In order to raise society's awareness on the uniqueness of the Baltic Sea and encourage discussions about the state of the Baltic Sea and its coastal ecosystems, My Baltic Sea 2015 campaign takes place from 26 May to 28 June in Latvia. The campaign is one of the events within the framework of the VI Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.

The campaign monitors marine litter and engages society in practical environmental activities – researching, learning, documenting and encouraging everyone to get involved while cleaning up the coastline. Also, information on the environmental situation along the coastline of the Baltic Sea is collected and published during the campaign.

The monitoring and assessment of the marine litter is carried out by using a database on beach litter surveys managed by the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation in accordance with the methodology and protocols of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European Commission Joint Research Centre. The monitoring is carried out at around 30 locations with the involvement of local government representatives and residents. Little Cleanups will also take place at these locations (coordinated cleanup activities along the expedition route at the coastline) which resonates with the annual Big Cleanup campaign in Latvia.

Another activity organised under the campaign is the Green Expedition that covers the entire Latvian Baltic Sea coastline from Nida (Lithuania) to Ainaži (Latvia). During the expedition (500 kilometres along the coastline; see the route on www.manajura.lv) several activities take place:

• Tales of My Sea – environmental education activities (lectures, readings, workshops with environmental and other experts),
• Sounds of My Sea (concerts and cultural events),
• Surprised by My Sea (workshops and sports events).

Information about the campaign is available on campaign's website www.manajura.lv, in social media, and in a video.

The campaign is organised with the support of the Secretariat of the Latvian Presidency of the EU Council and the funding from the EEA and Norway Grants.