How is the desire to protect the sea born?
For those who know it only from the shore, the sea is a beautiful landscape. But for those who have the chance to dive into the underwater world, it becomes a living organism, full of life, fragile balances and everyday challenges.
This different perspective was what the partners of the European Erasmus+ project “Guardians of the Coasts” discovered during their meeting with activists and diving instructors Angeliki Spanea and Giannis Angelakos at the Diveness diving centre.
The meeting, organised by Fotoessa with the participation of the Portuguese partners Rita Sousa (Aequalitas) and Rafaela Fortunato and Beatriz Pereira (Impactrip), focused on a lived relationship with the sea, on many years of action to protect the marine environment and on the power of collective volunteering.
Angeliki Spanea presented the thirteen-year journey of the Save the Sea team, its seabed and beach clean-ups, its collaborations with divers from all over Greece, and the Eco Mermaids educational initiatives, which bring children closer to the sea through knowledge, play and personal experience.
The discussion showed that environmental protection does not start with laws or obligations. It starts with the relationship people develop with the natural environment once they truly get to know it.
Angeliki Spanea’s remark was telling:
“We’ve been doing this for 13 years, and this is the first time someone has called me from the municipality not to ask me for help.”
A phrase that underlines how important it is for local initiatives to be recognised, to be heard and to be treated as equal partners in dialogue.
Equally telling was her observation:
“There is no law that forbids you from picking up a piece of litter on land or from the sea.”
A single sentence captures a deeper truth: active citizenship begins when citizens take the initiative for the common good, without always waiting for someone else to act first.
The reference to the power of volunteering was particularly moving:
“Thirty divers come from other areas. They don’t even live here. And yet they come to help.”
This image shows that protecting the marine environment can unite people from different places and different backgrounds around a common purpose.
The meeting with Angeliki Spanea was a reminder that we do not protect only what we know.
We protect what we have come to love.
And love for the sea is born when we get to know it not only as a landscape but as a living world that deserves our respect and care.
Through meetings like this, the partners of Guardians of the Coasts continue to gather experiences and good practices from people who, through their personal example, show that active citizenship can start from one simple but meaningful decision: to care.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
