Awareness raising in Liepāja, Latvia

In the beginning of June the project team from Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology (LHEI) went to Liepāja to introduce the public to project objectives, demonstrate citizen science sampling kits and show a movie about microplastic pollution.

Beach-goers could meet the team at a tent on Liepāja beach on June 5 and learn about microplastic pollution. Sampling kits prepared in the framework of the project were available for locals that wanted to see for themselves if there was any hidden litter. Following instructions and guided by scientists from LHEI visitors used the tools for sampling and registered their findings on the ROSGIS platform online hosted by Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE).

Local and national media were invited and featured stories about the event (see story on news portal LSM in Latvian). During that time Liepāja was also hosting a meeting of the Natural Resources and Environment Committee of the Baltic Assembly and during their visit they also stopped by the beach and noted the importance of the project’s efforts to raise awareness and provide solutions to tackle beach litter.

In the evening a movie screening of “Plastic People” took place in the city, where interested locals had a chance to learn more about the history of plastic materials, environmental impacts and health hazards associated with ever increasing consumption of plastic materials. After the movie the project team engaged in informal discussions with the audience about reflections from the movie and sharing ideas on how one can contribute to solving the issue.