CLEAN Beach final workshop in Estonia: join us to explore microplastic monitoring on beaches!

How can microplastics be monitored on Baltic Sea beaches, and what does it take to make monitoring practical and suitable for local conditions?

On 17 September 2026, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) will organize the CLEAN Beach Final Stakeholder Workshop in Tallinn. The event will bring together interested stakeholders, researchers and others interested in marine litter and microplastic monitoring.

The workshop will introduce the microplastic monitoring guidelines developed within the CLEAN Beach project and give participants an opportunity to try the sampling methodology themselves. The project has focused on developing and testing monitoring approaches that are better adapted to the environmental conditions of Baltic Sea beaches.

What will happen?

The workshop will start at Pirita Vaba Aja Keskus, Merivälja tee 3, Tallinn, with a short introduction to the CLEAN Beach project. Participants will receive an overview of the developed monitoring approach and sampling guidelines, including a video introduction and printed instructions.

We will then move to Pirita Beach, where participants will have the opportunity to test the sampling methodology in practice and discuss its usability under real beach conditions. The workshop is intended to be practical and interactive rather than a traditional presentation event.

The workshop is part of the CLEAN Beach – Strengthening Microplastic Monitoring as a Public Service for Cleaner Beach project, implemented under the Interreg Central Baltic Programme. The project brings together partners from Estonia, Latvia and Finland to improve and harmonize microplastic monitoring on Baltic Sea beaches.