Description
The project addresses the consequences of marine and coastal pollution with litter along the Black sea Coast. The project aims at raising the awareness of the stakeholders about marine litter and involving NGOs in sustainable development policies. First, the marine and coastal litter issue will be analyzed and proposals for amendments to the legal framework and the National Waste Management Programme will be made. Second, meetings will be organized with the Ministry of Environment and Water and the Environmental Committee at the National Assembly to discuss the amendments. Third, 2 round tables with the stakeholders will be held. Fourth, 40 young people will be trained to monitor litter and fill in the Marine Litter Watch database. Finally, young people will be involved in art events related to marine litter. The project will benefit the local community, authorities, NGOs and the business. The partner will reach the stakeholders on the South Black Sea Coast.
Summary of project results
Accumulation of solid waste in the sea and along the coast is a serious threat and poses great risks to society and its way of living. That’s why the Black Sea NGO Network launched an initiative to involve decision-makers by raising the issue among experts, discussing it with ministries and law-makers, environmental and marine agencies, businesses, municipalities and coastal communities to involve them in the Waste Management Act, the National Waste Management Plan and the Marine Strategy. The project achieved certain progress with this goal by involving NGO experts and activists in a dialogue with decision-makers, mainly from the Ministry of Environment and Water (MEW), and by submitting the position to the MEW with a summary of the main legislative proposals that would be further developed after the project end. The most important project results include identifying the problem on the level of experts, raising the attention of decision-makers with the commitment for inclusion in the national legislative framework, programmes and strategies on marine waste, involving a broad circle of stakeholders from the coastal communities, preparing and involving young people to raise their awareness of the problem and use citizen science to monitor solid waste and involving the broad public with protection of beaches, the coast and the sea from solid waste. The target groups (decision-makers, young people, marine municipalities, administrations, businesses and communities) took part in all activities and their awareness as well as monitoring skills improved a lot. The activities with the young people resulted in a change in the attitude towards the situation in general and the identified problem. The young people were provided with training and informal education in citizen science, involved with the issue of environment and their own future. The stakeholders showed significant interest, particularly among local experts. The project developed the partners’ knowledge and skills related to the project theme about the use of citizen science, new smart technologies for monitoring, art forms to convey messages about the environment and skills for project management. The project also contributed to boosting the capacity of the participating organizations and building their contacts with the authorities, institutions and other NGOs. Sustainability can be also looked for at the policy level because the Marine Strategy is still being developed.
Summary of bilateral results