The project “Taking the Pulse of the Ocean” (PULSE) has achieved remarkable progress in a short term since its start in July 2020. PULSE works in Senegal to increase the access to user-friendly data of the coastal area. It aims to find a suitable and sustainable solution of retrieving ocean and coastal data for decision-making processes of local authorities in Senegal. The collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Senegal and the launch of a network for exchange with national and educational structures were already prepared at the beginning of the project period. The project is running until July 2022.
To make local data in the region accessible and useable, Pulse initiated a collaboration with the Environment and Classified Establishments (DECC). This department within the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Senegal is the leading actor of the Senegalese National Adaptation Plan (PNA) and aims to assess the implications of climate change and to adjust existing policies for the integration of medium and long-term climate change risks and adaptation measures. The collaboration helps to disseminate the idea of a beneficial and participatory data gathering.
A network for exchange with national and educational structures was also established. This network allows PULSE to identify the needs of users in terms of type and format of variables for the proposed parameters, for example raw data and images. The project plans to initiate students into oceanographic monitoring within the educational structures, which includes the University of Thiés. This network enables that the beneficiaries of this project, such as coastal inhabitants, especially Senegalese fishing communities, local politicians and education hubs as universities and schools will be able to access and use the data via smartphone devices.