Life Mercury-Free project

LIFE MERCURY-FREE project raises the issue of mercury environmental contamination, which come from traditionally underestimated sources related to use of mercury-containing goods in everyday life, mishandled by consumers because of the lack of information and consumer-friendly means of disposal.

The General Objective of the project is to reduce the environmental contamination by mercury contained in household consumer goods, mishandled by consumers, through providing an informational support via a communication and cooperation platform, organizing the wide informational and educational campaign and behavioural change activities, applying Behavioural Insights approach, building a multi-stakeholder confidence by creation of Mercury-Free City Communities in the cities, participating in the project, and applying the Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue methodology for their joint search for the problem solution.

The project will pilot the complex of activities in four cities, having the similar characteristics: Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk in Ukraine – the state, which has not signed yet the Minamata Convention; Lodz and Cracow in Poland.

Three more cities – Larissa (Greece), Evora (Portugal) and Camerino (Italy) – will be the control cities and the first project results' replicators.

The main activities and deliverables:

• LIFE e-HUB - the electronic platform, combining the project website; electronic community of practice and a Moodle-based educational platform;
• the Methodical Recommendation “Advancement of the mercury-containing waste management with quadruple helix territorial advisory structures”;
• the international e-Conference “Mercury-Free City: Danger in our Homes”;
• the Multi-Stakeholder Roadmap for Mercury-Free City;
• the International Mercury-Free City Marathons;
• the Academy of Mercury Free LIFE;
• the Summer Schools for municipalities, NGOs and educational institutions;
• a Mutual Learning Exercise; the Mercury-Free City Communities.