“Close to Me(d)iterranean” aims at increasing the capacity of the Mediterranean local associations in fighting plastic pollution, with a longer-term goal to contribute to the reduction of plastic in the Mediterranean Sea. The initiative builds on the successful experience of the campaign Clean Up the Med which, for 25 years, has been involving hundreds of associations, schools, municipalities, universities, tourism operators in cleaning activities and awareness raising workshops, reducing the plastic pollution in the coastal locations of Albania, Algeria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Lebanon, Morocco, Montenegro, Jordan, Portugal, Palestine, Tunisia, Turkey.
In the recent years, the campaign made a step forward, including citizen science activities for the collection of scientific data on plastic pollution, with the aim of supporting the scientific community in the conservation of Marine Protected Areas and increasing the active citizenship of the young populations of the Mediterranean.
The proposed initiative follows this path, promoting the capacity building of the Mediterranean associations through specific training on campaigning, citizen science and beach litter monitoring, and the organization of the Mediterranean Summit on Citizen Science.