Successful kick-off event as part of the TREASURE project on 17 April at the UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea Visitor Centre in Wilhelmshaven

After a get-together in mild temperatures with a view of the Jade Bay, the kick-off event of the Plastic-FREE-sia real-world laboratory entitled "Together against plastic pollution in the North Sea: strategies, measures and need for action" got underway. The real-world laboratory is being implemented as part of the EU-funded Interreg North Sea project TREASURE.

At the event, around 70 stakeholders from administration, business, science and civil society discussed solutions to reduce the amount of plastic entering waterways and the North Sea.

The aim of the kick-off event in Wilhelmshaven was to develop joint project ideas with the stakeholders involved in the German living lab¹ Plastic-FREE-sia and to initiate corresponding activities in the long term.

The first part of the event focussed on the different perspectives on the problem of the ever-growing volume of plastic waste and possible reduction measures. Dr Lars Gutow from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research reiterated the importance of the issue with his presentation "Plastic waste in the sea and the role of rivers". Together with the three best-practice presentations on waste monitoring, plastic disposal in ports and environmental education, given by Dr Thomas Clemens (Mellumrat e.V.), Ilka Frerichs (Niedersachsen Ports GmbH & Co. KG) and Dr Monika Wahsner (UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea Visitor Centre), this created a shared awareness of the problem.

Dr Marta Jacuniak-Suda from the Office for Regional Development Weser-Ems then presented the objectives of the EU Interreg project TREASURE and the planned activities. The interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral and transnational approach - to identify, eliminate and reduce plastic discharge from rivers and inland waters into the North Sea - was once again the focus here.

This was followed by the interactive part of the event, which consisted of two workshop phases. In the first phase, the event participants were divided into three groups based on their geographical affiliation: The district of Friesland, the district of Wesermarsch and the independent city of Wilhelmshaven. The task here was to identify institutions, projects and campaigns for plastic reduction and to locate them on the map.

Temporally/spatially limited test area in which solutions for complex problems are developed together with regional stakeholders

The suggestions collected in the first workshop phase served as a basis for discussion in the second workshop phase, which consisted of the participants assigning themselves to specific "theme tables" of their choice. The following "theme tables" were available for selection:

• Maritime (economy) & other
• Leisure & recreation
• Waste reduction & disposal
• Awareness-raising & data collection/monitoring

The Maritime (Economy) & Other group developed the idea of establishing a "sustainable harbour" network that brings together various stakeholders from the maritime sector (logistics operators, shipping companies, shipyards, fisheries, etc.) in order to establish common sustainability goals. The idea was also to look at this on a supra-regional level and thus consider networking with foreign harbours.

In the area of leisure and recreation, various ideas for corresponding offers and educational campaigns for tourists were proposed. The issue of waste disposal was also discussed in the leisure and recreation group. The desire for supra-regional co-operation on various topics of "sustainable development" (including educational work/waste reduction in tourism) manifested itself.

The waste reduction and disposal group identified the areas of industry and trade as well as civil society in the list of ideas. In the first area, for example, plastic-free supply chains for supplying islands were discussed, as was a change in waste disposal standards. In the area of civil society, waste collection boxes in supermarkets were discussed as well as raising awareness in the area of waste separation.

In the area of awareness-raising & data collection/monitoring, the difficulty of reaching people who are not already interested in the topic was explained at the beginning. An important part of the discussion was to develop an ideas exchange that would allow institutions to draw on already successful awareness-raising campaigns and strategies. However, according to the participating stakeholders, awareness-raising is not limited to civil society, but also significantly affects the business community, which is why the latter must be involved in the further process.