Early in 2024, Esplora Interactive Science Centre won the Open Call 1 launched by the Remedies Consortium with a project on marine plastic pollution called Island Guardians: For a Plastic-Free Med. The project, funded by Remedies under the funding programme Horizon Europe, within the framework of the EU Mission: Restore Our Ocean and Waters, kicked off in February 2024, ending in August 2024.
In spite of its relatively short duration, the project has produced a good number of resources aimed not only at raising awareness about the tragic impacts of plastic in the sea but also at providing citizens with the knowledge and tools that enable them to be active in the fight against marine pollution.
In this context, Esplora set up a website and clean-up repository – www.islandguardians.org – and developed two packs of educational activities for children aged 6 to 12 and teenagers aged 13 to 18, five videos about local heroes and two original illustrated storybooks in Maltese and English for pre-school tots.
Additionally, Esplora teamed up with local marine conservation NGO Zibel and organised two clean-ups at Bugibba Bay and Paradise Bay, removing a total of nearly 2 tonnes of waste from the sea and shore.
A symbolic artistic installation created by local artist Joseph Barbara using some of the plastic waste collected during these clean-ups will be exhibited at Esplora from September 2024 onwards.
We invite you to use the project’s resources, all available for free on the project website. Please do send us any feedback or information about beach clean-ups in Malta or Gozo, or other activities on marine plastic pollution that you may be aware of or are planning to organise. We will be happy to help spread the word! The project website will be maintained and populated beyond the duration of the project.
We can all be Island Guardians!
