The EGCP’s Turning the Plastic Tide project has been up and running since 2018, organising beach cleans and promoting the health of East Grampian beaches. One of the main goals of the project is an educational aspect, aiming to engage children and young people in the conservation of their coastal and marine environments (Smith and Dunkley, 2024 a). This engagement has been ongoing in many forms:

Education and youth engagement remain a central pillar of the TTPT initiative, reflecting our strong commitment to empowering the next generation with the knowledge, skills, and motivation needed to protect the marine and coastal environment. Through a combination of practical beach cleaning activities and structured, classroom-based education programmes, TTPT works closely with schools across the region to deliver meaningful, age appropriate learning experiences. By integrating hands-on environmental action with wider learning about marine litter, plastic pollution, and sustainability, we aim to support young people in developing a long-term understanding of their role in caring for the coastline. 

A key strength of TTPT’s approach is its focus on ongoing partnerships rather than one-off engagements. Alongside welcoming school groups to participate in supervised beach cleans, the project delivers classroom sessions that reinforce learning outcomes and provide wider context around the sources, impacts, and solutions to marine litter (Figure 5). In several cases, this work has developed into longer-term collaborations with the same schools and teaching staff, allowing TTPT to deliver a consistent and progressive programme over time. This continuity enables pupils to build upon prior knowledge, see the tangible impact of their actions, and develop a deeper sense of stewardship for their local environment. One such example is our partnership with Bucksburn Academy, where a programme of beach cleans and educational engagement proved highly successful. The positive response from both pupils and staff has already led to multiple beach cleans being scheduled for the coming year, with 143 participants confirmed to take part. This early commitment demonstrates the value of sustained engagement and highlights how embedding TTPT activities within school planning can support both curricular learning and wider citizenship goals. 

TTPT is also developing a collaborative project with Peterhead Academy, working with S3 pupils from the People & Society class (Figure 6). This initiative combines beach cleaning activities with classroom-based visits, enabling pupils to explore environmental issues from both practical and academic perspectives. By linking real-world action with discussion and reflection in the classroom, the project supports critical thinking around marine pollution, community responsibility, and environmental decision-making, while strengthening pupils’ connection to their local coastline. Over this year, TTPT engaged with a total of 1,329 young people aged between 5 and 18, through a combination of 17 dedicated school outreach events and participation in 15 organised beach cleans (the total number of engagements with young people will be much higher through our community event participation, however the specific stats for such events are hard to log). These interactions play a vital role in building environmental awareness at an early age and reinforcing positive behaviours that can extend beyond the classroom. 

As TTPT continues to expand its education and outreach capacity, through the recruitment of an Educational Outreach Officer, strengthening school partnerships will remain a priority, ensuring that young people are not only involved in immediate clean-up 7 efforts but are also equipped with the understanding and confidence to contribute to long term environmental change.

Email: 

• TTPT Project Manager Lauren Smith: lauren.smith@egcp.org.uk

All public events are advertised here: 

• Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/turning-the-plastic-tide-57209531943
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/TTPTnortheast
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/ttptnortheast/
• Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/ttptnortheast.bsky.social
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/turning-the-plastic-tide/

To learn more about the litter collected by the TTPT project, or the volunteers who get involved, please see the respective pages.

All data is provided by Lauren Smith and Lauren Dunkley