BACKGROUND

Coral reefs sustain nearly 25% of marine life, yet rising sea temperatures are pushing them toward irreversible bleaching. This crisis is not only ecological but participatory: conservation is often limited to specialists, leaving citizens disconnected from regenerative processes.

Coral Rescue is a design-led citizen science initiative that explores how marine restoration can become a shared civic practice. Initiated at the DLX Design Lab, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, the project integrates marine biology, product design, and IoT tools to create a hybrid digital–physical framework for ecological engagement.

Participants use an IoT-based cultivation toolkit to photograph coral growth and measure water temperature and environmental conditions. The recorded data is accumulated over time and serves as a reference for observation and reflection, connecting classroom activities with ongoing ecological processes in the ocean.

In parallel, the project develops modular underwater structures designed to support coral attachment, spawning, and settlement. These systems are deployed in collaboration with marine scientists, allowing elementary and high school students to cultivate endangered coral species under scientific supervision and return them to their native habitats.

Through cross-border workshops between Japan, Singapore, and the United States, Coral Rescue has grown into a transnational learning network. Since its launch, the project has engaged more than 160 participants through 10 workshops and reached over 45,000 visitors across 8 exhibitions and public events.

Coral Rescue functions as an ongoing experiment in distributed ecological participation—bringing scientific observation, design practice, and community engagement into a shared framework.

​

​

Project History

2022 — Coral Rescue was initiated at the DLX Design Lab, inspired by coral conservation research at the Tropical Marine Science Institute, National University of Singapore (Toh Tai Chong and Sam Shu Qin). Early prototypes of the IoT-based coral cultivation toolkit and modular underwater structural systems were developed, establishing the project’s hybrid digital–physical framework.

2023 — Pilot workshops were conducted to test the distributed data collection model using the IoT toolkit. The project received the Grand Prix at the Creative Hack Award (WIRED Japan) and was shortlisted for D&AD 2023, gaining international visibility.

2024 — Selected as Nominee for Redesign Everything (What Design Can Do). Cross-border educational workshops were launched between high school students in Japan and the United States in collaboration with Virginia Commonwealth University (Nastassja Lewinski), expanding Coral Rescue into a transnational learning network. Exhibited at Designart Tokyo.

2025 — First full-scale implementation in Numazu City, Shizuoka. Elementary school students cultivated critically endangered Acropora pruinosa coral fragments using the Coral Rescue toolkit, recorded environmental data, and returned the corals to their original marine habitat under scientific supervision. Conducted in collaboration with Nina Yasuda (The University of Tokyo), Masako Nakamura (Tokai University), and Kazuya Asakura (Hirasawa Marine Centre). Featured on NHK World. Exhibited at Gwangju Design Biennale (South Korea) and presented at Izu Mitsu Sea Paradise.

​

Credits

Core Project Team

• Creative Director: Tomomi Sayuda (DLX Design Lab, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo)

• Design Engineer: Hemal Diaz (DLX Design Lab, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo)

• Product Designer: Shota Kiuchi

• Software Engineer: Isamu Sakamoto

Scientific Collaborators

• Toh Tai Chong (Tropical Marine Science Institute, National University of Singapore)

• Sam Shu Qin (Tropical Marine Science Institute, National University of Singapore)

• Nastassja Lewinski (Virginia Commonwealth University, USA)

• Nina Yasuda (The University of Tokyo)

• Masako Nakamura (Tokai University)

Local Ocean Advisor

• Kazuya Asakura (Hirasawa Marine Centre)

Project Advisors

• Miles Pennington (DLX Design Lab)

• Yen Ching-Chiuan (National University of Singapore)

Partner Schools & Local Collaborators

• Zachary Marinelli, Glen Allen High School (USA)

• Kitazono High School (Japan)

• Shinichiro Tamai, Yuta Katsumata, Makoto Abe, Takumi Serizawa — Nagaisaki Elementary and Junior High School (Japan)

• Kouji Tsuchiya, Izu Mitsu Sea Paradise (Japan)

Interns

• Anna Burukhin (Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design), Darey-Ann Louisville, Tamaki Miyase (DLX Design Lab), Mathieu Jay (University of Bordeaux), Reynard Seah (National University of Singapore)