How can we reach people who are not already interested in the topic of plastic pollution and who simply do not have time in their everyday lives to find out about prevention strategies or the general topic? The aim is to make effective use of opportunities to educate various target groups (e.g. in tourism, city administration or universities). Education could be realised, for example, through powerful posters or innovative approaches such as ashtrays with a voting function. Working with One Minute Wonders (OMWs) can involve two levels: on the one hand, the direct implementation and application of OMWs for a specific target group/sector or, on the other hand, upstream (help for self-help), the development of concepts so that areas such as the city administration could develop and implement OMWs independently.

The disposal of plastic waste that is already in the environment is often carried out by volunteers. How can these clean-up campaigns be supported? The development of a clean-up box with instructions for the scientific processing of data but also with sufficient equipment for a clean-up event could support volunteers in planning and carrying out their own clean-up campaigns. The development of a clean-up box first requires a needs assessment of target actors and could be lent to interested parties (e.g. associations or city administrations) after finalisation. In addition, various competitions(e.g. who collects the most rubbish?) could be organised in summer 2025, for example between different municipalities/cities on the North Sea coast.

There are already many ways in which a municipality/city can reduce plastic waste, for example as part of its own procurement or with the help of mandatory reusable packaging at public events. Within this project, cooperation could be established with a selected municipality/city in the Weser-Ems region to launch initiatives for the practical implementation of plastic avoidance. Alternatively, the project could also include a compilation of 'best cases' from North Sea communities (also beyond Germany), which in turn could be used as inspiration or for the development of recommendations for action.

What are the actual sources of river waste entering our waters? Methodological approaches such as source identification can be used to get to the bottom of this question. Would you like to go in search of clues? Take a look at waste from long-term river waste monitoring programmes and identify possible sources of macro waste in our waters. In doing so, the exchange with local actors is particularly useful to validate the assumptions and thus develop long-term solutions.

The wheel does not always have to be reinvented! There are already many suitable and innovative concepts and new approaches are being developed on a regular basis. With the help of desktop research, an overview of successful initiatives for plastic prevention in the North Sea region is to be created, which will be used to develop a knowledge platform that can later be used for the establishment of regional competence centres, among other things.
Another project could deal with the conceptual design of future competence centres on plastic waste prevention in the Weser-Ems region, which is a milestone of the TREASURE project.
Testing the effectiveness of awareness-raising campaigns - There are various concepts that aim to raise awareness among certain target groups or to achieve a change in behaviour. For example, waste separation games are organised to raise awareness of the need to separate waste carefully. How effective are awareness-raising measures and do they achieve sustainable change? These and other questions could be addressed in the Best Practice Library of Initiatives could be answered.

Knowledge transfer through playful learning: Serious games (e.g. board, card or computer games) are used in a wide variety of subject areas and disciplines. The development and testing of a serious game can strengthen work in prevention and behavioural change and create awareness on the topic of plastic pollution. There are already pioneers and projects (including projects at the CvO University of Oldenburg) that are developing these game-based learning approaches. Once fundamental questions, such as the target group of the game (e.g. decision-makers, pupils), have been clarified, full creativity can be unleashed in the development and testing of the game.

Plastic waste can be reduced or avoided in a wide range of sectors (e.g. agriculture, horticulture, packaging industry, retail, tourism and in particular catering, accommodation) through innovative solutions. This can be done through the use of alternative products, education or regulations. This project offers the opportunity to examine and analyse a selected sector in isolation in order to subsequently test findings with selected practice partners. Various formats can be planned and implemented, from civil society to administration to business, in order to create a targeted exchange. Instruments such as a serious game can be used for this. However, such meetings can also be planned to validate collected waste data (e.g. from rivers or beaches) and to identify sources or polluters together with practitioners.

Involvement of the public, local or regional stakeholders and experts in the field of business models and social value through competitive events (e.g. hackathons) for the development of innovative and circular business models for the prevention of plastic waste.

As part of TREASURE, a Macrolitter working group was set up in 2024, in which volunteer students took part to discuss the issue and develop concepts on the topic. This project could build on the work of the Macrolitter working group and develop and support a programme for a continued voluntary working group.
(Here: Volunteer basis only)