Workshop International Marine Debris Data Harmonization Workshop

The overall goal of this international technical workshop is to enhance the level of data including associated metadata identification to support global data harmonization for selected key marine debris indicators that will underpin the successful mitigation of plastic pollution. The workshop will present the state of the art when it comes to harmonization of monitoring methods and data synthesis efforts but will predominantly include working/discussion sessions in plenary and dedicated breakout groups. The 3-day workshop will take place in Yokohama, Tokyo, Japan, hosted by the Ministry of the Environment Japan (MOEJ) with organisation support from GEO Blue Planet, Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)/ IOCCP and NIVA Norway, and funding support from the European Union through the EU4OceanObs and EuroSea projects. The event will bring together about 50 invited participants, including international experts in marine debris data management, monitoring, and harmonization of methods.