TREASURE Project Meeting in Den Helder

After a warm welcome from HHNK Board Member Klazien Hartog, the meeting began with an informative Living Lab update from each TREASURE partner country. The aim of this meeting was to bring the partners together, share views, and exchange updates on the project. It was exciting to hear about the different learning achievements from each country and to discuss common questions and ideas for improvements. Always working towards our common goal: to reduce the plastic outflow into the North Sea.

Later, we made our way to the island of Texel, learning about the beachcombing traditions and the colourful collection of things that have washed ashore on the beach of Texel over the past 80 years.

On the second day, the workshop sessions were held in all four thematic pillars, diving deeper into the TREASURE work:

• First on ‘governance and policy’ as well as ‘data collection and analysis’
• After a break, on ‘prevention and behaviour change’ and ‘removal of plastic waste’

We closed the workshop part of the meeting with a serious game session, where we got to try out two different approaches to solve plastic pollution through games. One was targeted towards decision-makers and other experts in the field, while the other one can be played by people of all backgrounds and ages.

As a final highlight that perfectly rounded off the project meeting, the Dutch partner Noria Sustainable Innovators gave a tour of the CirCleaner, that was recently installed at the large pumping station De Helsdeur, as part of the Dutch Living Lab activities. The CirCleaner is a removal technology for plastic waste and has left everyone truly impressed.

With these great, enriching new experiences, we are looking forward to see each other again in Boulogne-sur-Mer in September 2025.