This article illustrates the communication strategies that were successfully applied in the citizen science program Plastic Pirates in Germany. The program engages schoolchildren, teachers and youth groups in plastic pollution research. A variety of communication strategies have been implemented and continuously revised and adapted since the start of the program in 2016.

Doris Knoblauch gave a presentation on plastic waste at the Freudberg School in Berlin on 9 December 2020. The lecture took place as part of the "Plastic Pirates" project.

How much and what kind of waste is found on European riverbanks? Are microplastics floating in our river towards the open sea? What measures could reduce the presence of single-use plastic items in the environment? These are just some of the questions that young people are exploring together with scientists in the citizen science project "Plastic Pirates - Go Europe!". The aim of the project is a wide-ranging, scientific survey of litter pollution along European watercourses and the identification of potential litter hotspots.

The "Plastic Pirates" are a citizen science project for young people to research litter pollution in German rivers. The article describes the background and objectives of the project, explains the scientific methodology and presents some of the results from the first years of the project.

A torn plastic bag on the riverbank or a yoghurt cup floating in the water are symptoms of serious interference with the highly complex system of seas, the ocean and flowing waterways. The Plastic Pirates – Go Europe! project focuses on this plastic waste problem and our future handling of it. It aims to familiarise young people with the general topic of the ocean and water cycles in the process. They will learn what it means to work scientifically – and try their hand at it.