Beaches full of plastic waste, seabirds and turtles caught in plastic nets and their stomachs filled with plastic, plastic in the food chain, plastic swirls in the world's oceans - the images are currently travelling around the world and delivering frightening truths. We have arrived in the age of plastic and have so far given far too little thought to how we deal with this ubiquitous, long-lasting material of the 21st century and its impact on the environment. Plastic particles can also be found in the North and Baltic Seas, threaten ecosystems and accumulate in the food chain. But what are the dimensions of the problem here? What are the paths and sources by which macroplastics end up in the sea? How do plastic particles drift in the sea and where do they accumulate? What strategies and options do we have to prevent macroplastics from entering the North Sea ecosystem?

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Oldenburg has been working on precisely these questions for three years in the "Macroplastics in the southern North Sea" project(www.macroplastics.de), which is funded by the Ministry of Science of the State of Lower Saxony. Through extensive practical experiments, flow modelling, citizen science projects, statistical evaluations, surveys and workshops, the researchers from ICBM and IBU have compiled many valuable findings and raised further questions that can contribute to a deeper understanding of the system. At a scientific symposium on 17 and 18 September, the various research aspects and findings of the project will be presented to an interested specialist audience and discussed in the context of other research results.

The conference has an interdisciplinary focus in line with the research project. On the first day, the project results of the modelling, measurements and observations on the pollution of the North Sea with plastic waste will be presented. The modelling results will be presented and then linked with the findings and approaches of animal ecology, clean-up activities and NGOs. The second day will discuss the distribution of plastic waste on the coasts with the project's own citizen science approach and stakeholder-based reduction and avoidance strategies. In addition to the project working groups, NGOs, administration and politics will also have their say. The event is aimed at all experts from science, administration, NGOs and politics who are concerned with the plastic pollution of our oceans and want to develop solution strategies.

We would be delighted if you could enrich the event with your presence and contributions to the discussion.