The Panarea ECCSEL-NatLab Italy was visited on 5 July by numerous researchers and academics attending the 4^th Society of Island Biology Conference “Ecological and Evolutionary Processes on Real and Habitat Islands” held in Lipari, Italy, 2-7 July 2023 (https://sib-2023.sciencesconf.org/).

OGS researchers from the Panarea ECCSEL-NatLab offered the opportunity to visit the Panarea lab as part of a series of mid-symposium excursion options offered by the conference organisers. This opportunity was welcomed by over 50 academics who were given a guided tour of the facility. OGS researchers gave the audience a brief introduction to ECCSEL ERIC and to the activities carried out at the Panarea ECCSEL-NatLab, explaining all the instruments available to the national and international scientific community and industrial stakeholders who will access the infrastructure which represent an unique natural laboratory:

• To study the global environmental changes effects on marine ecosystems;
• To deepen the knowledge on CO₂ transfer across sediment strata;
• To cross-calibrate and test innovative techniques to monitor CO₂ leakage;
• To better understand the dynamics of the spread of hydrothermal compounds in the surrounding marine waters;
• To assess acute and persistent impacts of CO₂ leakage on marine ecosystems and to estimate the recovery time;
• To evaluate the effectiveness of brief, medium and long-time monitoring strategies.

Relevant national projects were highlighted, such as IPANEMA, which provides such tools to the scientific community, and ECCSELLENT, a project that will further support the improvement of the Panarea ECCSEL- NatLab making it one of the most internationally and technologically advanced marine natural laboratory for CO₂ studies.