On June 1st, Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação (SPI) participated in “Waves of Change – A Community Mural for Ocean Restoration”, an event held as part of this year’s Cork Harbour Festival. The event was a collaboration between the BlueMissionAA project, University College Cork (UCC), and the TIDAL ArtS project, aiming to bringing together creativity, science, and public engagement to promote ocean conservation and preservation.
The event featured the inauguration of “Into the Reef,” an immersive ocean-themed mural installed on the UCC campus. Commissioned by the BlueMissionAA project and created by Italian-Brazilian street artist Neto Vettorello, the mural offers a three-dimensional artistic journey through ocean environment. Designed to encourage emotional connection, the artwork raises awareness of the urgent need to protect our oceans.
In a unique public engagement activity, visitors were invited to write messages and reflections on the back of the mural, making the piece into a collective expression of responsibility and commitment to the environment.
As the partner leading Task 5.2 – Citizen Engagement and Cross-Fertilisation with Lighthouse CSAs, SPI was represented at the event in Cork by Diana Sousa and Elisa-Frias Bulhosa.
