“Plastic Pirates – Go Europe!”

“Plastic Pirates – Go Europe!”

European Union research and innovation program “Horizon Europe” in accordance with grant agreement no. 10108882 implements a Europe-wide campaign for young people “Plastic Pirates – Go Europe!”. The campaign was started in 2016 in Germany. Currently, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Hungary are participating in the campaign and since August 2023 also Georgia and Latvia have joined.

The aim of the campaign is to promote citizen science and engage young people in plastic pollution research. Young people from schools or interest groups are invited to go to their local river, stream or canal in the spring and autumn to study plastic pollution in local waterways and their coasts, as well as collect samples of microplastics with a specialized net.

The campaign provides participants with educational materials and a microplastic sampling net. The results are uploaded by the youth groups to a common database and verified by scientists.

Project partners in Latvia

Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology

FEE Latvia