May 9, 2025. COSEA: The European App Empowering Citizens to Protect Marine Ecosystems
COSEA (COllaboration for Effective Sea Action) – An open platform for marine citizen science and community engagement.
COSEA is an innovative digital toolkit developed with funding from the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme. Designed to foster direct public involvement in marine monitoring, the application enables anyone living near or working by the sea — from researchers to local communities — to become active contributors to marine environmental protection.
The COSEA app allows users to record real-time observations relating to marine biodiversity, infrastructure impacts, pollution, and blue economy activities directly via smartphones. These citizen-generated data entries are then available to regional stakeholders, grassroots initiatives, and policymakers, providing a solid evidence base for more informed decisions and context-sensitive solutions.
However, COSEA is far more than a data collection tool. At its core lies a philosophy of co-use and co-creation. The platform is specifically designed to be shared by multiple users — including NGOs, citizen science projects, and regional conservation groups — who often lack the financial resources to build and maintain their own digital applications. Through COSEA, such groups gain access to a fully developed, scalable and feature-rich citizen science and public engagement tool, without incurring development costs.
Key planned features include regional data dashboards, user-generated data tagging, customised access to regional datasets, and direct communication channels between project partners and users. These capabilities aim to support a wide spectrum of marine monitoring and public engagement activities, from local ecological observations to cross-border collaboration.
At present, COSEA is in its initial prototype phase. Nonetheless, the project has launched an early access programme, offering up to three partnership slots for initiatives wishing to help shape the platform during its development. Early access participants will have the opportunity to co-design data categories, integrate branding and communication content, and receive full data access for their respective regions or countries — all at no cost.
COSEA is the result of collaboration between two EU-funded projects, working together to deliver a cutting-edge digital platform for scalable, collaborative marine citizen science. It is jointly developed through the synergies of the TRANSEATION and EFFECTIVE projects, both funded by Horizon Europe and involving the Spanish partner CTN (Centro Tecnológico Naval y del Mar), which plays a key role in co-designing and promoting the toolkit’s application across European coastal regions.
By enabling public engagement, fostering knowledge exchange, and supporting evidence-based policy, COSEA sets out to become a dynamic, open-access digital space for the protection and sustainable stewardship of Europe’s seas and coasts.
Organisations interested in participating in the early access phase are invited to apply via the form available through COSEA website.
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