held from June 19th to 21st, 2024, at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), was a tremendous success. The event, dedicated to the digitalization of natural environments, brought together more than 45 enthusiastic students from diverse backgrounds, all eager to explore the latest advancements in environmental intelligence. The event kicked off with an inspiring opening ceremony attended by key figures from both the SMARTLAGOON and WATCHPlant projects. Laura García Carmona, Belén Picó Sirvent, Alfredo Quijano, Javier Senent Aparicio, and José María Cecilia Canales shared their visions and underscored the importance of...
Environmental Intelligence Summer School
Second edition of the International School in the field of Ambient Intelligence, dedicated to the digitisation of natural environments. The event aims to provide society with a vision of the different approaches to the natural environment in terms of access to useful information using new tools. The event will take place on 19, 20 and 21 June 2024, at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Edificio E (escuela técnica superior informática), organised in cooperation with the WATCHPLANT and SMARTLAGOON project. Program Wednesday 19th June 9:00 Opening Belén Picó Sirvent (Researcher vice rector at The Technical University of Valencia, UPV) Laura García Carmona (WATCHPLANT project coordinator. Head of Biosensor and Biofuel cells...
Validation of the hydrographic model of the SMARTLAGOON project in a riverbed in the Campo de Cartagena
Currently, the accurate measurement of the variables necessary for hydrological modeling faces the challenge of costly models and sensors. This problem is aggravated in basins with high water stress where monitoring is more complex. Such is the case of Campo de Cartagena, characterized by ephemeral streams and average annual rainfall of less than 300 mm. To address this situation, we implemented an innovative methodology that combines citizen science, through a mobile application that is able to obtain flow rates from recordings taken by citizens at specific control points; in addition to low-cost high-tech sensors capable of measuring the height of the water sheet, thanks to...
Unveiling the Complexity: Recap of SMARTLAGOON’s second participatory system dynamics modeling workshops.
In May's second week, SMARTLAGOON successfully conducted the second series of participatory systems dynamics modeling workshops. The week proved to be highly productive and engaging, yielding important insights. The results are being analyzed and will serve as a foundation for upcoming participatory activities scheduled for autumn 2023. SMARTLAGOON is an interdisciplinary project addressing environmental, economic, and social challenges in Spain's Mar Menor Lagoon and Campo de Cartagena watershed. WP4 focuses on participatory system dynamics modeling to build a systematic understanding of the region's socio-ecological and socio-economic dimensions. The project involves workshops to explore stakeholders’ perspectives from various sectors, including environmental, agriculture, fishing, tourism, regional government,...
SMARTLAGOON Seminario de intercambio científico
---> Artículo en español disponible aquí! On Monday May 08, from 09:00 – 15:30 o'clock, the SMARTLAGOON project team invites you to a scientific exchange seminar, which is open for researchers, but also anyone else who is interested in research done related to the Mar Menor. During the morning, results from the SMARTLAGOON project will be presented, while, in the afternoon, researchers from other organisations will be invited to present their research. The seminar closes with a discussion about the possibility to cooperate. Location: UCAM HiTech, Sport & Health Innovation Hub, Google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/uixuWqabDXyZhBtv6 Please find below the final program. 9.00-10.00 Registration 10.00-10.30 Official welcome and Introduction about the SMARTLAGOON project - Estrella...
Desentrañando la complejidad del sistema del Mar Menor a través de la modelización participativa de dinámica de sistemas
During the last week of February and beginning of March SMARTLAGOON carried out the first set of workshops of the participatory systems dynamics modelling in the project. It was an intensive and fruitful week, and the results are being processed and will lay the ground for the follow-up participatory activities in May. SMARTLAGOON is an interdisciplinary project that aims to develop sustainable solutions for the environmental, economic, and social challenges facing the Mar Menor lagoon and the Campo de Cartagena watershed in Spain. The project comprises several work packages (WP), with WP4 focusing on participatory systems dynamics modelling of the socio-ecological and socio-economic dimensions of...
Our Citizen Science initiatives
Accordingly with Public participation plan, during the first year and a half of the project, we organized some activities to engage citizens, to understand their point of view and increase their awareness about our project and look at Mar Menor issues through scientific eyes. In particular, we engaged three citizens' group targets: i) children; ii) environmental NGO members; iii) people involved in water management. Children as citizen scientists In October 2021, we organized a citizen science session engaging two classes of the ``Felix Rodriguez de La Fuente" primary school in “Los Nietos” (Mar Menor). In particular, 23 children (12 girls and 11 boys) in the age range...