10 Nov Golden Seal
Tackling Plastic Littering of Greek Beaches and Upgrading their Brand Image by Utilizing IoT Technologies and Gamifying the Recycling Experience
Golden Seal
Partners: ALTUS LSA, CYCLEFI, SiEBEN, IACUDIT, ΕΜΠ ΕΟΠ, ΙΩ-ΕΛ.ΚΕ.Θ.Ε.
Total Budget : 853.373,75 €
Public Funding : 710.624,60 €
The Project
Marine pollution is a global problem which is becoming more and more intense every day, as millions of tons of plastic and other wastes end up in the oceans every year, creating environmental, economic, health and aesthetic problems, with the latter damaging the tourism industry, a critical factor of our country’s development. This confirms the perception that the harmonization of waste management with the basic circular economy rules is still at the embryonic level, as millions of tons of plastic that could return much of their value and become a valuable secondary raw material end up polluting the beaches, causing immense and long-lasting damage at all levels . The main vision of the proposed project is its important contribution to the protection of the national tourist product through the upgrading of the technological solutions available to the managing authorities in order to deal with the phenomenon of pollution of plastic on the beaches as well as the increase of the awareness of the citizens about the problem and their active involvement in the efforts to deal with it. In order to achieve its goals, the GOLDEN SEAL project proposes an integrated technology that combines multiple new technologies, each of which is committed to shaping a technological ecosystem entirely devoted to combating marine pollution . More specifically, the technologies that will use the project are the following:
-A Wireless Sensor Network based on Iot technologies, used to collect data about the pollution of beaches.
-A pair of unmanned vessels (one airborne and one sea-surface) with built-in sensors, audiovisual equipment and wireless communication capability, in order to send data from the sensors, as well as images of the supervised area.
-A Suite of Software Tools and Artificial Intelligence Algorithms for data processing and analysis.
-A cloud – based platform, which will take central control, monitor and feedback of data processing.
-A networking platform on beaches implementing GOLDEN SEAL, with two-way communication with bathers.
Along with the use of the above mentioned technologies that are centrally integrated within the framework of the 4th Industrial Revolution ( Industry 4.0), the project will introduce a Serious Game which is expected to play a central role in the successful outcome of the GOLDEN SEAL project , through a) attracting more management authorities, by giving them as a reward the eco-label GOLDEN SEAL and b) activation of citizens through the gamification approach, to become members of the ecosystem, by giving and receiving information about the beach in real time and by participating in recycling actions. In this way the GOLDEN SEAL project aims to raise awareness and motivation of citizens and tourists in the war against marine pollution from plastic and aims to have the same acceptance with environmental labels such as Blue Flag in a reasonable time, to achieve its main objective of preventing waste from entering the marine environment, by promoting the active role of citizens, by raising their awareness and strengthening the role of local authorities in reducing marine pollution.