PartArt4OW Sailing Lab Navigation and Exploration Diary

SailingLab is a traveling laboratory for interdisciplinary research and visual production that explores the relationship between society and the ocean through sailing. Between June 28 and July 28, 2026, the team sailed approximately 860 nautical miles from Anzio to Barcelona, stopping at various ports and coastal communities in the Western Mediterranean to document the Participatory Art Initiatives for the Ocean developed within the European project PartArt4OW – Participatory Art for Ocean and Water. Through meetings with researchers, artists, activists, fishermen, and seafarers, SailingLab investigated the impacts of resource extraction, pollution, and the alteration of marine ecological cycles, while also gathering imaginaries, practices of care, and forms of active citizenship geared toward ocean protection. The project is part of the debate on the Blue Society, promoting a conception of ocean governance grounded in sociocultural values and the contribution of social sciences. Navigation itself is a research method: an embodied, situated, and relational experience that allows for the production of knowledge through movement, direct observation, and dialogue with coastal communities. The experience is narrated through this textual and audiovisual onboard diary, which captures the landscapes, encounters, and reflections that emerged during the crossing, helping to strengthen the goals of ocean literacy and public awareness.