From Learning to Monitoring: The Erasmus Maris Pathway
Building local monitoring capacity by connecting scientists, teachers, students and schools
1. Scientists empower teachers
Scientific partners train and support teachers in the Erasmus Maris methodology, sampling, analysis, quality assurance and data reporting.
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2. Teachers empower students
Teachers guide students in applying the methodology to investigate aquatic environments close to their schools.
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3. Schools join forces
Schools compare findings, develop collaborative research, exchange experience and translate what they learn into communication and action.
Erasmus Maris Week is the main annual expression of the third phase.
New schools can also begin their Erasmus Maris journey here. |
How secondary schools enter the Erasmus Maris pathway
Participation begins with training. Erasmus Maris works with collaborating scientists and trained teachers who can support new schools in learning the common methodology, quality-assurance approach and data-reporting process.
↓ Two ways to join ↓
Both routes lead to the same objective: a trained teacher who can guide students through a local investigation, ensure that the analytical process follows the Erasmus Maris methodology, and report the resulting data and metadata through MARIS.
Path 1 — Start locally
Train → Investigate → Report → Join the Erasmus Maris week
Where a suitable trainer is available nearby, a school can begin locally. This pathway follows the Erasmus Maris learning and monitoring cycle from the beginning.
- A teacher is trained in the Erasmus Maris methodology including sampling, analysis, quality assurance and data management, and becomes able to guide students and, where appropriate, train other colleagues.
- Students investigate their nearby aquatic environment using the common protocol, ideally around a clear research question, and develop a local monitoring project..
- The trained teacher is responsible for the analytical process and for reviewing and entering the resulting data and metadata into the MARIS monitoring platform.
- The school then joins Erasmus Maris Week with monitoring experience, observations and a project to share, compare and discuss with other schools and scientists
Path 2 — Start with Erasmus Maris Week
Join the Erasmus Maris week → Train → Investigate → Report
Where local training is not yet practical — for example, because no Erasmus Maris scientist or trained teacher is available nearby — Erasmus Maris Week in Burriana, Spain, provides a practical entry point into the same pathway.
Where local training is not yet practical, Erasmus Maris Week in Spain provides a practical entry point where teachers (or, where appropriate,a teacher tA teacher — or, where appropriate, a teacher together with a small group of students — can join the Week to receive the necessary training, experience the methodology in practice and understand the full monitoring workflow.
Where local training is not yet practical, Erasmus Maris Week in Spain provides a practical entry point where teachers (or, where appropriate,a teacher tA teacher — or, where appropriate, a teacher together with a small group of students — can join the Week to receive the necessary training, experience the methodology in practice and understand the full monitoring workflow.
- The teacher is trained in sampling, analysis, quality assurance and data management, and becomes able to guide students and, where appropriate, train other colleagues.
- After returning home, the school carries out a local investigation during the following school year, ideally around a clear research question and using the common Erasmus Maris protocol.
- The trained teacher is responsible for the analytical process and for reviewing and entering the resulting data and metadata into the MARIS monitoring platform.
- The school can then return to a future Erasmus Maris Week with its own monitoring experience, observations and project to share, compare and discuss with other schools and scientists.
Different entry points, one common pathway: both routes build the same local capacity for quality-assured monitoring, data reporting and collaboration within the Erasmus Maris network.