PLONS
The PLONS project is a citizen science initiative with the primary objective of raising children's awareness of plastic pollution in waterways. The project uses a citizen science methodology, targeting pupils from Flemish and Zeeland elementary school, where they actively contribute to the research on plastic pollution. Through an educational and interactive track, children are encouraged to think critically about the issues and possible solutions to the presence of plastic in aquatic ecosystems.
The presence of plastic in the major oceans and rivers is a reflection of today's global disposable plastic culture. People, young and old, are often unaware of the consequences of frequent plastic use. Microplastics may be tiny and not visible to the naked eye; today they can be regarded as a global and scientifically challenging problem that requires thoughtful and urgent action.
The citizen science project PLONS, acronym for "PLasticONderzoekin het Scheldestroomgebied," targets Zeeland, West and East Flanders children between the ages of 10-12. They will go through a theoretical and practical package at school to, on the one hand, learn about the plastic problem facing our planet today. And on the other hand, they will help think about how we can reduce this problem and what we can do to remove the plastic particles present in waterways. All this is part of the awareness-raising process which is the main objective of this project.
Staff and students from VIVES and Odisee will put together a qualitative theoretical package tailored to the target group. For the practical part, we will let the students take an active role in collecting and analyzing water samples. They will look for plastics with a particle size ≥ 1 mm.
The translation of this data tailored to all participants via GIS will be done by the research group of Professor Nico Van de Weghe (Ghent University). Through interactive maps, students in West and East Flanders and Zeeland will see the plastic pollution in the Scheldt river basin appear after which they can actively work with this data.
The cross-border cooperation in this project allows children from the different provinces to interact with each other. They will look at and discuss the results together. They will also be challenged to search together for solutions to tackle plastic pollution in streams and rivers. Based on these brainstorms, the HZ University of Applied Sciences, under the direction of Ingrid De Vries, will see if and how the students' ideas related to solving plastic pollution can be brought to fruition.
#plasticpollution, citizen science, macroplastics, microplastics, GIS
Partners
Ghent University, VIVES University of Applied Sciences, HZ University of Applied Sciences, Natuur.koepel
