PartArt4OW unites art, science, and civic engagement to tackle pressing ocean and water challenges across Europe. Through Participatory Art Initiatives (PAIs), we empower creative communities to develop interdisciplinary projects that enhance public awareness, build emotional connections, and inspire action for water sustainability. Supported by funding, mentorship, and networking opportunities, these initiatives showcase their work through public festivals, while our Sailing Lab travels to connect communities to these projects, fostering discovery and dialogue on ocean health.
Our toolkit collects best practices and guidance for those wanting to replicate these participatory initiatives, enabling other organizations and policy makers to address water-related issues. Additionally, our ecosystem-building activities bring together diverse stakeholders and creatives, creating a strong, collaborative network dedicated to protecting our waters for generations to come.
Project Objectives
PartArt4OW has set ambitious objectives to provide solutions for these issues:
Objective 1: Strengthen the relationship and emotional attachment between society and the oceans and waters, and create new connections between European citizens and their local bodies of water.
We achieve this by:
● Triggering citizens’ creativity and artistic inclinations by bringing them together with artistic and creative professionals, to work together in participatory projects across Europe;
● Connecting coastal and maritime communities with the open ocean through the PartArt4OW Sailing Lab, which gives citizens the opportunity to explore and experience oceans and waters and the initiatives supported by PartArt4OW;
● Producing and widely circulating emotionally-impactful visual documentation material about PartArt4OW initiatives;
● Organising 3 Festivals to spread PartArt4OWs message and support the replication of the supported initiatives in other locations around Europe
● Producing a PartArt4OW toolkit, providing guidance and insights from our own experience, to enable future projects to replicate our best practice.
Objective 2: Raise awareness of challenges pertaining to oceans and waters across Europe. We work towards informing artists and the creative and cultural sector, European citizens, innovators, researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders about the challenges that need addressing, and why they matter.
We achieve this by:
● Providing financial support, training and mentoring to 20 interdisciplinary, intersectoral participatory projects that directly involve citizens and local stakeholders.
● Establishing the PartArt4OW Sailing Lab, which visually document ocean conditions, and promote selected outcomes of PartArt4OW initiatives, to offer an open-access view to citizens worldwide;
● Exhibiting the artworks created by PartArt4OW initiatives and other relevant outputs in 3 Festivals
● Create and support via mutual learning opportunities a large ecosystem of actors interested in increasing citizens’ marine and science literacy by developing art-science initiatives in the field so as to enlarge the network of those engaged for ocean and water protection via participatory and art-science collaborative projects.
● Run professional communication campaigns on traditional and new media
Objective 3: Develop a strong transdisciplinary network aimed to protect and restore oceans and inland waters in Europe. The network includes citizens, artists, researchers, policy makers, businesses, and other stakeholders engaged in ocean and water management and protection, and blue research.
We achieve this by:
● Mobilising artistic communities (e.g. visual arts, literary arts, performing arts, architects) and creative sectors (e.g., entities and associations operating in cultural, artistic, educational fields) to apply for PartArt4OW funding;
● Matchmaking events during open calls, enabling potential applicants to join forces and apply together;
● Creating a community among participants of selected initiatives, through dedicated sessions during the Accelerator program, as well as the documentation and communication activity of the PartArt Sailing Lab expedition;
● Establishing and leveraging synergies with past and ongoing European initiatives (e.g. BlueParks, S+T+ARTS, NEB, Creative Europe);
● Establishing connections between PartArt4OW participants and stakeholders, to encourage interest in blue innovation and research and blue economy.
● Promote mutual learning via dedicated workshops engaging different stakeholders in learning how to support interdisciplinary, intersectionals, art-science initiatives for marine and water conservation and restoration.