ML-FREE: Marine Litter-Free Adriatic Sea – Education for Active Youth Participation

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The Adriatic Sea enjoys remarkable marine resources and landscapes shared by Italy and Croatia. However, it’s under constant growing pressure with marine litter being one of the gravest threats to it. More than 80% of waste in the Adriatic Sea, vastly plastic, comes from the land as a result of human activities. Therefore, education based on active participation of youth is important for creating a sustainable society. The lack of practice in education results in superficial knowledge and a low promotion of key competencies.

The ML-FREE project aims to address the pressing issue of marine litter, particularly plastic pollution, in the Adriatic Sea. By focusing on educating and engaging young people, we seek to foster a sustainable society that actively participates in the preservation of  marine ecosystem. This project, co-funded by the European Union, strives to create a Marine Litter-Free Adriatic Sea through active youth participation, cross-border collaboration, and enhanced environmental education. Together, we can safeguard this important natural resource for future generations.

Project goals:

The project’s overall objective is to contribute to the decrease of marine litter pollution and the preservation of the Adriatic Sea. ML-FREE project sets forth several ambitious goals:

  1.  Increased knowledge, skills, and active participation of the youth of the two cross-border high schools in the fight against marine litter pollution.
  2. Informing and raising awareness of the school’s peers and local communities about marine litter problem and waste prevention.
  3. Strengthen the capacities and networking of educational institutions and organizations in the coastal area of Adriatic Sea to implement education for marine litter pollution and waste prevention based on the active participation.
  4. Raising awareness of institutions and organizations relevant for implementation of educational policy on marine litter pollution, waste prevention, and the need of the active participation of citizens.

Project activities:

  • Development of a cross-border educational program on marine litter and waste prevention.
  • Implementation of participative learning methods.
  • Integration of the implemented educational program into the curriculum of the partner schools
  • Communication activities and a final conference to share experience and knowledge related to the implementation of the educational program on marine litter and principle of waste prevention.

Expected project results:

  1. Increased awareness of marine litter pollution among youth.
  2. Finding solutions to prevent the creation of marine litter with the active participation of young people.
  3. Enhanced professional knowledge and exchange of experiences among educators.
  4. Integration of environmental topics in the education system.

Lead partner: Association for Nature, Environment and Sustainable Development Sunce

Project partners: Marco Polo Liceo Artistico High School Venice and School of Economics and Administration Split.

Total Project budget: 220.406,40 EUR
Programme funding from European Union: 176,325.12 EUR
Project is a small-scale project financed by the Interreg Italy-Croatia Programme. Project is co-financed by the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs.

Start date: August 1, 2023
End date: December 31, 2024

Project manager in Sunce: Tea Kuzmičić Rosandić, mag. biol. et oecol.
E-mail: [email protected]

Official project website: LINK

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