India and EU Launch Ideathon on Marine Plastic Litter

The India-EU Ideathon on “Combating Marine Plastic Litter” has been formally launched.

The initiative is being organized by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India in partnership with the Delegation of the European Union to India, with the support of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council Working Group 2 on Green and Clean Energy Technologies.

Mentors from India and the European Union have outlined three challenges:

• identifying and tracking marine plastics to develop innovative approaches for detecting and monitoring their movement across coastal and ocean ecosystems,

• developing technologies and scalable solutions to reduce plastic litter in marine and coastal environments, and

• raising awareness and mobilizing communities for the prevention of marine plastic pollution, highlighting the role of behavioral change and community-led action to stop plastic leakage into ecosystems.

The Ideathon invites applications from start-ups, researchers, businesses and other stakeholders in India and the European Union to co-develop practical and innovative solutions to address marine plastic litter. Applications for the Ideathon remain open until October 2.