The growing research community will meet again in Lanzarote this year, specifically in September, at the international conference 'Micro', which will celebrate its fifth edition. Conferences will be held under the generic theme 'Plastic pollution: from macro to nano', from September 23 to 27, based at the Atlántida cinemas in Arrecife.
The Biosphere Reserve Office, coordinated by Councillor Samuel Martín, is once again at the forefront of organizing the international meeting, which to date has attracted the interest of scientists from all corners of the world.
According to the initial planning, during the months of March and April, summaries of the proposed presentations will be collected for review by the scientific committee, which was formed last December. Registration will open in May, which does not involve payment of tuition, and in June the work program will be disseminated.
The objective of 'Micro' is to "facilitate free access to extensive emerging research"; identify frontiers and challenges in the fight against plastic waste, and contribute with a collaborative effort to respond to the challenge of its elimination from planetary ecosystems.
The scientific conclave had its genesis in a workshop in Plouzané (France) in 2014. In 2016, Lanzarote became the headquarters of the International Congress, which was maintained in 2018 and implemented with online conference programs in 2020 and 2022 due to the conditions generated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Proof of the increasing interest in this issue is the number of researchers attending: in 2016 there were 300 and two years later this figure doubled. In 2020 and 2022 it was necessary to limit the number of communications, which was set at 500.
In successive editions, the "fate and impacts" of microplastics have been addressed from different perspectives: 'From the coast to the open sea' (2016), 'Knowledge, actions and solutions' (2018) and 'Knowledge and responsibilities' (2020) and 'Plastic pollution, from MACRO to nano' (2022).
In its most recent call, the scientific community participating in the summit produced the 'Lanzarote MICRO 2022 Declaration', for its incorporation into the United Nations treaty on Plastic Pollution, which is in the process of international debate.
The document warned that "plastic pollution persists in the environment, is ubiquitous in all ecosystems, crosses geopolitical borders and comes from all sectors of society. To effectively address this problem, collaboration will be necessary within and beyond ecological and national borders."
