Green Bubbles is a European Union funded research project managed by a consortium of nine academic and non-academic entities in six countries (Italy, The Netherlands, Malta, Turkey, South Africa, and the USA).
The consortium combines expertise from various disciplines such as social science, environmental science, IT and computer science, medicine, and engineering. Since the inception of the program in 2015 (with a four-year lifespan) Green Bubbles aims to maximise the benefits associated with SCUBA diving, whilst also minimising its negative impacts.
The ultimate goal is to promote the sustainability of the SCUBA diving industry. To achieve this goal, Green Bubbles works through communication with key stakeholders in the SCUBA diving industry; assessment of the SCUBA diving tourism system through case studies; scientific research and peer-review; the development of new equipment and products; the development of new marketing strategies and business models for SCUBA diving operations; the development of effective Citizen Science programs to engage the diving community; the introduction of Ocean Literacy and SCUBA diving in schools; and dissemination and outreach programs, such as lectures and workshops. The ultimate outcome of the project is expected to be the development and implementation of a new and holistic quality label for sustainable diving operations.
To be holistically inclusive, the project aims to include research on disabled or handicapped divers and investigate how SCUBA diving has influenced (positively or negatively) on the Quality-of-Life of disabled divers. Within the SCUBA diving industry the role of instructors and operators are vital, and therefore the pressures within the industry influences the Quality-of-Worklife of the SCUBA diving industry employees. The research is also duplicated in various languages i.e. English, Italian, Spanish and German.
Complete the disabled divers’ questionnaire at: https://goo.gl/forms/DsGfqe48YRq14m2F3