The closing event of the Mariscando conCiencias project, involving CIM’s Future Oceans Lab, brought a wide range of activities to Cesantes beach
Bringing science, traditional knowledge and artistic creation into dialogue to imagine sustainable futures for intertidal shellfishing. This was the aim of Mariscando conCiencias para el futuro, an initiative developed throughout 2025 and 2026 that came to a close this Friday at Cesantes beach in Redondela with a public event addressing the current challenges facing shellfishing and the sector’s future prospects in the San Simón inlet.
Coordinated by the Galician cooperative Cidadanía, the project involved the Future Oceans Lab group at the Universidade de Vigo’s Centro de Investigación Mariña, which led the scientific contribution, together with the marine tourism association Amarturmar, the Artelixo art collective and the Concello de Redondela. The initiative was funded by the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation through its Citizen Art programme.
The project emerged from the concerns of women shellfish gatherers themselves about the future of a traditional, female-dominated occupation that is particularly exposed to environmental changes in the marine environment. From this starting point, the initiative sought to connect different forms of knowledge to understand the changes affecting the activity and collectively imagine alternatives for the future.
Science and local knowledge
The involvement of Future Oceans Lab brought a scientific perspective to the process, focusing on the effects of climate change and other environmental pressures on marine socio-ecological systems. Rising water temperatures, episodes of torrential rainfall and pollution are among the factors that may contribute to bivalve mortality and to the vulnerability currently affecting intertidal shellfishing.
Scientific knowledge was combined with the experience of women shellfish gatherers, recognising their own knowledge of the territory and the changes affecting shellfish beds. Within this framework, Future Oceans Lab promoted the MARabismo Laboratory, where participants worked collectively to develop possible future scenarios for local small-scale fisheries.
The project also brought shellfishing closer to the public. More than one hundred schoolchildren and adults took part in different activities where they learned about the tools and techniques used in intertidal shellfishing, searched for species on the shore and participated in coastal clean-up activities.
A project with a strong artistic dimension
Art was another of the initiative’s key pillars. Photography, creations made from recycled materials and other artistic approaches accompanied the process, providing new ways of representing the relationship between coastal communities and the marine environment.
Some of the waste collected from beaches was transformed into new pieces as part of Artelixo 2026, held this year under the slogan “The sea used to reach this far!”. Sculptures, installations, photographs and photovoice materials created throughout the project were among the results presented at the closing event.
Another highlight was A Beira, a contemporary dance piece developed through work with women shellfish gatherers from the San Simón inlet and Galician dancers. Coordinated by researcher and dancer Xochitl Édua Elías Ilosvay, the piece uses the body and movement to connect the physical work of shellfish gatherers with the memory of the territory and reflections on the future of the sea.
Sharing the results with the public
The event in Cesantes, which was open to the public, was attended by, among others, the Mayor of Redondela, Digna Rivas. In addition to the performance of the dance piece and the exhibition of artistic creations, the programme included an afternoon roundtable on the current challenges facing shellfishing, with representatives from the sector, as well as a family workshop using marine litter to create art.
The event brought to a close a process that sought to bring together science, traditional knowledge and artistic creation to address, from within the territory itself, the environmental and social challenges shaping the future of shellfishing in the San Simón inlet.
CIM holds the CIGUS recognition awarded by the Xunta de Galicia, which acknowledges the quality and impact of its research, and its activities are co-funded by the European Union through the ERDF 2021–2027 programme.
Source: DUVI
