The Municipality of Guimarães was selected under REMEDIES Open Call 1 with CLEANUP4Guimarães, a project focused on cleaning and valorising plastic and textile waste from rivers in Guimarães. The initiative introduced a community-driven approach to protecting local rivers, connecting the Municipality, the Landscape Laboratory, the University of Minho, Green Brigades, scouts, the Portuguese Red Cross, local farmers, and recycling partners around the Selho River and the wider Ave River basin.
The project launched with a public event where the first two eco-barriers were installed in the Selho River. These eco-barriers, made of 94% cork, were designed to capture oils and floating debris without requiring engineering works or interfering with river flow, vegetation, or biodiversity. Six plastic accumulation hotspots were identified in Guimarães rivers, and two clean-up campaigns were carried out as part of the #EUBeachCleanUP campaign. The first, on 29 June, involved scouts from the 774 Queijas Scout Group and collected more than 233 kg of waste. The second, on 14 August, mobilised 28 volunteers, mainly from the Green Brigades and the Portuguese Red Cross.
CLEANUP4Guimarães also turned collected plastic into visible, educational outputs. Plastic from the river clean-ups was used to create recycling kits for the seven Green Brigades, using repurposed municipal billboards, collected plastics, and recycled lids donated by citizens. The project also produced furniture for environmental education activities, including benches and tables made with recycled plastic, and created an art installation using collected waste. A photographic exhibition displayed in the historic centre of Guimarães during the Festas da Cidade e Gualterianas helped bring the issue of river pollution into a major public and touristic setting. The awareness campaign also included banners, newspaper ads, promotional videos, behind-the-scenes videos, and short videos documenting the clean-up campaigns and eco-barrier installation.
Beyond its immediate clean-up and recycling actions, the project helped build a local model for river protection, citizen engagement, and circular use of collected materials. It strengthened collaboration between public authorities, universities, citizens, artists, volunteers, farmers, and recycling actors, while contributing to Guimarães’ wider Sustainable Development Action Plan – Guimarães 2030. The Municipality also confirmed its commitment to continue pending actions, including the completion of eco-barrier installations, recycling workshops, and a digital publication on waste valorisation and recycling awareness.
