The EU H2020-funded project ATLAS focused on developing A trans-Atlantic assessment and deep-sea ecosystem-based spatial management plan for Europe (https://www.eu-atlas.org/).
The University of Edinburgh (UK) coordinated the project, which was conducted from May 2016 to October 2020. The project consortium included 25 partners from 12 countries.
The Dissemination, Knowledge Transfer and Outreach work package for the project was led by AquaTT (Ireland). As part of this work, “Atlantic Adventures with ATLAS”, an educational outreach portfolio, was developed by Dynamic Earth (UK) and supported by AquaTT (Ireland) and University of Edinburgh (UK). The portfolio is a suite of free learning resources designed to engage children and adults with the deep sea and includes a downloadable cold-water coral reef survey mat, augmented reality colouring sheets, activity packs, lesson plans and an ROV simulator game.
The ATLAS educational resources were showcased at the 2019 Science is Wonderful exhibition in Brussels, Belgium and ATLAS will take part in the online Science is Wonderful 2020 event this September.
Key achievements of the ATLAS project include advancing our scientific understanding of the deep Atlantic and the ability to monitor, model and predict responses of deep-water ecosystems to future climate change. ATLAS results have also had an impact on ocean policy, including Blue Growth initiatives. Download the ATLAS Compendium of Results for a full overview of the project’s achievements. Project newsletters and factsheets in Dutch, English, French, Portuguese and Spanish are also available to download.