On 5-6 November 2024, representatives from all participating countries gathered in Brussels. Together with students, teachers, partners, scientists, and policymakers we reviewed the outcomes, results, insights, and lessons learned from expanding this citizen science initiative across Europe. It was truly amazing! Check out more
At the Plastic Pirates Summit in Brussels, young Plastic Pirates shared their first-hand experiences, describing how their involvement in the project revealed the scale of plastic pollution and motivated them to adopt more sustainable behaviors. Through poster presentations, youth from across Europe provided insights into the initiative's implementation in their countries and its accomplishments to date. Their posters are now online
“Plastic Pirates – Go Europe!” is a large-scale citizen science initiative aimed at tackling plastic waste pollution in rivers, waterways, and coastlines across Europe. Since June 2022, the project has expanded to 13 European countries, engaging more than 16,000 students who have sampled over 350 rivers and coasts. Find out more about the success factors and our 12 lessons learned from upscaling a citizen science initiative across Europe.
The Plastic Pirates Coastal Booklets are now available online – in English and German. Interested schools and youth groups will be able to sample at coasts and beaches in addition to rivers, streams and brooks. The Coastal Booklet serves as a step-by-step guide to collect scientific data on plastic pollution at beaches.
The Plastic Pirates Egypt have started their first sampling campaign along the Nile River in August, carried out by youth groups in the governorates of Fayoum, Assiut, Luxor, Giza, and Cairo. More
On 24 June, 50 primary school students from Boulogne-sur-mer, on the French North coast took part in the Plastic Pirates campaign. They were introduced to this initiative through the TREASURE Interreg North Sea project while working on a yearly project with a focus on plastic pollution. More
The Plastic Pirates Team publishes regular newsletter with the most recent achievements of the initiative, upcoming events and infos on the Mission Restore our Oceans and Waters by 2030. You can access all newsletters that the Plastic Pirates have published so far, here. You can subscribe to the newsletter by scrolling to the very bottom of this page.
The fascination with the ocean and rivers, together with their importance as a guarantor of species diversity, know no bounds. But plastic pollution on beaches and riverbanks in Europe also doesn’t stop at man-made borders. For this reason, avoiding micro- and macroplastic in the environment, a scientific approach to this challenge, and researching sustainable materials are tasks which we Europeans must take on together.
Plastic Pirates – Go Europe! is a European Citizen Science campaign, in which school classes and youth groups collect plastic samples from streams and rivers and document their findings. The collected data is then analysed by scientists and researchers. In this way, young European citizens are making an important contribution to researching the state of European rivers and the extent and pollution caused by plastic waste.
You will get the best overview of the initiative by watching our introduction videos. They explain the idea behind the Plastic Pirates, the objectives, and the citizen science approach towards combating plastic pollution.
We want to tackle plastic pollution in Europe's rivers, waterways, and at coastlines. By participating in this citizen science project, you can contribute to important research while raising awareness about the impact of plastic waste on our waterways and oceans. Read more about the objectives of the campaign.
There is not much needed to do a Plastic Pirates sampling. You can get started by studying the detailed project materials. You can download them for free and they explain in detail how the scientific protocol works.
Every data-upload should appear on our interactive map. In case your data point is not on the map or in the wrong location, do not hesitate to contact us.
In case you would like to know more about our efforts to spread the Plastic Pirates all across Europe and out part in Horizon Europe as well as the Mission Restore our Oceans and Waters by 2030, click here. We urge you to also sign the Mission Charter to Restore our Oceans and Waters by 2030 here.
And help us close gaps in the existing research on the amount of different types of plastic waste. The fight against pollution from plastic waste, for cleaner water and for preserving natural resources for future generations in a united Europe can be a success only if we – the citizens – actively support joint political initiatives in the places we live.
