From Porto Cesareo to Ston: connecting people to protect the sea
22/10/2026
Changing the way we experience the sea
From the Kick off Meeting, the BIOPRESSADRIA partnership has pursued an ambitious goal: changing the way people who live and enjoy the sea behave. That starts with boaters, many of whom still drop anchor on Posidonia oceanica and other seagrass meadows without realising the damage it can cause...
The BIOPRESSADRIA project partners have worked tirelessly to reach the public connected to nautical tourism. They explained why these underwater habitats matter and how each of us can help protect them, and they promoted concrete good practices such as using eco-moorings instead of anchoring on sensitive seabeds, and, at the same time. stressed the importance of managing tourist flows on valuable coastal habitats and supporting better regulation of maritime spatial planning.
Taking the message where people are
To reach a broad and varied audience, the project chose to go where people already gather, on land and at sea.
In several Croatian tourist towns, videos about the sea and its meadows were projected onto the façades of historic buildings and town walls. Ordinary summer evenings became moments of discovery for residents and visitors alike.
Alongside these events, the project partners organised round tables with stakeholders, bringing together the people who manage, use and protect the coast. They were also present at boat shows and international regattas. There they handed out information materials and gadgets, and met sailors, boaters, families and tourists, explaining the project and its goals in a direct and accessible way.
A message that lives on
Perhaps the most important result is one that goes beyond the events themselves. Through these activities, BIOPRESSADRIA has built a group of people able to keep spreading the message after the project ends. It is a network that connects places, organisations and individuals who share the same commitment to the Adriatic and whole Mediterranena Sea.
The Barcolana in Trieste was a fitting finale: one of the world’s largest regattas, and the ideal place to remind everyone who loves the sea that protecting it starts with simple choices, such as where we drop anchor.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by, listened, asked questions and joined the conversation along the way. The journey continues at the project’s final conference in Venice on 10-11 November 2026, so...Stay tuned and follow us!!!
