science OPEN SCIENCE DATA

Citizen Science Data on
European River Plastic Pollution

Open datasets from 14 countries, verified by scientists at Flanders Marine Institute and Kiel Science Factory. Freely available under open license.

Access Datasets on Zenodo open_in_new View Publications arrow_downward

1,200+ verified datasets · 14 countries · FAIR principles

European Data Hub

OPEN DATASETS

360+

Rivers Sampled

25,000+

Participants

14

Countries

All datasets are openly licensed and freely downloadable via Zenodo. Data covers macro- and microplastic sampling from rivers and coastlines across Europe.

Browse Zenodo Community → open_in_new

SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY

Citizen science data meeting peer-reviewed standards

rule

Standardised Protocol

All groups follow identical sampling procedures ensuring data comparability across 14 countries.

fact_check

Multi-step Verification

Data undergoes photo comparison, expert review and FTIR analysis for microplastic samples.

hub

FAIR Principles

All datasets published with DOIs via Zenodo following Dublin Core Metadata standards.

Download the Common Approach Document arrow_forward

PUBLICATIONS

Peer-reviewed research using Plastic Pirates data

01

Plastic Pirates – Go Europe! Campaign Results 2022–2023. Zenodo, 2024.

02

Scaling a citizen science initiative: lessons from Plastic Pirates – Go Europe! Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 2024.

03

Lessons Learned: Plastic Pirates – Go Europe! Project Report, 2024.

04

Citizen science monitoring of plastic litter in European rivers. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2024.

05

Kiessling et al. (2021). Schoolchildren discover hotspots of floating plastic litter in rivers using a large-scale collaborative approach. Science of the Total Environment, 789.

06

Dittmann et al. (2022). How to get citizen science data accepted by the scientific community? Proceedings of Science.

07

Kiessling et al. (2023). EU Single-Use Plastic Directive evaluation based on citizen science data. Waste Management.

This list includes selected publications. View the full list on the current website →

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SCIENTIFIC PARTNERS

Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)

Primary scientific partner for data verification and marine research coordination across Europe.

mail plastic-pirates-be@vliz.be

Kiel Science Factory

Scientific partner for methodology development and educational research integration.

mail info@plastic-pirates.eu

COLLABORATE WITH US

Interested in using Plastic Pirates data for your research or exploring collaboration opportunities?

mail Contact VLIZ mail Contact Kiel Science Factory