The Plastic Justice project brings together six project partners at HEIs across Europe and associate partners in local government and NGOs to explore how graphic design and visual communications can shed light on the urgent problem of microplastic pollution. The presence of microplastic particles in the environment and the human body presents a significant long-term hazard that needs to be widely communicated in order to change current practices and regulations to safeguard the environment and public health. This Strategic Partnership Project presents an opportunity for art and design schools to develop a science-based communications through collaboration with experts in the area of microplastics and health and to develop networks between science, relevant NGOs, policy-makers and the arts. This will be achieved through collaboration aimed at generating communication material that is well-informed and up-to-date and through developing a collaboration model that will serve as a precedent and later be used to address other complex issues. The project’s objectives are to develop educational practices by creating teaching tools and materials to promote environmental knowledge and consciousness; to create a collaborative learning network by bringing together design teachers with experts, activists, professionals and policy makers for joint knowledge exchange and discussion; to communicate complex issues to a broader audience through design thinking and visualization; and to influence policy on the topic of micro-plastics and their effect on health. The intellectual outputs of the project will be: a teacher’s guide on teaching and learning on environmental issues in graphic design through consultation with experts; an online repository where knowledge about the topic and the discourse will be shared; and a policy brief developed by students and teachers in consultation with policy-makers to inform decision-making on environmental issues. The project’s learning and training activities will be held in Spain, Iceland and Lithuania with around 40 students and 10-12 teachers, whose activities will inform the intellectual outputs and support concurrent activities at the partner institutions during the project development. The multiplier events will be held at the start, mid-term and of the project in the form of seminars and a final conference and exhibition.
The Plastic Justice project aimed to foster new knowledge production about the effect of microplastics on health by creating and developing networks between science, relevant NGOs and the arts. This was achieved through collaboration between the project partners (art and design schools) and researchers and local NGOs, to create curricula aimed at generating communication material that is well-informed and up-to-date on the micro-plastics issue. The collaboration model developed in this project could serve as a precedent and later be used to address other “wicked problems” (Rittel and Webber, 1973) linked to sustainability issues. Objectives: 1. Enhance and develop educational practices by creating teaching guide to actively inform the design process. 2. Create a network of collaborative learning, by bringing together academic peers, environmental experts, climate activists, lawyers, journalists, business professionals and policy makers for joint knowledge exchange and discussion. 3. Connect designers with scientists, to ensure that valuable research being conducted in different scientific fields can reach a broader audience through design thinking and visualization. 4. Influence policy on the topic of micro-plastics.
Global citizens are finally beginning to take a stand against single-use plastic and in many places its consumption has already been scaled back. However, according to the Plastic Soup Foundation the estimated growth in global plastic production is expected to rise over 1.124 million tons in 2050. Plastic pollution is not limited to the visible pollution in our oceans and on our beaches. Considering that plastics have a lifespan of up to 600 years until disintegration (Marine Conservancy), the long term effects of invisible microplastics will have impact for many years to come. There is emerging evidence on the presence of microplastic particles in freshwater, soil, the atmosphere, and even in the human body, where it is becoming a health concern. Plastics contain a wide range of chemicals that change their properties and many of these are toxic or hormone disruptors (‘We are living on a plastic planet. What does it mean for our health?’, The Guardian, 6 September 2017). Laboratory tests have shown that microplastics cause damage to human cells, (‘Microplastics are in our bodies. How much do they harm us?” National Geographic 25 April 2022.) Therefore, research on the effects of microplastics needs to be widely communicated in order to change current practices and regulations to safeguard the environment and public health. However, microplastics are difficult to target with cleanup activities. Their size makes it even more urgent to bring into the public spotlight the polluting agents and responsible actors that are currently beyond the threshold of human visibility. Prevention campaigns and general information about the topic are crucial. Art and design schools develop specialist skills in visualization and communication, and are able to take an active role in teaching a young generation about the implications of the ongoing production and marketing of plastic-related objects and products for consumption. This makes art and design schools ideal partners to help communicate complex sustainability issues, such as microplastic pollution.