OREANDA-NEWS. At the beginning of 2014, Grupa LOTOS liaised with Our Earth Foundation, becoming a partner to the International Baltic Clean-Up 2014 campaign. The goals of the campaign, which is to raise awareness of the complexity of the Baltic Sea's problems and inspire initiatives to effectively protect it, are well in line with LOTOS's corporate social responsibility strategy.

Next Saturday, Warsaw will see the opening of the programme, which this year will be run under the slogan: 'The Baltic - our sea. How to become a friend of the Baltic'. During the event, the Foundation will be trying to bring home the fact that we affect the Baltic's ecosystem not only while staying at the seacoast. The event will take place from 11am to 4pm at Plyta Desantu, by the Wisla River in Warsaw.

LOTOS has been engaged in the Clean Up the World campaign for many years now. Last year, 70 schools from the Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot conurbation were invited to partake in the event, which took place in Gdansk on the Brzezno beach, gathering approximately 700 participants. The result of the collective cleaning effort was 18 thousand litres of sorted trash, three times more than the amount collected in 2012. The campaign was initiated with the planting of the 'Baltic Wildlife Lovers' tree. Once the cleaning was over, participants of the event were offered an educational programme, including workshops, games, and fun activities. As their own contribution, divers from LOTOS Straz cleaned the seabed in the vicinity of the beach.

The Our Earth Foundation has been running the International Baltic Clean-Up initiative for seven years now, to raise awareness of the complexity of the Baltic Sea's problems and inspire initiatives to effectively protect it. In addition, the campaign provides a platform for cooperation between NGOs, local authorities and research centres (such as higher education institutions, marine stations, National Parks, Landscape Parks and State Forests) and other institutions committed to safeguarding the Baltic. With this campaign, the organisers highlight the fact that the Baltic Sea is all Poles' shared responsibility, as our everyday actions can affect the state of its waters and wildlife no matter how far inland we live.

This year, the initiative involves a number of events and competitions for schools, kindergartens and local communities.

The grand finale of the 2014 campaign will be the Baltic - Learn, Love, Protect environmental picnic, which will take place on June 22nd on the Brzezno beach in Gdansk. The event will be a varied and attractive experience, combining different means of expression as a mix of education and fun to appeal to adults and children alike.