The analgesic and anti-inflammatory pharmaceutical active ingredient Diclofenac can be administered in various forms of application. The discharge of the active ingredient into wastewater varies depending on the form of application. The final entry into the environment's water bodies is additionally influenced by the type of wastewater treatment.

On 15 January 2025, the final event of the project 'Information and teaching materials for the environmentally conscious use of human medicinal products'will take place. The event will initially serve to present the information and teaching materials developed in the project, as well as discussing the plan for disseminating these materials.

This report presents a work plan for incorporating the issue of pharmaceuticals in the environment into the education of the medical and pharmaceutical professions in Germany. It first presents an overview of the relevant German structures in the education and training of medical and pharmaceutical professions. In a second step, it provides concrete recommendations for the integration of the topic into teaching (studies and vocational training), continuing education and training.

On the afternoons of 29 and 30 June 2022, a two-part online workshop was held as part of the project "Information and teaching materials for an environmentally conscious use of human pharmaceuticals". The workshop was titled "Embedding the topic 'Pharmaceuticals in the Environment' in pharmaceutical and medical university teaching as well as in continuing education and professional training", and discussed with stakeholders different approaches to foster the uptake of this topic in teaching curricula.

The project "Information and teaching materials for an environmentally conscious use of pharmaceuticals", led by Ecologic Institute, aimed to promote an environmentally responsible use of human pharmaceuticals and to anchor the topic of pharmaceuticals and the environment in pharmaceutical and medical teaching. The overriding goal is to reduce the entry of pharmaceuticals into the environment and their effects on animals and plants. To this end, freely available teaching materials are developed for university teaching, for professional trainings and for vocational schools. In addition, customer information materials on the proper use and disposal of medicines were created and disseminated. Finally, all information and materials were made available on an online information platform at www.uba.de/ham.