At the central national event marking Nature Day, the Morigenos Society received the Rado Smerdu Award. Although the society is not part of the RISTANC consortium, we are delighted that the sea is becoming a shared priority for society.
Nature Day 2026 recently took place under the auspices of the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning. In the introduction, attendees were addressed by Dr. Jerneja Penca, Head of the Mediterranean Institute for Environmental Studies at the Science and Research Centre (ZRS) Koper, which is the leading partner of the RISTANC project. During the discussion, Dr. Penca highlighted the importance of transdisciplinary knowledge integration, the significance of investing in people rather than just infrastructure, and finally, the fact that 21st-century nature conservation systems require decision-making frameworks that are responsive to ever-emerging tasks, capable of connecting sectors, and ready to learn and adapt.
"True transdisciplinary research – when led competently – yields concrete impacts, and from it grows new knowledge that is also applicable elsewhere," emphasized Dr. Jerneja Penca.
A Shared Marine Space in the Northern Adriatic and the Same Values
The formal part of the event featured the presentation of the Rado Smerdu Award for outstanding achievements in the field of nature conservation, which was awarded to the Morigenos Marine Mammal Society. Special recognition was also given to the Škocjan Caves Park Public Institute, whose careful management of the Reka River basin directly impacts the quality of our coastal sea.
The RISTANC project team sincerely congratulates the Morigenos Society on receiving this prestigious award and the Škocjan Caves Park Public Institute for their recognition! Although the award-winning society is not a member of our project consortium, we operate within the same vulnerable marine space and share the exact same vision.
In fact, the award committee's justification perfectly summarizes the two pillars upon which the RISTANC project is built:
- Slovenia as a Responsible Maritime State: As the committee noted in its justification, by researching and protecting marine ecosystems, Slovenia is stepping onto the highest civilized tier of a maritime nation. The RISTANC project puts this vision into practice, as our planned measures in the Northern Adriatic strengthen the resilience of our sea against climate change and anthropogenic pressures.
- Citizen Science and Community Activation: The Morigenos Society also received the award for successfully promoting citizen science. In the RISTANC project, we believe in the exact same recipe—successful marine conservation cannot happen behind closed office doors; it requires the active involvement of local communities, fishermen, visitors, and everyone who lives with the sea.
Cooperation Instead of Polarization
During the round table discussion at the event, it was repeatedly emphasized that nature restoration is not an expense but an investment in the future, and that modern conservation challenges demand cross-sectoral cooperation and a reduction in societal polarization.
"The future of protection and restoration depends on the ability to cooperate, learn, and have the courage for positive change," Dr. Jerneja Penca concluded.
This is also the core guiding principle for RISTANC. The Northern Adriatic faces challenges that transcend individual sectors. Therefore, within the project, we are building bridges between science, nature conservation, and the economy, proving that only by joining forces can we ensure that our sea remains alive, biodiverse, and economically sustainable for future generations.
We once again congratulate the Morigenos Society on 25 years of uninterrupted scientific monitoring, while we sail ahead with RISTANC—for a better preserved, safer, and more sustainable Northern Adriatic.