These are the results of Green Action Challenge 2026, run by the Korea Youth Work Agency (National Award Operator of The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award in Korea) and ITASEOUL, linked to World Cleanup Day 2026. This post brings together the film, the Social Outcomes Report and the social and environmental value indicators.
Film
Social Outcomes Report
Abstract
This report sets out the social outcomes of Green Action Challenge 2026, run by the Korea Youth Work Agency and ITASEOUL in connection with World Cleanup Day 2026 (Figure 1). During the campaign period (1 September to 31 October 2026, with sessions counted if they started on or after 7 September), 108 people registered. Of these, 44 took part in 139 plogging (litter-picking while walking) sessions, picked up 11,172 items of litter and recorded the location, time and type of each. The people who recorded data include some adults, such as Award Leaders. The social outcome of this campaign is that participants recorded local environmental problems and that those records remain as material explaining what was collected at the places of activity.
| Confirmed from the records | Not measured |
|---|---|
| 29 of the 44 participants who recorded data (65.9%) logged 2 or more sessions | Changes in participants' skills, attitudes and behaviour |
| Cigarette butts made up 49.5% of items collected | Outcomes for young people alone (some adults are included) |
| The top 10% of 100 m grid squares held 47.7% of items collected | The total amount of litter in an area, and any reduction |
| 99 grid squares were recorded on 2 or more different days | Whether the conversions represent actual savings |
※ Keywords: World Cleanup Day, The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award, data plogging, youth environmental citizenship, social value
1. Background and Purpose
World Cleanup Day is a civic action in which people around the world clear litter together, held each year around 20 September. In South Korea many one-off clean-up events take place at this time, but where the litter came from and whether the same place becomes littered again are in some cases not recorded. The Voluntary Service section of The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award names environmental service as a type of activity. In South Korea the Korea Youth Work Agency serves as the National Award Operator.
Green Action Challenge 2026 was planned to connect these two contexts. Each time participants picked up litter, they selected its type and left its location in the ITA City data plogging app, and the records were used in Award Centre reports as material for examining local problems. This report sets out the results under four headings (participation, persistence, environment and use of data) and also presents the range and limits of what can be converted into quantified social value.
2. Data and Method
The population is participants who were issued a participant number or who joined an Award Centre group, and the analysis covers the records of the 44 who logged at least one session. The Award Centres with activity records are SALT International School (Seongnam, Gyeonggi), Geochang Heungsadan (Geochang, Gyeongnam), Daegu Metropolitan Youth Training Centre (Daegu), Yeonhui Youth Centre (Incheon) and Wondangsan Youth Culture House (Gwangju). Individual Award participants in Hwacheon, Gangwon, were also active. The data are the ITA City session records and collection point records. Participation and persistence indicators were mapped to the Outcomes (§1.5) and Impacts (§1.6) set out in The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation's International Handbook for Award Leaders 2024. Details of the counting rules and formulas are given in Appendix B.
3. Results
3.1 Scale of participation
Of the 108 people registered, 44 (40.7%) left activity records. An international school, a youth organisation, youth training facilities and individual participants all recorded in the same way, and activity covered 9 regions and 18 districts (Figure 2, Figure 3). Figures for citation are collected in Appendix A.
※ Source: ITA City collection point records. Each circle is placed at the average of the recorded locations in the district. Beach records are included.
※ Photos posted by participants. Faces have been obscured.
3.2 Persistence indicators
The Award values sustained activity over one-off participation (the guiding principle of being Persistent). Of the 44 participants who recorded data, 29 (65.9%) logged 2 or more sessions, 24 were active over 2 or more weeks and 10 over 4 or more weeks (Figure 4). Time per person had a median of 0.75 hours and a mean of 1.13 hours. Sessions by week, day and time of day are shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6. Because the recording period was 8 weeks and the mean time per person was 1.13 hours, this campaign alone does not meet the Bronze requirement for the Voluntary Service section (at least 13 weeks, averaging 1 hour a week). Whether it counts as part of Voluntary Service section activity is for the Award Leader to decide.
※ Source: ITA City session records. Values other than registration are based on the 44 participants with activity records.
※ The horizontal axis shows the date (month/day) of the Monday of each week. The week of 9/21 includes the Chuseok holiday. The values may reflect Award Centre schedules and do not indicate a rising trend.
※ Based on session start time. Colour uses a log scale. The 28 sessions at 16:00 on Wednesdays combine 6 dates, and the busiest date was 9 September with 6. The values reflect group schedules and do not indicate a tendency for that day of the week.
3.3 Item composition and concentration of collection
By composition, cigarette butts numbered 5,533 items, including 96 on beaches, and made up 49.5% of items collected. Estimated from the average weight of each type in land records, cigarette butts come to 1.7 kg, 0.5% of total estimated weight (Figure 7). Reporting of collection by weight does not reveal the type collected most often. Recording count and location together makes such a type visible. Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate (a type of plastic). If cigarette butts are classed as plastic-type items along with plastic film, plastics, PET and polystyrene, they account for 8,500 (77.6%) of the 10,949 items collected on land.
※ Based on the 10,949 items collected on land, so cigarette butts are 5,437 items, 49.7%. The 5,533 items, 49.5% in the text are based on all 11,172 items, including 223 on beaches (96 cigarette butts). Weights are estimates calculated from the average weight of each type in land records (total 348.4 kg).
Of the 263 recorded 100 m grid squares, the top 10% (27 squares) held 47.7% of all items collected. There are 99 grid squares recorded on 2 or more different days and 51 recorded on 3 or more (Figure 8). These repeat observations can serve as reference points for comparing change at the same places in the next round.
※ Values are limited to places where participants were active and are not the total amount of litter in an area.
3.4 Local inquiry cases
The location records showed where large amounts of litter were collected. In Dochon-dong, Seongnam, 1,252 items were collected in ten 100 m grid squares, 71% of them cigarette butts. This area was cleaned repeatedly on 9 different days, and litter was recorded again after cleaning.
In Geochang, school no-smoking zones (30 m from the school boundary) were compared with collection locations. In area A of the Geochang Heungsadan Award Centre report, 81 of 116 cigarette butts were collected 30–60 m from a school boundary, just outside the no-smoking zone (Figure 9). Around all 10 schools, the 30–60 m band also had the most butts, at 372 (Figure 10). Separately, on a back lane in area A, 82 cigarette butts were collected on 9 September, and 81 were recorded again on the same lane 4 weeks later, on 7 October.
※ A concept diagram for explanation. The scale and the positions of the dots differ from reality.
※ Values are not adjusted for the area of each distance band or for the routes walked. The two back lane values come from different survey conditions and are not interpreted as improvement or deterioration. Sources: Geochang Heungsadan records, comparison with school boundaries, Award Centre newsletter.
These results were set out in Award Centre reports as inquiry questions such as "What should be in place where the no-smoking zone ends?". Such questions correspond to Planning and problem solving (Outcome 5) and Civic competence (Outcome 9) in the Foundation's outcomes framework. However, the analysis was carried out by ITASEOUL from participants' records, and improvement proposals arising from the questions have not yet been passed to local institutions or implemented.
3.5 Indicative conversions
Values converted with the ITA City standard formula are indicative figures for gauging scale and are not achievements (Figure 11, Table 1). Volunteer time has a clear reference rate and can be converted into money. Applying the 2026 minimum hourly wage of KRW 10,320 (Ministry of Employment and Labor Notice 2025-47) to the 49.9 hours recorded in the app (the 50.0 hours in Appendix A is a sum of rounded per-person figures) gives about KRW 515,000. This value includes the time of adults such as Award Leaders and may differ from actual volunteer person-hours, so it should be read as an indicative figure that cannot be taken as the value of young people's volunteering.
※ All are indicative values, not actual savings or reduction achievements. They come from the same records and are not added together. The 496 PET bottles express an amount of carbon and are not a count of items collected.
Table 1. ITA City standard conversions (reference)
| Indicator | Value | Formula |
|---|---|---|
| Plastic kept out of rivers and the sea | 88.7 kg | Sum of estimated weights of cans, polystyrene, PET, plastic film, plastics and cigarette butts |
| Drain-cleaning budget equivalent | About KRW 3.95 million (232 storm drains) | Each item treated as 25 cm² of accumulated area, converted to a number of storm drains (315 × 375 mm), about KRW 17,000 per drain |
| Public health area | 43,796 m² | 4 m² per item. Equal to the area of 219 playgrounds (200 m²) |
| Carbon saving from recycling | 28.2 kgCO2e | Can and PET recycling factors × 90.1% volunteer separation rate |
※ The 223 items collected on beaches are excluded from the calculation. The drain budget is based on average drain-cleaning budget data from Seoul City and the Ministry of Public Safety (2013 to 2019), and the separation rate on survey data from the Korea Central Volunteer Center (December 2022). The carbon saving holds only if the collected cans and PET bottles were separated for recycling.
3.6 Use of data
Each of the 11,172 collection records holds a location, time and type. These records were used for Award Centre maps, analysis of distance from school no-smoking zones and locating where collection was concentrated, and records in the same format can be compared with the next round. Participants' voluntary service remains both as their individual activity record and as a record explaining what was collected at the places of activity (Figure 12).
※ Dashed boxes mark a stage not yet carried out.
4. Discussion
4.1 Interpreting the social outcomes
The social outcomes of this campaign can be set out under three points. First, participants observed and recorded local environmental problems alongside the clean-up. That many cigarette butts in area A of Geochang were collected just outside the no-smoking zone boundary does not appear in total item counts and was identified from records that kept location. Second, because an international school, a youth organisation, youth training facilities and individual participants left data in the same format, records from different areas were brought into one system. Third, repeat observations have accumulated, so change at the same places can be compared in the next round.
4.2 Mapping to the Foundation's outcomes framework
Table 2 maps this round's records to the Foundation's items. The activity records correspond to "Increased engagement with charitable and community causes", which the Foundation defines as an impact. For "Improved environmental impact" there are collection records only, with no records of behaviour change. The Foundation's Global Social Value Report 2024 does not monetise the environmental area, and the conversions in this report are likewise not inputs to the Foundation's formula.
Table 2. This round's records by Foundation item (change was not measured for any item)
| Foundation item | Content | Category | This round's records |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impact 4 | Engagement with charitable and community causes | ● Participation record | Activity records of 44 participants, 139 sessions, 50.0 hours |
| Outcome 2 | Resilience and determination | ● Participation record | Repeat records of the 29 participants with 2 or more sessions |
| Impact 5 | Improved environmental impact | ◐ Indirect record | Collection records only, no records of behaviour change |
| Outcome 5 | Planning and problem solving | ◐ Indirect record | 2 inquiry cases (Seongnam, Geochang), analysis carried out by ITASEOUL |
| Outcome 9 | Civic competence | ◐ Indirect record | Inquiry questions in reports, nothing passed to institutions |
| Outcome 1 | Confidence | ○ No record | Pre/post questions next round |
| Outcome 8 | Personal and social wellbeing | ○ No record | Pre/post questions next round |
4.3 Limitations
- The 44 participants who recorded data include some adults and age information is mostly missing, so outcomes for young people alone could not be separated.
- Changes in participants' attitudes, behaviour and skills could not be confirmed because no pre/post measurement was carried out. The persistence indicators in this report are records of participation behaviour and are not evidence of change in skills.
- Item counts and weights show what participants picked up and do not indicate the total amount of litter or the level of pollution in an area. Weights are estimates calculated from the average weight of each type.
- The conversions in Table 1 are indicative figures for gauging scale. The drain-cleaning budget figure is not a budget actually saved, and the carbon saving holds only if the collected cans and PET bottles were separated for recycling.
- Repeat observations of the same place were made under different survey conditions (time, weather, number of people), so changes in counts were not interpreted as an effect of improvement.
5. Conclusions and Recommendations
Three points were confirmed from the records of Green Action Challenge 2026. Cigarette butts in area A of Geochang were collected in large numbers just outside the no-smoking zone boundary, collection was concentrated in a small number of places, and some areas were recorded again over several days. These results were set out as inquiry questions in Award Centre reports. The social outcome of this campaign is that participants' voluntary service remains as a record explaining what was collected at the places of activity. We propose that the items in Table 3 be designed together for the next round.
Table 3. Recommendations for the next round
| What | Method | When |
|---|---|---|
| Confirm young people's volunteer person-hours | Collect age and youth status at application and link to volunteer hours certified on 1365, Korea's national volunteering portal | At application |
| Measure change against the Foundation's outcomes framework | 3 to 5 pre/post self-report questions on confidence, civic competence and environmental behaviour | Start and end |
| Trends in change at the same places | Resurvey the repeat-observation grid squares and no-smoking zone boundary sections identified this round under the same conditions | During the campaign |
| Passing proposals to local institutions | Pass improvement proposals written by young people themselves to local institutions and record whether they are taken up | After the campaign |
References
- The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation (2024). International Handbook for Award Leaders 2024.
- The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation (2024). Global Social Value Report 2024.
- Ministry of Employment and Labor (2025). Notice of the Minimum Wage Applicable in 2026 (Notice 2025-47).
- ITASEOUL (2022, 2023). Calculation sheets for the Korea Central Volunteer Center's indicators of contribution to reducing environmental load.
- ITASEOUL (2026). Green Action Challenge 2026 Operating Report and Award Centre reports (SALT International School, Geochang Heungsadan, Daegu Metropolitan Youth Training Centre).
- Korea Central Volunteer Center (2022). Survey data (December 2022). Cited from the ITASEOUL calculation sheets.
Appendix A. Figures for Citation
| Indicator | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Registered | 108 | 52 with a participant number, 56 who joined only an Award Centre group without a participant number |
| Participants who recorded data | 44 | At least one session. Includes some adults |
| Sessions | 139 | Excludes 31 test entries and entries from staff accounts |
| Items collected | 11,172 | Includes 223 on beaches |
| Time and distance | 50.0 h, 75.3 km | Logged by the app. May differ from actual volunteer person-hours |
| Area covered | 9 regions, 18 districts | By recorded location |
| 2 or more sessions | 29 (65.9%) | Based on the 44 participants who recorded data. 24 over 2 or more weeks, 10 over 4 or more weeks |
| Time per person | Median 0.75 h, mean 1.13 h | Based on the 44 participants who recorded data |
| Cigarette butts | 5,533 items, 49.5% | Based on all 11,172 items (5,437 of the 10,949 items on land, 49.7%). Estimated weight 1.7 kg, 0.5% (land basis) |
| Plastic-type items | 8,500 items, 77.6% | Based on the 10,949 items on land. Estimated weight 85.6 kg |
| Estimated weight | 348.4 kg | Item count × average weight of each type. Not weighed. Beach items excluded |
| Concentration of collection | 47.7% in the top 27 squares | Based on 263 100 m grid squares |
| Grid squares observed again | 99 (51 on 3 or more days) | Recorded on different days |
| Volunteer time conversion | About KRW 515,000 | 49.9 hours × minimum wage of KRW 10,320. Includes adults' time. Indicative figure |
Appendix B. Counting Rules
The data are as of 1 November 2026, and activity records cover sessions started on or after 7 September, the date the campaign website went public. Records from staff accounts were excluded, as were 31 records treated as app test entries because one item or fewer was picked up. Items collected is the sum of items participants logged one by one by type. Time and distance are the values recorded by the app, and where several people shared one record they may differ from actual volunteer person-hours (people × time). Participants' ages were mostly not entered and those who recorded data include some adults such as Award Leaders, so the share of young people was not calculated.
Environmental indicators centre on values drawn directly from location and type records (item composition, concentration of collection and repeat observation). A 100 m grid square measures 0.0009 degrees of latitude by 0.00113 degrees of longitude. Quantified conversions apply the standard environmental impact formula of the ITA City platform, which grew out of the calculation of indicators of contribution to reducing environmental load that ITASEOUL has carried out for the Korea Central Volunteer Center since 2022.
Social and environmental value indicators
Green Action Challenge 2026: Social and Environmental Value Indicators
1. Activity (measured from app records)
| Indicator | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Registered | 108 | 52 with a participant number, 56 who joined through an Award Centre group |
| Participants who recorded data | 44 | At least one session. Includes some adults such as Award Leaders; age was mostly not entered, so the share of young people is not reported |
| Sessions | 139 | Excludes 31 test entries (one item or fewer) and entries from staff accounts |
| Items picked up and recorded | 11,172 | Sum of items logged one by one by type (includes 223 on beaches) |
| Time and distance | 50.0 h, 75.3 km | Time and route length logged by the app. Where several people shared one session, these figures differ from volunteer person-hours |
| Area covered | 9 regions, 18 districts | By recorded location: 9 provinces and metropolitan cities; 18 cities, counties and districts |
2. Participation and personal development (Award framework)
| Award outcome or impact | Evidence from this round | To add next round |
|---|---|---|
| Impact 4: Increased engagement with charitable and community causes | 44 participants, 139 sessions, 50.0 hours. Median time per person 0.75 h, mean 1.13 h | Confirm person-hours against certified hours on 1365, Korea's national volunteering portal |
| Outcome 2: Resilience and determination; guiding principle: Persistent | 29 participants (65.9%) recorded two or more sessions; 24 were active in two or more weeks; 10 in four or more weeks | Return rate in the next campaign |
| Outcome 5: Planning and problem solving | Two cases where records showed where litter gathers. Seongnam (Dochon-dong): 1,252 items in ten 100 m grid squares, 71% cigarette butts. Geochang (area A): 81 of 116 butts lay 30–60 m from a school boundary, just outside the no-smoking zone (Award Centre report). The analysis was carried out by ITASEOUL from participants' records | Hot spots identified by young people themselves; analysis written by them |
| Outcome 9: Civic competence | Award Centre reports include questions raised by the records (e.g. "What should be in place where the no-smoking zone ends?"). Whether these will be passed to local authorities has not yet been decided | Proposals written by young people, local authorities reached, uptake |
| Outcomes 1 and 8: Confidence; personal and social wellbeing | Not measured | Three to five pre/post self-report questions |
| Voluntary Service section | Can count towards the Voluntary Service section as environmental service. Participants averaged 1.13 hours in total over the campaign, so it contributes to the section rather than completing it (Bronze requires a minimum of 3 months (13 weeks), averaging at least one hour a week) | Number of participants who logged it in the Online Record Book |
Outcome and impact names follow the International Handbook for Award Leaders 2024, §1.5 and §1.6. In line with the Award's non-competitive principle, no comparisons between individuals or Award Centres are shown.
3. Environmental indicators (from location and item records)
| Indicator | Value | Caveat |
|---|---|---|
| Use of the data | Each of the 11,172 items carries its location, time and type. The records were used for Award Centre maps, distance analysis around school no-smoking zones and locating where litter gathers | Share of records with location; number of reports using the records. The same format allows comparison with the next round |
| Cigarette butts | 5,533 items, 49.5% of all items; by estimated weight 1.7 kg, 0.5% (land records) | Butts are best read by count. Filters are made of cellulose acetate, a type of plastic. The count is 5,437 on land plus 96 on beaches, shown as 50% in the film |
| Plastic-type items | 8,500 items, 77.6% of the 10,949 items collected on land (excluding beaches) | Includes plastic film, other plastics, PET, polystyrene and cigarette butts |
| Concentration | Of 263 recorded 100 m grid squares, the top 10% (27 squares) held 47.7% of all items | Limited to places where participants were active |
| Places observed again | 99 grid squares recorded on two or more different days, 51 on three or more. Separately, a back lane in Geochang had 82 butts on 9 Sep and 81 on 7 Oct (Award Centre newsletter) | Conditions differed, so changes in counts are not interpreted as improvement |
| Estimated weight collected | 348.4 kg, of which plastic-type 85.6 kg | Item count × average unit weight (table below). Not weighed. 223 beach items excluded (no unit weight) |
| Item | Count | kg each | Est. kg | Item | Count | kg each | Est. kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cigarette butts | 5,437 | 0.00031 | 1.7 | Cans | 214 | 0.0143 | 3.1 |
| Plastic film | 1,825 | 0.0051 | 9.3 | PET bottles | 240 | 0.0148 | 3.6 |
| Paper | 1,106 | 0.0814 | 90.0 | Polystyrene | 127 | 0.0197 | 2.5 |
| General waste | 1,035 | 0.1354 | 140.1 | Glass | 94 | 0.3141 | 29.5 |
| Plastics | 871 | 0.0787 | 68.5 | Beach | 223 | - | - |
Weight and carbon factors come from the ITA City plogging impact formula, which grew out of the calculation sheets ITASEOUL prepared for the Korea Central Volunteer Center (2022, 2023); we are still checking individual factors against their original sources. The four standard conversions from the same formula are shown in section 3a.
3a. ITA City standard conversions (reference)
| Indicator | Value | Method and caveats |
|---|---|---|
| Plastic kept out of rivers and the sea | 88.7 kg, equal to 17,731 plastic bags (5 g) or 285,983 cigarette filters (310 mg) | Estimated weight of cans, polystyrene, PET, plastic film, plastics and cigarette butts. The 85.6 kg in section 3 excludes cans |
| Drain-cleaning budget equivalent | About KRW 3.95 million (232 storm drains) | Items × 25 cm², divided by a 315 × 375 mm drain grate, × KRW 8 billion per 470,000 drains (about KRW 17,000 per drain, based on Seoul City and Ministry of Public Safety drain-cleaning budget averages, 2013 to 2019). Not an actual saving |
| Public health area | 43,796 m², equal to 219 playgrounds (200 m²) or 14.6 school fields (3,000 m²) | Each item treated as affecting the hygiene of 4 m² around it |
| Carbon saving from recycling | 28.2 kgCO2e, equal to recycling 496 PET bottles (500 ml) or 9,609 plastic straws | (214 cans × 0.106 + 240 PET bottles × 0.036) × 90.1% volunteer separation rate (Korea Central Volunteer Center survey, Dec 2022). Applies only if the cans and bottles were separated for recycling |
These use the same formula as the figures shown in the ITA City admin and participant screens. The 223 beach items are not included. All are indicative conversions for scale and should not be added together.
4. Which indicators can be quantified?
| Item | Quantifiable | Method and conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Value of volunteer time | Yes (monetary) | Volunteer hours × 2026 minimum hourly wage KRW 10,320 (Ministry of Employment and Labor Notice 2025-47). The app's 49.9 hours give about KRW 515,000 (section 1 shows 50.0 as a sum of rounded per-person figures). Includes adults' time, so not the value of young people's volunteering alone; to be recalculated with certified hours |
| Weight collected | Yes (estimate, physical) | 348.4 kg as in section 3. Not converted to money |
| Drain-cleaning budget, public health area | Indicative only | ITA City standard conversions in section 3a. Not actual savings, so not added to monetary value |
| Recycling carbon | Conditional (physical) | Reference value only for cans and bottles confirmed as sorted. Not a certified emissions reduction |
| Young people's skills and civic competence | Not monetised | Report as counts and shares as in section 2; measure change with pre/post questions next round |
| Reduction of local litter | Not yet | Can be shown as a trend once repeated records at the same places accumulate |
All values derive from the same 11,172 records and should not be added together.
- Counts and weights show what participants picked up, not the total amount of litter or the level of pollution in an area.
- These indicators record participation. They are not evidence that young people's skills or civic competence changed; change will be measured with pre/post questions next round.
- The Award's 2024 Global Social Value Report does not monetise environmental outcomes. The values here are not inputs to the Award's social value model.
Contact: ITASEOUL (contact@itaseoul.org)
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