Plastic Spotter: Successes and challenges of co-creating a local citizen science project on plastic pollution

Initiated and co-created by the public, the citizen science project Plastic Spotter maps the hotspots and sources of plastic pollution in the canals of Leiden, The Netherlands. It connects already existing bottom-up grassroots movements and top-down science to study this problem. Bringing these and also other local stakeholders like restaurant owners and municipality together is important to tackle the issue and create more impact but is also challenging. This poster presents the project its approach and some of its best practices and challenges.