OCEAN / UNI Spring Semester 2026

Plural Seas, Porous Futures: Exploring the human dimensions of Mediterranean biodiversity as strategies for coexistence and resilience

January 28 – May 20, 2026

Education

OCEAN / UNI

Ocean-Archive.org

OCEAN / UNI, TBA21–Academy's itinerant pedagogical platform, turns for its Spring semester 2026 toward the human dimensions of Mediterranean biodiversity. Participants are invited to examine how plural values, practices, and policies shape shared seas and coastal life. Across one introductory meeting and six biweekly sessions, we invite you to come together with MEDiverSEAty fellows, scholars, artists, researchers and community actors on the topics of values, participation and policy, digital narratives, relational foodscapes, and (sea)rewilding. In these exchanges, we traverse the passageways between the monoliths of art, science and conservation, led by scholars and speakers who are working towards porous futures for human–ocean relations.

The main sessions are followed by Sound Ecologies, an online Activation series led by artist and researcher Robertina Šebjanič that invites attunement to environments through listening, recording, and acoustic investigation. Through field recordings, microphones and hydrophones, artists, researchers, and ocean comm/uni/ty members trace disturbances, witness submerged lives, and surface the sonic signatures of change. Listening to aquatic, terrestrial, and aerial textures, Sound Ecologies nurtures ecological responsibility grounded in resonance and situated witnessing, shifting from managing biodiversity to deepening sensory relations with it.

The semester experiments with tools and languages, relational approaches, ocean literacy, and lived coastal knowledge. By moving between conceptual frameworks and situated examples from the Mediterranean, it seeks to co-design governance, pedagogical, and cultural practices that can sustain more-than-human futures and a more just, diverse experience of marine biodiversity.

MEDiverSEAty is a European Doctoral Network exploring the human dimensions of Mediterranean marine biodiversity. Responding to the gap between existing conservation frameworks and their real-world implementation, the project integrates social, cultural, and economic perspectives into biodiversity research and policy. Focusing on areas such as marine citizen science, maritime spatial planning, and marine heritage, MEDiverSEAty highlights the often-overlooked diversity of cultures, roles, and attitudes shaping human–sea relations. Bringing together partners from six Mediterranean countries, it delivers an interdisciplinary training programme grounded in Ocean Literacy and Marine Biodiversity Conservation.

Register HERE

PROGRAM

To take part in this semester, please register via the form here. Access details will be available via email and on the dedicated space on the ocean comm/uni/ty.

All main sessions and activations take place live online via Zoom, biweekly on

Wednesdays at 6 pm CET or CEST // 12 pm ET // 1 pm AT // 2 pm BRT // 7 pm SAST // 10.30 pm IST

January 28, 2026, 6 pm CET

Community intro session - MEDiverSEAty

In quest of the human dimensions of Mediterranean Marine Biodiversity

A short introductory session to present the individual meetings and share the research behind the project. You’ll have the chance to meet all MEDiverSEAty researchers who have taken on the role of curators and prepared an entire semester for you.

February 4, 2026, 6 pm CET

Prologue Session 1: Creative and critical approaches to socio-ecological futures

Guests: Ruth Brennan - Associate Research Fellow at Trinity Centre for Environmental Humanities, policy advisor; Nikolas Kosmatopoulos - Co-founder and member of the research network FLOATS and Decolonize Hellas

February 18, 2026, 6 pm CET

Session 2: Empowering communities through activism, artistic practice and science for ocean protection

Guest: Baiba Pruse - Citizen science researcher

March 4, 2026, 6 pm CET

Session 3: Sensing the Sea: Digital Immersion for Ocean Literacy and Conservation Narratives

Guests: Cyber_nymphs (Ewelyna Jarosz, Justyna Górowska) - Independent researchers and activists/artists; Marco Cozza - CTO of 3D Research, Creamare

March 18, 2026, 6 pm CET

Session 4: Relational Foodscapes by the Sea

Guests: Michael Goodman - Professor of Environment and Development/Human Geography

April 1, 2026, 6 pm CET

Session 5: Empowering Marine Biodiversity and the People Around It: Shall we call it Seawilding?

Guests: Carlos Mallo Molina - Founder Innoceana; Xandra van der Eijk - Artist and researcher

April 8, 2026, 6 pm CET

Epilogue: Plural seas, porous futures?

Closing session. We invite you to join the discussion on the project’s upcoming steps and to explore opportunities for contributing to our research and forthcoming publications.

ACTIVATIONS

Activations Series – April 15–May 20, 2026

Sound Ecologies with Robertina Šebjanič

CREDITS

OCEAN / UNI: Spring 2026 Plural Seas, Porous Futures is conceived by

Aloïs Aguettant, PhD Candidate at University of Milano-Bicocca; Antonija Avdalović, PhD Candidate at University of Montenegro; Victoria Campón, PhD Candidate at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales; Vincenzo de Cancellis, PhD Candidate at University of Malta; Carlotta La Penna, PhD Candidate at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales; Ludovica Montecchio, PhD Candidate at University of Milano-Bicocca, TBA21; Gabriel Rivas Mena, PhD Candidate at University of Montenegro; Gabriel Araujo Njaim, PhD Candidate at Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; Ines Vincent, PhD Candidate at University of the Aegean; Justin Whittle, PhD Candidate at University of Malta with the support of the TBA21 team.

OCEAN / UNI: Spring 2026 Plural Seas, Porous Futures and the concept of Digital Residency and Activations are developed within the broader framework of the MEDiverSEAty project and supported by Ars Biologica (Budweis 2028, CZ)

The MEDiverSEAty project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement ID: 101119700.

MEDIVERSEATY CONSORTIUM PARTNERS

University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan,

University of the Aegean, Lesvos

University of Montenegro, Podgorica

School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Paris

University of Malta, Msida

University of the Balearic Islands, Palma

Spanish National Research Council, Madrid

TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Madrid