MARLISCO

MARine Litter in Europe Seas: Social AwarenesS and CO-Responsability

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Marine environments are central to human well being, but they are also extensively threatened by our activities. The MARLISCO proposal seeks to raise societal awareness of both the problems and the potential solutions relating to a key issue threatening marine habitats worldwide; the accumulation of marine litter. A major objective of this proposal is to understand and subsequently facilitate societal engagement in order to inspire changes in attitudes and behaviour. This proposal is a Mobilisation and Mutual Learning Action Plan with the aim of providing a series of mechanisms to engage key stakeholders with an interest in, or responsibility for, some aspect of reducing the quantity of litter entering the ocean. These will include: industrial sectors; users of coastal and marine waters; the waste management and recycling sectors; Regional Sea Commissions and EU representatives; local municipalities; citizens’ groups, environmental NGOs, school children and the general public; social and natural scientists. MARLISCO recognises the need for a concerted approach to encourage co-responsibility through a joint dialogue between the many players. This will be achieved by organising activities across 15 European countries, including national debates in 12 of them, involving industry sectors, scientists and the public, a European video contest for school students, educational activities targeting the younger generation together with exhibitions to raise awareness among the wider public. MARLISCO will make use of innovative multimedia approaches to reach the widest possible audience, in the most effective manner. The proposal will develop and evaluate an approach that can be used to address the problems associated with marine litter and which can also be applied more widely to other societal challenges where there are substantial benefits to be achieved through better integration among researchers, stakeholders and society.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Marine litter (ML) is collecting in European seas because of unsustainable consumption and production models, inadequate waste management and lack of public awareness. An EU initiative is helping to involve, educate and empower citizens.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

ML is an increasing threat to the marine environment, and to human health and well-being. It is crucial to engage citizens to better understand, prevent and reduce it.

The EU-funded project 'Marine litter in Europe seas: Social awareness and co-responsability' (http://www.marlisco.eu (MARLISCO)) is raising public awareness, enabling dialogue and encouraging accountability amongst all stakeholders. This will lead to a shared ambition for sustainable ML management in all European seas.

Project activities are focusing on the north-east Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Baltic, Black and Mediterranean Seas.

Researchers began by creating a report on existing ML monitoring and evaluation approaches in the four marine regions. This will help to determine main concerns for upcoming research agendas and policies to lessen the impact of ML.

The project partners compiled 72 best practice scenarios based on procedures, issues and solutions aimed at reducing ML. These were narrowed down to 11 and will be used to prepare a toolkit for decision-making authorities.

A platform is currently being set up to offer dialogue and informal working collaborations amongst industry, end users, science and society in 12 European countries. The forum will help to recognise and deal with obstacles that impede the implementation of good practice.

A video contest was held in 2013 for youth under the age of 18 in 14 European countries. The objective was to get students thinking about the issue of ML and to motivate them to propose real solutions. The winning entry and runners up were announced in 2014.

MARLISCO is designing novel methods and tools to reach the broadest potential audience on issues and potential solutions for ML. The project intends to inspire everyone to help make Europe's seas healthier.