LandSeaLot welcomes the launch of CS-MACH1: harvesting the power of community to monitor an ever-changing ocean
On the 9th and 10th of July 2025, the historic city of Lecce in Italy welcomed marine science experts, citizen science actors, and technology developers for the official kick-off meeting of the European project CS-MACH1, held at the headquarters of the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC).
CS-MACH1 (MArine Citizen science data Horizon) is a 30-month project funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe programme, and coordinated by Viviana Piermattei (CMCC). It aims to create a robust marine citizen science data network that will speed up collaboration and data flow among different players, such as researchers, citizen science project managers, cost-effective sensor developers and data managers.
Giovanni Coppini, Principal Scientist and Director of the Strategic Program “Global Coasts as a New Frontier” at CMCC, emphasised the project’s strategic vision: “Citizen science is increasingly important for building global coastal ocean observation and prediction systems. CS-MACH1 demonstrates how society can be actively engaged in tackling climate and ocean challenges.”
The project will foster collaboration between marine citizen science initiatives leaders, data management experts, low-cost technology providers, and marine researchers. It will also promote active societal engagement in ocean observation and climate action, in line with the EU Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters, and the UN Ocean Decade programme CoastPredict.
The project will not only focus on coastal observations but also extend its reach to the open ocean. It will also integrate citizen science observations with modelling systems for enhanced environmental understanding and decision-making.
CS-MACH1 will unlock the full potential of marine citizen science, transforming data collection into impactful, trusted, and usable knowledge that serves both science and society, addressing the urgent climate and ocean challenges ahead.
CS-MACH1 and LandSeaLot will collaborate closely on common issues relating citizen science and data management and sharing. With several common project partners and complimentary tasks, CS-MACH1 will strengthen LandSeaLot’s work and impact at the land-sea interface.
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