COMMON SENSE partners attended the 2nd International Ocean Research Conference (IORC) in Barcelona from the 17th to the 21st of November, where they exhibited an informational poster on the project and its aims.

Members of the partnership also attended a number of workshops at the event, including “European marine policy and its implementation through projects for marine monitoring for blue growth” which was organised by CYRIC (Cyprus Research and Innovation Center).

This workshop gathered together the four projects financed under the EC Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) topic “Innovative multifunctional sensors for in-situ monitoring of marine environment and related maritime activities”: SENSE OCEAN, SCHEMA, NEXOS and COMMON SENSE; as well as other innovative projects such as MARIA BOX, BRAAVOO, ENVIGUARD, SEA-ON-A-CHIPand SMS.

The consortium was also represented at a parallel workshop on “Achievements and future research on micro-plastics in the marine environment” as well as at the “Presentation of the Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) report in reference to microplastics”. The core research of COMMON SENSE includes the design, development and integration of a cost-effective sensor for in-situ monitoring of microplastic fraction within marine litter.

Furthermore, the consortium attended the workshop on “Scientists sharing data: existing databases, improving access, data poor areas”.