With over 130 samples collected by citizens across the entire Iberian Peninsula. As part of Iberarenum, a project funded by FECYT that is consolidating itself as a pioneering citizen science initiative
Every grain of sand holds a story and a wealth of information that can be vital in the context of climate change. The Marine Research Centre of the University of Vigo (CIM) has just established Spain’s first National Beach Sand Bank as part of the Iberarenum project, a scientific milestone built grain by grain with the participation of individuals, educational institutions and associations.
The bank already holds more than 130 samples from beaches across the Iberian Peninsula, collected by citizens following sampling instructions provided by the research team and subsequently sent to the University of Vigo for cataloguing and analysis. The display section of the samples will be open to the public at the Faculty of Marine Sciences of the University of Vigo, turning the results of this research into an accessible and visible resource for all of society.
The project, funded by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (FECYT), was structured around various channels of citizen participation. In addition to the individual samples contributed, several public outreach sand-collection events were held in which citizens were able to take part directly in the scientific process. At the same time, the team developed teaching units tavailable on the project website so that teachers, schools and interested individuals can engage with the project’s content in the classroom or independently.
A project with no expiry date
IberaRenum is a project with no expiry date. The CIM’s goal is to maintain and continue growing the sand bank over time by gathering new samples and analysing them with the CIM’s own funding, thereby building a scientific reference archive on Iberian beaches and their evolution.
The CIM’s director, Daniel Rey, highlights the great scientific and social value of this initiative. “Involving society in the scientific process is a powerful tool for raising awareness of the marine environment and the importance of preserving it. Beaches are ecosystems in constant change due to factors such as climate and the geological characteristics of their surroundings, and analysing sand helps us understand their evolution, the impacts of climate change and allows us to improve the sustainable management of coastal resources,” he stressed.
The project maintains long-term objectives, as Daniel Rey explains: “We want IberaRenum to be a living resource — one that grows and serves not only the scientific community but also society as a whole. We want a teacher to be able to use our teaching units, a family to be able to come and see the samples at the Faculty, or a coastal municipality to be able to consult our data to make better decisions about managing their beaches. That is what we want to build.”
The CIM holds the CIGUS recognition from the Xunta de Galicia, which certifies the quality and impact of its research, and its activity is co-funded by the European Union through the ERDF Programme 2021–2027.
Source: DUVI
