Anthropogenic litter poses a growing threat to aquatic ecosystems worldwide. While the EU's Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) addresses this pollution as an environmental status indicator, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) lacks such a measure. The publication, jointly authored by researchers from the European Plastic Pirates initiative, illustrates how citizen science can address this issue by using existing litter data from related initiatives. Members of the author team included Doris Knoblauch and Mandy Hinzmann from the Ecologic Institute.

By involving citizen scientists in monitoring smaller, underrepresented waterways, the WFD could gain valuable insights on a larger spatial and temporal scale. This approach would strengthen both data quality and environmental awareness, encouraging civic participation as a form of political engagement across Europe.

With the upcoming revision of the WFD in 2028, there is a promising opportunity to give citizens a stronger voice in shaping EU legislative frameworks in the environmental field. 

The article is published open access.