Each year, millions of tons of plastic are produced worldwide – a considerable part of which end up in the environment. Even in remote regions such as the arctic or the deep sea, remnants of plastic can be found. In 2019, a group of European experts gathered in San Sebastián, Spain, to discuss current challenges of researching microplastics pollution in the ocean in a transdisciplinary workshop. The experts covered a range of actors – from natural to social scientists, to a teacher, representatives from different companies and the EU-Commission. In their recent paper, Riechers et al. (2021) summarize the key discussion points and outcomes of the conference.

The 2019 workshop “Plastics in our ocean: a micro or macro challenge?” was organized by nanoGUNE and funded by the European Commission through the 2nd Capacity Building call made by the European Project EKLIPSE of Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. It created…