Unpacking Plastic

A multidisciplinary symposium organised by the Microplastics & Citizens group

Unpacking Plastic is an event that delves into the complex role of plastic in our modern world, exploring its presence across multiple scales, from global pollution concerns to its impact on personal health and daily behaviors. Through an engaging keynote, hands-on workshops, and interactive activities, this event brings together knowledge and action, helping us rethink our relationship with plastic and discover practical steps toward change.

Date: 20th May, 14:30 to 17:00
Location: House of Connection, Grote Markt 21, Groningen

Program

14:30 – 15:20 Opening and Lecture
Concrete and Plastic: Thinking through Materiality by Prof. Kylie Crane, University of Rostock
This talk considers the multiple scales of plastic as emerging from and contributing to modernity, for the ways plastic has become synonymous with pollution (or not), as well as its entanglements in the everyday. Bringing concrete to the conversation about plastic aids in comprehending materials as materials, that is, for the ways disparate places, people, ideas and things are connected.

15:30 – 16:15 Parallel workshops

• Plastic & Health – Breathing Microplastics with Dr. Gwenda Vasse
  Explore how microplastics enter our respiratory system and what this means for human health
• Plastic & Environment – Microplastics in the Arctic with Dr. Maarten Loonen
  Investigate the surprising presence of plastic pollution in remote ecosystems and its broader environmental impact
• Plastic & Innovation – New sustainable solutions with Dr. Patrizio Raffa
  Discover which innovations researchers are developing to create more sustainable polymeric materials 
• Tackling Microplastics in Daily Life with Dr. Josefine Geiger
  Find out how the general public view (micro)plastics and learn practical strategies for tackling this new type of pollution through everyday actions

16:15 – 16:30 Quiz
Test your knowledge on plastic!
Take part in the trivia session organized by the GreenOffice

16:30 – 17:00 Closing session
Drinks and walk-in activities
Enjoy our networking drinks and test a board on synthetic clothes & fast fashion (by UG staff), check out new video games on microplastics (by Hanze students) or discover how children are learning about plastic in primary schools (by ScholierAcademie).