On the issue of plastic pollution, civil society has often influenced political decisions through evidence-based initiatives and data. In this virtuous process, scientific data are often left aside due to their volume and complexity. Understanding, synthesizing and popularizing this data to convey it in a locally relevant and appropriate manner requires skills, and training.
The project led by the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies of the University of Salento * aims to train the different actors to retrieve, manage and use this information. As a first step, the project will carry out a survey to understand the top three concerns across BeMed’s network. For each issue, scientific articles and case studies conducted in the participant’s countries and/or their fields of action will be provided. A co-learning workshop will then be organized to provide them with a practical experience on collecting, using and communicating data. A white paper highlighting the problems of information flow related to plastic pollution in the Mediterranean will be written and signed by the participants in order to empower communities affected by plastic pollution.