VibrioScope: Bekämpa vibriosinfektioner via förbättrad kommunikation

Climate change and plastic litter facilitate the global spread of vibriosis, a group of diseases caused by Vibrio bacteria that grow as biofilms on plastic surfaces.

Therefore, communicating safe practices for potable water storage and plastic litter collection is essential, both in the water-scarce countries known as Vibrio hotspots (e.g., Malawi, Uganda) and those increasingly exposed to Vibrio spread due to rising temperatures (e.g., Sweden).

While local organizations actively involve citizens in campaigns to collect plastic litter, awareness of pathogens associated with plastic waste is limited.VibrioScope, photography-based participatory action research, will engage young people with different cultural backgrounds in safe behaviors when interacting with biofilms in their environments, e.g., storing potable water and handling plastic litter, through:science photography workshops/citizen science in collaboration with ongoing projects on Vibrio spread across the freshwater and brackish systems in Africa and the Baltic region,science photo festival to engage participants in disseminating the results beyond the geographic boundaries of their countries,participatory film production to present challenges and solutions when communicating similar topics.VibrioScope as a model case of change-oriented citizen research will support local engagement in water sanitation management in Africa and contribute to capacity building for safe plastic litter management worldwide.