in Mediterranean sea

See all the presentations of the events!

Opening Video – ARGOMARINE, 100 occhi sul mare

Political and institutional presentations

The head of the Italian Civil Protection Department takes part in the Conference about technology for the safety of navigation. The promotion of the Argomarine project.

The Conference was organised as the Argomarine Project’s final event, a research by the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago on the monitoring of hydrocarbons in the sea. The event provided the occasion for showing that the aim at the end of three years of activity has been reached: to put a data collection system into use (MIS Marine Information System) which can provide a scenario of maritime traffic and of the pollution risk in real time, with the integrated use of satellite, electronic nose, buoys, autonomous underwater vehicles, aerial images and alarm signals of volunteers thanks to a smart phone app created by the researchers for the purpose.

The Italian Civil Protection, the Italian Ministry of the Environment and the European Union have all appreciated the outcomes of the project, promoting it as a model to be developed and applied in environmental emergencies especially after the Costa Concordia case which is the starting point and case study for most of the conference speeches.

Sammuri, the Park’s President, opened the conference with some impressive data on the loss of biodiversity in nature, referencing, as an example, the halving of forests and wetlands and remembering the resounding environmental disasters which the sea has been exposed to, with considerable economic and political effects on the global system. Sammuri revealed how disasters such as that of Costa Concordia let one reflect on the limits that man must impose on himself and the importance of respecting the rules in order to prevent damage to the environment. The Argomarine’s results are well integrated in this context as they enable rules to be respected using an immediate and effective monitoring and control system.

After having spoken generally about the Italian Civil Protection’s National Plan, Gabrielli  insisted on the urgency of planning in Italy. He added also that even effective laws and advanced technology do not help progress if Italian citizens do not acquire the culture of awareness that causes each of us to get informed about the risks that threaten Italian territory, to understand the behaviour that must be adopted and the activities that the institutions must carry out. This is because a citizen who is aware is a demanding citizen, also as concerns the tools that the institutions must secure. Gabrielli also greatly approved the outcomes of this research funded by the European Union and hoped that the experimentation would continue as it helps prevent disasters and allows immediate interventions which keep the negative consequences to a minimum.

Similarly, Dr Avancini’s speech highlighted the Ministry of the Environment’s interest in Argomarine and the positive function in favour of the speedy of the technological response in the operating stages. He hoped that the research would constitute a pilot project to help protecting the sea.

The Admiral Dell’Anna stressed the fundamental role of the Harbour Master’s offices in the protection of the sea and the importance of measures for the safety of navigation, highlighting that Coast Guard uses technology on a daily basis to ensure safety at sea.

The engineer Maurizio Maggiore, official of the European Commission Directorate General for Research and Technology Development, Unit Transport, which funded all the activities of the Park’s Project, confirmed that, as well as having correctly reached the aims, a communication model has been drafted which will be used as an example to be followed in other European research projects.

See all the presentations of the speakers who took part in the conference!

Isle of Elba

Centro Culturale De Laugier, Portoferraio

With the presence of:

Massimo Avancini, Ministery of the Italian Environment
Enrico Rossi, Governor Regione Toscana
Franco Gabrielli, Chief of Department, Department of the Civil Protection of Italy
Pierluigi Cacioppo, General Commander of the Italian Coast Guard

Dowload the ARGOMARINE final conference program and invitation card

Download th Press Review of the Conference

REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE NOW!

TRAVEL, ACCOMMODATION  AND LOGISTICS

LOCATION OF THE MEETING

The international meeting will take place at De Laugier Conference Hall, Salita Napoleone, Portoferraio – Isola d’Elba.

TRAVEL:

By Airplane:

We suggest to choose Pisa International Airport (PSA) for your arrival which is only 1 hour driving time from Piombino Marittima, the harbour where you can take the ferry to Elba.

Train service from Pisa airport to Piombino Marittima is available, but you must change in Pisa Central Station and,  often also in Campiglia Marittima station where you catch a train or a bus to Piombino Marittima. The train ticket is valid also for the bus journey.

You can check the Trenitalia official web site for train schedule: www.trenitalia.com (insert as arrival: Piombino Marittima)

NOTE: a Shuttle Bus is provided from Pisa Airport to Piombino Marittima on Tuesday 20 at around 6.30 PM. Please contact, before the 1st of November, Manuela Magnoni (magnoni@islepark.it) to reserve it.

By Car:

Wherever you come from, to reach Piombino Marittima, the harbour where you can take the ferry to Elba, from the SS1 highway, you have to exit at “Venturina/Piombino/Island of Elba” and follow the signs for Piombino Marittima.

Here you can find all the information about your travel and how long it takes.

Once you get to Piombino Marittima you can choose whether to leave your car in a paying guarded car park or take it across to the Island of Elba.

By Train:

If you want to come by train, get off in Piombino Marittima train station.

Usually, wherever you come from, you must change in Campiglia Marittima where you can find a train or a bus to reach Piombino Marittima (the ticket train is also valid for the bus journey).

Here you can find the Trenitalia official web site: www. trenitalia.com (write in the Arrival field “Piombino Marittima”).

By Bus:

If you come from Milan, Florence or Siena/Grosseto, bus services are also available. Click on the journey below for more details:

Milan-Piombino Marittima

Florence-Piombino Marittima

Siena/Grosseto-Piombino Marittima

Ferries:

To go to Elba you can choose among two different companies: Toremar and Moby.

Please  take the ferry to Portoferraio where your hotels are located. As regards the company, if you want to embark  your car, it is better to check the prices first: sometimes they are very different  one from the other.

Here you can find two different booking services to check the timetable, the availability and the prices: http://bit.ly/HW7Zq2 or http://www.traghettilines.it/.

If you don’t travel with your own car, you can also take the hydrofoil that takes only 35 minutes from Piombino to Portoferraio.

Here you can find the timetable: www.toremar.it

ACCOMMODATION

As regards accommodation, we have have already contacted the Hotel Crystal and the Hotel Villa Padulella in Portoferraio, close to Le Ghiaie beach and at 10 minutes driving from the location of the experiment and 10 minutes walking from the location of the meeting.

As you arrive in Portoferraio, follow the direction (or ask) for “Le Ghiaie” beach. At the end of the road, in front of the garden, on your left, you can find Crystal Hotel, and 100 mt. ahead, on the same side, you can find the Villa Padulella Hotel.

Please book, for both hotels, directly at the Hotel Crystal, telling that you are part of the Argomarine project of the Parco Nazionale Arcipelago Toscano. They will manage your accommodation.

HOTEL CRYSTAL ****

www.hotelcrystal.it

Loc. Le Ghiaie, 57037 Portoferraio (LI) – See the Map

Tel. +39 0565 917 971 – 915 710

Fax +39 0565 916 864

E-mail: mailbox@hotelcrystal.it

Prices per night (special price for Parco Nazionale Arcipelago Toscano):

Double room: 40 euros per person (80 euros per room)

Double room for single use: 50 euros

Natural Oil Spill in Zakynthos Island

Thanks to the application developed by the Laboratory of Signals and Images (SI-LAB) Institute of Information Science and Technologies, CNR, Pisa, anyone can report suspected oily spots in the sea and become “researcher for a day” .

The application provides three simple functions: 2 alarm buttons (red and yellow according to the importance of the event), a “message area” where you can describe the sighting and the peculiar conditions of the oil slick, and Latitude/Longitude to determine the exact location of the sighting.  If the oil spill seems to be particularly serious the authority entrusted to the intervention can be notified.

ARGO Sentinel app main interface

As the 100-eyes giant Argus of the Greek mythology, the ARGOMARINE project, coordinated by the Tuscan Archipelago National Park and funded by the European Union (www.argomarine.eu), has developed a network of technologies to monitor marine pollution, to control maritime traffic in protected areas and, in case of oil spills, to create predictive models for an effective intervention and reclamation.

The project is carried out by  the  following  institutions: CNR-Institute of Information Science and Technology of Pisa (Italy), the National Technical University of Athens and the National Maritime Park of Zakynthos, from Greece, the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Norway, the Centro de Investigação Marinha Ambiental and the University of Algarve, Portugal, the European Union Joint Research Centre and the NATO Undersea Research Center based in La Spezia (Italy).

The researchers of the Signals and Images Laboratory, emphasize the importance of technological research for ecological and social aims: “We often see technological research and social needs going on parallel tracks without ever finding a meeting point. On the contrary, it’s fundamental to develop research projects in which technology and needs “talk to each other” to achieve final results useful to our society. It means using the right tools to bring together technology, research organizations and final users. And that’s what we have done with ARGO SENTINEL “.

The reports, geolocated using GPS, will be sent to the Maritime Information System (MIS), the “thinking brain” of the ARGOMARINE network able to analyze data and integrate them with mathematical forecasting models. These reports will help to improve the Argomarine network  and to create the first map of the health of our seas generated by its own users.

ARGOMARINE Maritime Information System interface after a Red alarm sent throuhgh ARGO Sentinel App

The project and the contributions of the “Sea Sentinels” can be followed via Twitter (@ARGOMARINE_EU) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/ARGOMARINEproject).

The application “ARGO SENTINEL” can be downloaded from Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/search?q=argo+sentinel&c=apps), or directly from the site www.argomarine.eu.

The sea and the research are waiting for your contribution!

The Management Agency of National Marine Park of Zakynthos (NMPZ) organized a Scientific Environmental Workshop on “Marine Pollution: Monitoring Systems and Treatment” which held on Monday 30th July 2012, at the Cultural Centre of Zakynthos. The Workshop began at 9:45 a.m. and concluded at 15:00 p.m. Afterwards, the guests were guided in the marine protected area of the NMPZ.

The Workshop held in the framework of NMPZ participation (as one of the Scientific Partners) in the FP7 – European Union funded Project: ARGOMARINE “Automatic Oil-Spill Recognition and Geopositioning integrated in a Marine Monitoring Network” which aims to develop an Integrated System for Marine Traffic Monitoring and Marine Pollution Early Warning, particularly for environmental- sensitive sea areas.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Press review

“Marine Pollution: Monitoring Systems and Treatment.” The 2nd workshop pf the National Maritime Park of Zakynthos on ERZ TV – news broadcast – 30.07.2012 (Greek)

“

Dear Maritime Friends,

We would like to thank you for making the European Maritime Day 2012 in Gothenburg, Sweden, a truly great and successful event. Your presence and commitment made it an unforgettable experience.

We wish you a nice summer and good luck in your continuing work for sustainable ‘Blue growth’ and a promising future for our oceans, seas and coasts.

Hope to see you soon again,

Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications Sweden, Region Västra Götaland and City of Gothenburg“

EMD 2012 Photogallery – Conference

http://www.emd2012.se/

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

From May 28 to June 1, ARGOMARINE project and the research institutes coming from five different states, will be in Elba Island to monitor the sea of Tuscan Archipelago.

Portoferraio, National Park of Tuscan Archipelago – After the tragic events of the Costa Concordia and Toxic bins in the Gorgona area, the National Park of Tuscan Archipelago will host for five days the technical team of ARGOMARINE, the scientific project funded by the European Union and coordinated by the Park, aimed to develop technologies for pollution control and marine traffic in the Mediterranean basin.

During the 28th, 29th and 30th of May, the Park Headquarters and the sea of the Tuscan Archipelago will become a large scientific laboratory where cutting edge technology, developed by the project partners, will transmit information on the health of the waters to the central processing data software installed in the “Arsena hall”.
Here, in fact, will be installed the MIS (Marine Information System), the central system which gathers together information from sources such as satellites, optical sensors, electronic noses, sensory buoys, autonomous underwater vehicles and geolocation systems, integrates each other and hence generates predictive models to assist authorities in dealing with any problems or emergencies.

The project partners, among which the National Technical University of Athens, the CNR of Pisa, the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, the Centro de Investigação Marinha Ambiental and the University of Algarve, the National Marine Park of Zakynthos, the Joint Research Centre and the NATO Underwater Research Centre, will share their experiences and their advanced technologies to develop the MIS and to permit a correct “reading” of the signals that the sea is sending us.

It is possible to follow every step of the experiment through the Twitter channel @ARGOMARINE_EU where scientific data, photographs and video of the three days of experiment will be published in real time. It is possible, also, to contact the team for questions and comments.

ARGOMARINE is one of the first scientific projects financed by the European Union to give everyone the opportunity to watch and participate in the team work thanks to Social Networks and because of its innovative activity has been awarded the Euro-Mediterranean Award 2012.

 Researchers and their technological instruments in Elbatest

Michele Cocco, coordinator of the Project and the state of the art

Pol Kolokoussis explains the role of the National Technical University of Athens in the ARGOMARINE project

Mary Mavroupolou shows the National Marine Park of Zakynthos tasks in ARGOMARINE project

Joao Janeiro explains the mathematical model of the University of Algarve developed in the ARGOMARINE Project

Alessandro Tonacci, CNR, show the e-nose on the Folegar

Gabriele Pieri from ISTI-CNR unveils some secrets of the Marine Information System

Press Review

On May 17, 2012, the National Park of Tuscan Archipelago partecipated at the Euro-Mediterranean Forum 2012 (www.euromediterraneo.net) and received the “Environment and Health” Award for the communication of the Scientific Project “ARGOMARINE”.

The theme of the Euro-Mediterranean Forum 2012(www.euromediterraneo.net) that, through the formula of the benchmarking intends to build experiences of innovation in communication, was “Institutions between old media and social networks, a new challenge in Euro-Mediterranean key”.

At the end of the event, the National Park of Tuscan Archipelago received, along with guests and institutions of high level, the Award for its communication and, in particular, fot the case of the Scientific Project “ARGOMARINE”. The project, indeed, has become very interesting for the communication model chosen becouse, in addition to the traditional communication tools, it uses Social Media like Youtube, Facebook, Slideshare, Soundcloud, Flickr, and, in particular, Twitter: the channel through which the project is told with a liveblogging of its operations. This type of communication allows not only the dissemination of news and results, but also allows members of the scientific team, distributed in 5 different countries, to keep in constant touch.

The type of communication, clear and understandable, convinced the European Union (that had never spoken, so far, about Social Media best practice), and the communication model of ARGOMARINE was included as best practice in the guidelines for future projects to be funded.

Press review:

min. 5.42:

Jose Manuel Durao Barroso
President of the European Commission

On May 20, Europe celebrates European Maritime Day and ARGOMARINE, scientific project of the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago, will be present in Gothenburg with the MedPAN (Network of Managers of Marine Protected Areas in Mediterranean See).

Established on 20 May  2008 (the day when, centuries ago, John Cabot sailed from Bristol in search of a new route to the west, Vasco de Gama arrived in India and Abraham Ortelius published the first modern atlas) through the joint signing of the three main European institutions (the Parliament, the Council and the Commission), the European Maritime Day was founded  to raise citizens’ and stakeholders’ awareness about the economic, environmental, social and cultural importance of marine in Europe.

Considering that 22 out of  the 27 Member States are coastal States or islands, that Europe has almost 70,000 km of coastline and that the EU’s maritime regions have 40% of population and GDP of the whole Europe, the EU has decided to “strengthen their capacity to cope with major challenges such as globalization, climate change, energy sustainability and environmental pressures on the coasts and seas” and to organize three days completely dedicated to raise awareness, to debate and to deeply understand Marine environmental issues.

During this event, ARGOMARINE (www.argomarine.eu) will present its project as an example of how, with EU support to research and with a solid network of Parks, Universities and Research Institutes, it is possible to give a real contribution to the monitoring and preservation of marine environment that, even if recognized as precious and  with a fragile biological equilibrium, is too often scene of accidents such as the recent case of the Costa Concordia and of the toxic drums close to the Gorgona Isle.

The European Maritime Days will be followed on the ARGOMARINE Project Twitter channel @ARGOMARINE_EU, which is available to make questions or to contact the speakers involved in EMD.

Arcipelago Toscano alla Giornata Europea dei Mari

The speech of Argomarine coordinator Michele Cocco @ European Maritime Days #EMD2012

The presentation of ARGOMARINE Project @ EMD 2012