Marine litter and plastic pollution is a global problem, and the Arctic is not an exception. Many economic activities in the North are concentrated in the Barents Sea region leaving it particularly exposed. The overall objective of this project is to encourage regional initiatives to combat marine litter and to strengthen the environmental cooperation between Russia and Norway.

The Barents Sea Leadership Training on Marine Litter is building on the United Nations Environment Programme’s Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on marine litter. To increase knowledge on marine litter and microplastic pollution in the Barents region, the MOOC on Marine Litter in Russian language is added to the selection of online courses with case-studies from the Barents Sea.

Targeting stakeholders including decision-makers at a federal, regional and local level, this project provides webinars and a stakeholder workshop in order to raise awareness and stimulate action plans for combatting marine litter. The long-term aim is to develop a network across the Barents region, with relevant Russian and Norwegian stakeholders, to promote the exchange of knowledge and common activities to reduce marine litter.

All the activities of this project are organized online to facilitate dialogues and knowledge sharing during the pandemic.

In addition to GRID-Arendal, the project partners are Northern (Arctic) Federal University (NArFU), Kola Science Centre, UNEP, Open Universiteit as well as UArctic and its Thematic Network on Arctic Plastic Pollution.

The project is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment.