This project transforms photography into a tool for long-term environmental observation and collective memory.
Cuidar das Margens e do Campo is a participatory environmental monitoring project across the landscapes of Caldas da Rainha, connecting community, culture, and science through photography.
The first Chronolog network in Portugal.
Landscapes are constantly changing, often in ways that are difficult to perceive day to day. This project invites the public to actively document those changes over time.
Through a network of photo stations, each image contributes to a shared visual timeline, revealing how environments evolve through seasons, natural processes, and human interaction.
Cuidar das Margens e do Campo is the first Chronolog network in Portugal, an initiative by F/SOS connecting community, culture, and environmental observation.
Chronolog is a simple photo-based monitoring system.
At each station, visitors take a photograph from the same point of view.
Each image is added to a growing timelapse, revealing how the landscape changes over time.The first Chronolog network in Portugal..
Be part of the process. Help document how landscapes change over time.
This project expands the Chronolog system into a broader cultural and environmental framework.
Developed within the context of the F/262 – International Photography Festival, it connects artistic practice with ecological awareness and public participation.
By using photography as a shared tool, it builds a living archive of place, shaped collectively by those who encounter it.
Why This Project Matters
Scientific Impact: Provides organizations and researchers with long-term visual data to track environmental changes such as habitat restoration, erosion, fire recovery, seasonal change, invasive species growth, and the effects of climate change.
- Understand how landscapes change over time
- Connect people directly with their environment
- Create a shared visual record of place
- Support research, education, and conservation
• Long-term observation of environmental change
• Public engagement with local ecosystems
• Awareness of seasonal and climatic shifts
• A collective understanding of landscape transformation
Participation requires no expertise. Each image adds to a larger story.
How to participate:
Place your phone in the station
Take a photograph of the landscape
Send it using the site code
Receive a link to the evolving timelapse
Your image becomes part of a shared record over time.
Cuidar das Margens e do Campo
It’s part of a broader F/SOS initiative focused on environmental stewardship and community action.
Through Cuidar as Margens, we organise regular clean-up actions along the Óbidos Lagoon, including the 6th edition of the Plogging Challenge Portugal. These initiatives bring together volunteers, local organizations, and institutions, mobilizing communities and removing significant amounts of waste from sensitive ecosystems.
By combining direct intervention with long-term visual monitoring, the project connects immediate impact with sustained environmental awareness, reinforcing the relationship between community and territory.
Over 550kg of waste removed through community action.
Locations: Each location focuses on a different ecosystem, from coastal lagoons to wetlands and urban landscapes.
SOS-201 — Nadadouro - Cais Palafítico da Barrosa
SOS-202 — Foz do Arelho Lagoa de Óbidos
SOS-203 — Salir do Porto-Duna de Salir do Porto
SOS-204 — Paul de Tornada
SOS-205 Parque D. Carlos I
Over time, this project creates an open visual archive that supports
- Environmental observation
- Educational programs
- Community engagement
- Research and documentation
- Cultural and artistic projects
A collaborative project
Initiated by F/SOS
Powered by Chronolog
Developed with
Municipality of Caldas da Rainha and local parish councils
In partnership with
Associação PATO and ÁGORA – Associação Ambiental
Part of
F/262 – International Photography Festival
Sustainability Partner
DaFábrica4you
Turning recycled plastic into durable solutions for the territory.
DaFábrica4you provides the recycled-plastic material used for the structures of the Chronolog stations, bringing the principles of circular economy and sustainability directly into the project.
Made from plastic waste collected through Portugal’s yellow recycling bins, these materials provide a durable, low-maintenance alternative to wood while giving discarded plastic a new life.
100% recycled plastic · Circular economy · Made in Portugal
This positioning is stronger because “Sustainability Partner” gives them a clear status, rather than making them look like just another logo in the institutional partnership list. It also makes the logic very clear: Chronolog provides the technology; DaFábrica4you provides the sustainable physical infrastructure.
English (UK)