6th Blue Café: Playing Our Way into Better MPA
01/12/2025
On 25 November 2025, the MAPA project turned the Youth Center in Zadar into a playful laboratory for marine governance. In a jointly organised Blue Café, Croatian and Italian partners, students, NGOs, academics and interested citizens came together to explore what it really means to design and manage a Marine Protected Area – not through PowerPoint, but through a serious game developed by 20000 Leagues: the MPA Fresk.
A truly joint Italy–Croatia gathering
The event was co-created by the whole MAPA partnership, with 20000 Leagues coordinating on the Croatian side and project partners from Italy actively involved in preparation and play. After a brief round of introductions moderated by Barbara Čolić, all partners presented their roles, pilot sites and key achievements so far: work on Silba Reefs, Conero, Foce del Trigno and other areas; youth programmes, citizen‑science dives, Blue Cafés, and efforts to advance new reserve proposals.
For many participants, including some who had been working on MAPA since the beginning, this was the first time they saw the “big picture” of MPAs laid out in one place - how research, education, governance and livelihoods fit together. Italian and Croatian team members used the opportunity to explain their local realities to one another and to the public, setting the stage for the game.
MPA Fresk: learning by playing
The heart of the afternoon was the “MPA Fresk Sea‑rious Game”, facilitated by Barbara Čolić, Hrvoje Čižmek and Marta Sutlović. Participants were split into small mixed teams that included students, project staff, NGO members and coastal residents. Using cards, scenarios and guided discussion, each group had to piece together how ecological processes, human activities (like fishing, tourism and shipping) and governance tools (zoning, regulations, enforcement, participation) interact in an MPA. Teams debated questions such as:
- Where should strict protection be placed, and what trade‑offs does it create?
- How do we involve local communities and fishers in decisions?
- What happens if enforcement is weak, or climate impacts intensify?
As the game progressed, the “fresk” of each group became a visual map of connections, conflicts and opportunities. Players who were new to MPAs gained an intuitive feel for how many moving parts must be aligned; partners already working on MAPA discovered fresh angles on their own work and how it fits into a broader governance puzzle.
Shared insights from both sides of the Adriatic
The discussion after the game was lively and grounded. Participants agreed that MPAs are one of the most powerful tools for restoring ecosystem health and fish stocks; increasing resilience to climate change and creating long‑term opportunities for sustainable tourism and small‑scale fisheries.
At the same time, they stressed that MPAs only work if people understand and support them. Students expressed interest in getting involved through internships and Sea-tizen science programmes planned for spring. NGO representatives emphasised the value of local and fisher knowledge, echoing experiences from Silba and Conero. Key challenges raised included anchoring pressures on sensitive habitats, limited funding for monitoring and enforcement, and the need for clearer communication with local communities and visitors.
Why this Blue Café was different – and why it matters?
Unlike a classic Blue Cafe where there was an effort made to do it, this Blue Café completly succeded in blurring the lines completly between “project team” and “participants”. Partners, locals and students all standed around the same tables, made decisions in the game, and saw how their choices affected the imaginary MPA. Several MAPA staff members noted that playing the MPA Fresk helped them reconnect with the core idea of the project: MPAs are not only about biology or legal boundaries; they are about people, power, trade‑offs and collaboration.
The event closed with coffee and cakes and a shared reflection on next steps: using the insights from the game to shape communication with stakeholders, strengthening joint Italian–Croatian advocacy for new and better managed MPAs, and repeating the MPA Fresk format in other coastal communities.
