Dear reader, Welcome to the third year of the SOS-ZEROPOL2030 project, and the third newsletter! Over the past year, SOS-ZEROPOL2030 has made significant strides in its mission to develop a holistic pathway toward zero pollution in Europe’s seas. Our multidisciplinary consortium from across Europe has been actively engaging stakeholders through a unique Living Lab approach. […]

The MARE People & the Sea Conference XIII held at the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands) from 23 to 27 June 2025, brought together (social) scientists from around the world to delve into the complex relationship between humans and the ocean. This years’ MARE conference theme was ‘Tensions, Trade-offs and Transformations for the Ocean Decade […]

The Source to Seas – Zero Pollution 2030 (SOS-ZEROPOL2030) project has successfully completed two rounds of Living Labs (LLs)—held in 2024 and 2025—as part of its ambitious effort to co-develop a stakeholder-led Zero Pollution Framework for European Seas. The project places multi-stakeholder engagement at its core, bringing together diverse actors to collaboratively shape feasible, science-based […]

From 21-23 May, SOS-ZEROPOL2030 workshop participants came together to explore how to address challenges around science communication and stakeholder engagement in the context of marine pollution. The session showcased the projects efforts to make evidence-based scientific information for different marine pollutants more accessible for diverse audiences and engaging by using creative and transdisciplinary approaches. Living […]

The 2nd edition of the SOS-ZEROPOL2030 Mediterranean Living Lab took place in Athens on 6-7 May 2025, bringing together key stakeholders to explore effective strategies for reducing car tyre particle emissions across the entire product chain. Organised by the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture, and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE) in partnership with SOS-ZEROPOL2030 project partners, […]

The Second Living Lab workshop for the Black Sea on Exploring scenarios for reducing persistent chemicals in the Black Sea basin, took place on 8–9 April 2025 in Varna, Bulgaria. The SOS-ZEROPOL2030 event brought together regional and national administrators, experts, researchers, businesses, and NGOs with the task to assess and prioritise policies in view of […]

How can we find the right balance between maintaining high-quality healthcare and reducing PFAS pollution? That was the central question explored by a diverse group of experts from hospitals, healthcare product manufacturers, plastics producers, government bodies, NGOs, and research institutes, during a 2-day Living Lab workshop as part of the SOS-ZEROPOL2030 project. There is growing […]

Have you seen our most recent PFAS factsheets? These were developed by students of the Wageningen University as part of a MSc Honours Programme. The result of their efforts resulted in three factsheets: on PFAS awareness, PFAS in product chains: agriculture, textiles and cosmetics, and expert insights on PFAS contaminations. The students were given 12 […]

The Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture, and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE) successfully hosted the Annual General Assembly for the SOS-ZEROPOL2030 project, a pioneering EU Horizon2020 initiative. With the project now at its midpoint, the assembly provided an opportunity to evaluate achievements and chart the next steps in its ambitious mission to achieve zero pollution in […]

The Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture, and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE), in partnership with SOS-ZEROPOL2030 project partners, organized the Mediterranean Living Lab, a two-day event dedicated to addressing the environmental challenges posed by tyre wear particles (TWPs). With a focus on TWPs prevention and mitigation the Living Lab brought together 35 stakeholders from 8 Mediterranean […]