About the platform
What the Knowledge Platform is, and how it works
The Knowledge Platform is where the Life Mapper project explains what it learns about Europe's marine habitats. Researchers of the partner institutions turn surveys, studies and plans into short pages anyone can read, organise them into guided paths, and back every page with the sources it relies on.
How it is organised
Four layers, from the big question to the evidence
Everything on the platform fits in four layers. You can enter at any of them: start from a chapter and follow a path, or search for a page or a source directly.
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Chapters
Four big questions, from the map to the plan: where the habitats are, what state they are in, what restoring them costs, and where and under which rules to restore. Each chapter explains what it covers and the questions it answers.
See the chapters → -
Guided paths
Inside each chapter, short routes through a few pages on one topic, each written for some kinds of reader. Researchers compose them and add a note on why each page is there. A chapter page lists its paths by topic and filters them by reader.
Pick a chapter and a path → -
Knowledge pages
Short articles, a few minutes each, that answer one question in plain language. The same page can belong to several paths, and it is tagged by habitat, region and method so it can also be found by topic.
Search the pages → -
Sources
The papers, datasets, guidelines, case studies and platforms the pages cite, gathered in a library. Each source shows the pages that cite it, so you can go from the evidence back to the explanation.
Browse the library →
Inside a page
What a knowledge page contains
Researchers build a page from blocks in the editor; the site lays them out the same way on every page, on a phone as on a desktop.
- Text, images and video. Rich text, single images and galleries with their credits, embedded videos, highlights for key takeaways and warnings, and quotes.
- Maps. A map of the area the page talks about, from ready-made layers — EMODnet bathymetry, Mediterranean seagrass and maerl beds, Natura 2000 sites — with the provider's credit and a button to the interactive map that shows the same layer: the Life Mapper geoportal or the provider's own viewer.
- Go deeper. The sources the page builds on, each with a short note on why it is worth reading, plus files to download and external links.
- Who and when. The institution that wrote it, its publication date, its reading time and level, and its tags. A page about a sea opens the geoportal on that area and says which habitat layer to switch on.
Tools for readers
What you can do here
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Search everything
One search across pages and sources, pages first. Narrow it by habitat, region, method or type of source.
Open the search → -
Check the evidence
Papers are catalogued from their DOI, with authors, journal, abstract, licence and, when there is one, the open-access PDF. Datasets and guidelines carry their files and links.
Browse the library → -
See it on the map
Maps in the pages, and links that open the Life Mapper geoportal of CNR-ISMAR or the provider's viewer on the same area.
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Keep your place
No account needed. The pages you have read are remembered on this device only: chapters and paths show how far you got.
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Learn the tools
Short video guides on how to use the platform and the geoportal.
Open the guides → -
Know what is a demo
While the consortium writes its pages, some content is a sample made to show how the platform works. It is marked “Sample” everywhere and kept out of search engines.
Who it is for
Every guided path says who it is written for, and a chapter page can show only the paths for one kind of reader.
- Planners and public officers who need to understand what the Nature Restoration Law asks at sea, how it meets the rules already in place, and how restoration sites are chosen.
- Researchers looking for methods, evidence and datasets from other teams, and for what restoration has achieved so far.
- Students who want a structured introduction to marine habitats and their restoration, starting from the introductory paths.
- Curious citizens who want to know why the sea floor matters and what is being done to protect it, in short reads.
How content is made
From a researcher's work to a public page
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Write
A researcher of a partner institution writes the page in the editor: blocks, images (resized for the web on upload), a map, and the sources, picked from the library or added by their DOI.
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Review and publish
An editor of the same institution checks content, sources and language, then publishes. Until then the page is a draft nobody else sees.
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Arrange
Researchers compose guided paths through the pages of their chapter, with the same draft-and-publish steps.
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Live
The page appears in its chapter and its paths, becomes searchable within minutes, and shows its publication date. Errors reported by readers are corrected in the editor.
The Life Mapper project
Life Mapper is a project co-funded by the EU LIFE programme. Its partners map marine habitats, assess their condition and support the restoration plans that EU Member States prepare under the Nature Restoration Law. The Knowledge Platform is where that work is explained and its sources are shared.
Visit the project website →Questions
- Can I reuse the content?
- Yes. Pages are published under CC BY 4.0: cite the page and its authors. Sources keep their own licence, shown on each source.
- Who checks the pages?
- Each page is reviewed and published by an editor of the authoring institution. Every claim points to its sources, and papers link to their published version through their DOI.
- Do I need an account?
- No. Reading, searching and keeping track of what you have read need no account. Only the researchers who write the content sign in, to the editor.
- In which languages?
- In English for now. The platform is ready for Italian, French and Spanish, which will be added as translations are written.
- How do I report an error?
- Use the feedback link at the bottom of every page: we read every message.