Projects

The Sindbad project has created a web-based platform for the provision of personalized support services to professional navigation (fishing, aquaculture, local maritime transport) and in general to all sea operators, with the aim of guaranteeing the safety of who works on board and to improve the efficiency of operations. The platform integrates heterogeneous data (numerical models, HF radar data, distributed IoT sensors, underwater cameras, satellite images) and provides both very specific and detailed weather and marine forecasts, as well as some vertical applications of immediate use for the different types of users.

One example amongst the many projects is the CRABS – Cleanup Research and Action for Biodiversity and Safeguarding project – which saw us committed in 2020/2021 with an initiative of environmental awareness-raising, blended with citizen science. The objective of the project, sustained and financed by The North Face, was to select and train a community of people who love open air marine sports to complete marine conservation activities in Portofino’s protected marine area.

Outdoor Portofino is also the headquarters for numerous Practical Courses of Visual Biological Census held by Genoa University. Niasca bay provides the perfect open air classroom for learning marine ecological monitoring techniques through snorkeling and kayaking. Moreover, since 2021, Outdoor Portofino has been able to offer the opportunity to take part in internships and traineeships, stipulating agreements with the main Italian Universities and Schools. Our experience matured over the years, together with the highly competent figures present within our staff, allow us to create targeted projects with the objective of facilitating the professional choices made by students. Knowledge and experience in the world of work helps students in the development of their training processes.

In collaboration with CNR IAS, for the Micro Plastic Hunters project, we developed and tested a protocol for monitoring micro-plastics whilst canoeing, with the objective of monitoring pollution in coastal areas, often not considered by traditional oceanographic campaigns. Recently, we tested the use of mini-mantas for the first time in the sea, in the context of our CRABS project.

In 2021 our Portofino Seaweed Garden project was selected by the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) amongst 280 international projects to create a seaweed garden for the Ericaria Amintacea species within the protected marine area in Portofino. Portofino Seaweed Garden is a great example of citizen science: after an initial phase in the lab, the seaweed was planted in the AMP, being then monitored and protected by the local sports community in an action of communication and awareness-raising regarding environmental safeguarding.

Another citizen science project that we have been committed to is the Blu di Genova project. Thanks to the support of Genoa Blue District and in collaboration with the Auxiliary Coastguard, CNR IAS, Genoa University DISTAV and DICCA, Marevivo and the Lega Navale, we have guided locals, tourists and sportspeople to discover Nervi’s rocky coast and contribute to scientific research.

BRIZO is an ongoing pilot project in which, thanks to the collaboration together with OENgineering and ETT Genova, we are designing and testing a sensor for monitoring oceanographic data that can be transported on aquatic sports vehicles.

Our professional specificity also gives us the chance to take part in safeguarding projects regarding particular marine species. In the context of the RELIFE project (LIFE15 NAT / IT / 000771) to reintroduce the Patella ferruginea limpet – which risks extinction – in Liguria’s  AMPs, we have contributed to the transplantation and monitoring of implanted examples and the conduction of investigations via canoe and coasteering in order to create a map of the resident population of limpets in the local area. Moreover, we have carried out activities that involve the public, taking tourists on our guided kayak tours to visit the limpet populations and allowing them to learn about their ecological importance.

We have provided logistic support to the ROC POP Life project (N ° LIFE16 NAT / IT / 000816) from our nautical headquarters in Monterosso, working to promote improving biodiversity, restoring the Cystoseira populations.

Over the years we have developed important collaborations in the marine and on land environments, sustaining the dissemination of environmental issues. We work together with the Sentinelle del Mare (literally the Sea Sentinels), a project that aims to involve kayakers in helping the Coastguard monitor the Italian coast.

In 2021, the international bioblitz City Nature Challenge also arrived in Italy, with a new marine format, inviting cities to compete in providing the greatest number of citizen science observers of the natural world. Outdoor Portofino took part in the challenge – as did the Portofino local hub – inviting locals and tourists to upload the biological observations that they made above and below the sea, in our iNaturalist project.

Collaborating with the CIMA Research Foundation, we created a series of infographic illustrations for tourists to illustrate marine itineraries, good practices and information regarding endemic local marine species that can be found around the Portofino AMP (progetto Eco-Strim).

We have also acted as subcontractors for Portofino MPA, carrying out a series of nautical surveys in the area and providing GPS points for moorings, buoys and marine works.

Reading the marine forecast is essential for aquatic sports and our geographical position is strategic for oceanographic monitoring. For this reason we also work together with platforms like EMODnet and Sinbad Liguria, managing the Portofino MEDA 2 oceanographic buoy and the oceanographic data available for planning open air activities.

The summer weeks at the Nature School are an occasion in which to explore the marine environment of the protected marine area and get to know the habitats that populate it. Through sports we talk about environmental education and marine biology, transmitting our love and respect for nature.

With support from some of the local institutions, we offer free marine biology and environmental education workshops in the local area. These workshops are aimed at children from 5 years and up.

Since 2012 we have developed study projects for schools with the objective of getting kids to try out outdoor sports in a fun way and conveying to them love and respect for nature. Together with us you can plan teaching activities both in the classroom and in the open air.

Together with other professional operators in the area, in 2017 we created Portofino 4 Nature: a tourism, gastronomy and culture brand connected to the Portofino Promontory. Portofino 4 Nature takes you on a voyage of discovery of the area: genuine flavours, uncontaminated nature, rich traditions and culture as well as events.

Quality Made is a quality brand of Cultural Identity that certifies companies who base their activity on the principles of cultural, environmental and social sustainability. In 2018 we obtained the Quality Made certification – an authentication that distinguishes us, together with other 75 companies dotted around the area between Italy and France. Quality Made was created by the S.MAR.T.I.C. project (Development of Territorial Brands and Cultural Identity), co-financed by the European Fund for Regional Development of the Maritime INTERREG Italo-French programme 2014-2020, with the aim of promoting an area of cooperation from a touristic point of view.