What are the key output of Green Bubbles? After nearly 4 years of intense collaborative work across three continents, it is good to check which scientific and practical results we managed to deliver. And yes… they are many!!
Scroll past the gallery for a (still incomplete) list!!

PRACTICAL RESULTS
We are very proud of our practical output, as this is the only way to fulfil our promise to do good for the diving industry, society and the environment. So… we:
– Compiled a thorough segmentation of the diving system in at least two case study locations (Portofino Marine Protected Area, Italy and Partial Marine Reserve of Ponta do Ouro, Mozambique). This initial effort, which has led and is leading to a growing bulk of reports and peer-reviewed publications (see below), has also been the baseline upon which all subsequent results could be built.
– Organised a marketing and business modelling workshop stemming from the segmentation of the diving system, and followed by personalised coaching sessions for dive operators (plus another intermediate workshop to share results and call for feedback). Outcomes from the workshop has been further integrated with marketing and business modelling advices linked to the integration of the Green Bubbles products listed below, to release a comprehensive set of guidelines and recommendations.
– Designed and implemented an innovative underwater 3D mapping approach, consisting of new devices and online tools. This approach will be amenable for use by researchers, managers of Marine Protected Areas, dive operators and citizen scientists (just to name a few), delivering a wide range of economic, social and environmental benefits.
– Co-created a number of programmes linking diving, citizen science, and Ocean Literacy at various levels and for different target audiences. These include: the translation and adaptation of the Ocean Literacy Pamphlet into the Italian context, thereby completing a first key step for the broad inclusion of Ocean Literacy in the country’s educational system; the Scuola D’Amare initiative, dedicated to bringing diving into primary and secondary schools and supported by the Italian Ministry of Education; the Ocean Literacy teaching plan manual – a collection of about 60 modular teaching plans covering all key topics of the Italian formal school curriculum in light of Ocean Literacy and diving; an Ocean Literacy training and teaching programme dedicated to rural and coastal communities in Mozambique, targeting educators and children; a University Specialistic Course dedicated to bridging Citizen Science and the diving industry, created with the support and participation of key actors of the diving industry itself.
– Released a VR gaming experience able to bring non-divers into an underwater environment, engaging them in discovery and conservation activities. This game, which is now undergoing further development, is intended as an awareness-rising tool, but also as a way to improve Ocean Literacy as well as to create interest into scuba diving.
– Created a competitive challenge to promote diving safety, in the form of the Master Trim competition. The event, which has already run in 2016 and 2017, stems from the analysis of data and surveys evidencing how buoyancy and trim skills are key in the prevention of diving incidents.
– Further developed DAN Europe’s on-line database and tool dedicated to diving safety. The tool, available to all divers irrespective of their affiliation to DAN, allows them to upload their diving profile and to obtain a real time analysis of the associated risk. Further to providing a log book with personalised analysis of profiles, the tool is feeding research initiatives in the field of diving safety.
– Designed a Quality Labelling System for the diving industry. The system leverages upon the best labelling approaches around, streamline their application and work for the scuba industry, the local community and the environment.
SCIENTIFIC RESULTS
The formal scientific output produced by the Green Bubbles team consists of publications in scientific journals, communications to congresses and meetings, as well as technical reports. The Open Access versions of our publications are also collected in Zenodo, the repository of Open Science. Enjoy reading!
Publications in scientific journals
– Saayman M, Saayman A. Are there economic benefits from marine protected areas? An analysis of scuba diver expenditure. European Journal of Tourism Research 19: 23-39.
– Scholtz M, Saayman M. Diving into the consequences of stakeholders unheard. European Journal of Tourism Research 20: 105-124. Read it also in Zenodo here.
– Egi SM, Cousteau PZ, Pieri M, Cerrano C, Ozyigit T, Marroni A. Designing a diving protocol for thermocline identification using dive computers in Marine Citizen Science. Applied Science 8(11): 2315. Read it also in Zenodo here.
– Panebianco L, Scaradozzi D, Ciuccoli N, Zingaretti S, Costa D, et al. (2017) DocuScooter: An innovative underwater scooter add-on for scuba diving and Citizen Science. Int Rob Auto J 2(1): 00010. Read it also in Zenodo here.
– Di Camillo CG, Ponti M, Bavestrello G, Krzelj M, Cerrano C. Building a baseline for habitat‐forming corals by a multi‐source approach, including Web Ecological Knowledge. Biodiversity and Conservation 27(5): 1257-1276. Read it also in Zenodo here.
– Du Plessis E, Saayman M. What makes scuba diving operations successful: The case of Portofino, Italy. European Journal of Tourism Research 17: 163-175. Read it also in Zenodo here.
– Lucrezi S, Milanese M, Palma M, Cerrano C. Stirring the strategic direction of scuba diving marine Citizen Science: A survey of active and potential participants. PloS one 13(8): e0202484. Read it also in Zenodo here.
– Lucrezi S, Milanese M, Sarà A, Palma M, Saayman M, Cerrano C. Profiling scuba divers to assess their potential for the management of temperate marine protected areas: A conceptual model. Tourism in Marine Environments 13(2-3): 85-108.
– Lucrezi S, Egi SM, Pieri M, Burman F, Ozyigit T, Cialoni D, Thomas G, Marroni A, Saayman M. Safety priorities and underestimations in recreational scuba diving operations: A European study supporting the implementation of new risk management programmes. Frontiers in Psychology 9: 383. Read it also in Zenodo here.
– Lucrezi S, Milanese M, Danovaro R, Cerrano C. “Generation Nemo”: motivations, satisfaction and career goals of marine biology students. Journal of Biological Education 1-15. Read it also in Zenodo here.
– Palma M, Rivas Casado M, Pantaleo U, Cerrano C. High resolution orthomosaics of African coral reefs: A tool for wide-scale benthic monitoring. Remote Sensing 9(7), 705. Read it also in Zenodo here.
– Altepe C, Egi SM, Ozyigit T, Sinoplu DR, Marroni A, Pierleoni P. Design and validation of a breathing detection system for SCUBA divers. Sensors 17(6), 1349. Read it also in Zenodo here.
– Pieri M, Cialoni D, Marroni A. Continuous real-time monitoring and recording of glycemia during scuba diving: pilot study. Undersea Hyperb Med. 2016 May-June 43(3): 265-272. Read it in Zenodo here.
– Cialoni D, Pieri M, Giunchi G, Sponsiello N, Lanzone AM, Torcello L, Boaretto G, Marroni M. Detection of venous gas emboli after repetitive breath-hold divers: case report. Undersea Hyperb Med. 2016 July-Sept,Vol. 43, No. 4, 449-455. Read it here.
– Lucrezi S, Milanese M, Markantonatou V, Cerrano C, Sarà A, Palma M, Saayman M. Scuba diving tourism systems and sustainability: Perceptions by the scuba diving industry in two Marine Protected Areas. Tourism Management 59: 385-403. Read it in Zenodo here.
– Lucrezi S, Milanese M, Danovaro R, Cerrano C. “Generation Nemo”: motivations, satisfactions and career goals of marine biology students. Journal of Biological Education. Read it in Zenodo here.
– Lucrezi S, Saayman M. Sustainable scuba diving tourism and resource use: Perspectives and experiences of operators in Mozambique and Italy. Journal of Cleaner Production 168(1): 632-644. Read it in Zenodo here.
– Lucrezi S, Egi SM, Pieri M, Burman F, Ozyigit T, Cialoni D, Thomas G, Marroni A, Saayman M. Safety priorities and underestimations in recreational scuba diving operations: A European study supporting the implementation of new risk management programmes. Frontiers in Psychology (online first).
Communications to congresses and meetings
– Previati M, De Cantis S, Milanese M, Cerrano C. Ocean Literacy in Italian high schools. Where do we stand? European Marine Science Educators Association (EMSEA) Conference 2015 (28th September – 1st October 2015, Crete, Greece).
– Marroni A, Pieri M, Cialoni D, Bastiani D, Covelli A. The Diver Safety Guardian: a further supporting tool for MPA diving activity and safety Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas. From threats on the ecosystems to management CIESM committee VI. 1st workshop Ancona, 15 – 17 October, 2015.
– Altepe C, Yavuz C, Pieri M, Egi B, Cialoni D, Marroni A, EGI SM, Ozyigit T. Diver classification using clustering analysis. 9th International Symposium on Underwater Research, 15 November 2015, Kemer, Turkey.
– Zingaretti S, Panebianco L, Altepe C, Egi M, Palma M, Pantaleo U, Memisoglu M, Ferraris D, Scaradozzi D. An innovative and flexible Android based platform for an underwater scooter to acquire data from the marine environment. 9th International Symposium on Underwater Research, 15 November 2015, Kemer, Turkey.
– Pieri M, Cialoni D, Balestra C, Marroni A. Possible risk factor correlated with decompression illness: analysis of DAN Europe DSL database. 9th International Symposium on Underwater Research, 15 November 2015, Kemer, Turkey.
– Marroni A, Pieri M, Cialoni D, Bastiani D, Covelli A. Real-time underwater glycaemia monitoring and recording during scuba diving. 9th International Symposium on Underwater Research, 15 November 2015, Kemer, Turkey.
– Palma M, Pantaleo U, Ferraris D, Scaradozzi D, Cerrano C. Underwater photomosaics: New tools for faster benthic assessments and long-term monitoring. Second European Conference on Scientific Diving.
– Yavuz C, Ozyigit T, Pieri M, EGI SM, Egi B, Altepe KC, Cialoni D, Marroni A. Data mining on Divers Alert Network DSL database, Phase 1: Classification of Divers. 2016 Annual Scientific Meeting of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, June 9-11 Las Vegas USA.
– Makumbirofa S. Assessing divers’ willingness to pay for user fees in the Portofino Marine Protected Area. 5th QAUTEM Programme, Quantitative Approaches in Tourism Economics and Management. 25-26 August 2016, Potchefstroom, SA. Read the abstract here.
– Du Plessis E, Saayman M. What makes scuba diving operations successful? Annual Conference of the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism, Malta, 28-31 August 2016.
– Cialoni D, Pieri M, Egi M, Balestra C. Marroni A. Gradient factor and decompression sickness: Final analysis of DAN Europe DSL Data Base. 42nd Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Underwater & Baromedical Society, 13-16 September 2016, Geneva, Switzerland.
– Cialoni C, Pieri M, Giunchi G, Lanzone AM, Sponsiello N, Marroni A. Detection of venous gas emboli after repetitive breath hold dives in a Taravana case. 42nd Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Underwater & Baromedical Society, 13-16 September 2016, Geneva, Switzerland.
– Altepe C, Ozyigit T, Egi MS, Pierleoni P. Underwater breathing monitoring and breathing emergency detection system for scuba divers. 10th Symposium on Underwater Research, 16-18 December 2016, Samsun, Turkey.
– Nascimento P, Kovacs MH, Farias SA, Calvi L. Citizen Science and sacrifice: Italian divers experience in sustainability research. Sumbitted to: Value Creation in Media Markets: Business Models, Clusters and Ecosystems, 11-12 May 2017.