The COMMON SENSE project’s 18 month partner meeting was held in Terrassa, Spain, from 22-23 April 2015. The meeting, hosted by the project’s coordinator Leitat Technological Centre, brought the COMMON SENSE consortium together to discuss the progress of the project and to decide on future actions as the project approaches its mid-point.

COMMON SENSE is developing innovative, cost-effective sensors that will increase the availability of standardised data on: eutrophication; concentrations of heavy metals; microplastic fraction within marine litter; underwater noise; and other parameters such as temperature and pressure. These next generation sensing technologies will support the effective implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) by enabling effective monitoring of our waters and so contribute to the protection of the marine environment in Europe.

The progress of the development of these sensors was presented at the meeting and included interesting results such as a prototype for a new high performance organic and flexible sensor for the highly sensitive detection of temperature changes on aqueous media. Sensor performance tests carried out with the first prototype developed by project partner NANOMOL have shown that the sensitivity of the developed thermometer is two orders of magnitude higher than that of the commercially used Platinum thermometer in the room temperature region.

During the meeting, partners engaged in an extensive review meeting where the progress of each of the project’s work packages was presented and evaluated in order to ensure good project development, the achievement of project objectives, and the successful delivery of project results. The partners also discussed how to maximise effective collaboration and knowledge sharing with fellow projects funded under ‘The Ocean of Tomorrow’ call. Synergistic opportunities for deployment and testing of sensors were also considered.

The COMMON SENSE consortium comprises six SMEs, five research development institutes, three universities and one foundation. The consortium’s expertise and geographical distribution will enable multidisciplinary marine environmental monitoring of key marine regions, including the Baltic Sea, the north-east Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

         The COMMON SENSE Partners at their 18 Month Meeting in Terrassa, Spain, April 2015.