How Interreg makes Baltic Sea waters clean
Over thousands hazardous substances potentially present in the Baltic Sea threaten its ecosystem, according to the “State of the Baltic Sea report” by the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (Helsinki Commission - HELCOM). This is one of the main causes of the damages to the environmental status of the Baltic Sea, (including among others pollution, marine litter and eutrophication). Countries in the region see cooperation as the right way to preserve the health of our shared sea. In fact, the impact of these harmful substances doesn’t stop where they enter the sea but can have far and wide-reaching side effects. Interreg Baltic Sea Region has been supporting numerous initiatives developing smart solutions to protect and conserve Baltic Sea waters.
One of the Programme’s priorities focuses on reducing nutrient inflows and discharges of hazardous substances to the Baltic Sea, handling dumped munitions, reducing nitrogen loss from farms, managing industrial sewage, drainage systems and riparian forests, to preventing microplastics from entering the sea; as many as 21 Interreg projects helped public and private organisations in the region to improve the quality of Baltic Sea waters. On the occasion of European Maritime Day, bringing together the Europe’s maritime community to discuss and collaborate on water affairs, have a look at six different examples of how Interreg projects work as if there were no borders to maintain the Baltic Sea clean and healthy.
DAIMON: tackling marine munitions at the bottom of the Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea and Skagerrak contains a dark legacy of ca. 250 000 tons of dumped munitions, poisoning the marine environment. Thanks to the DAIMON project, maritime administrators and spatial planners, environmental agencies, coastguards and military are more aware of the risk. However, they do not sufficiently use newly developed tools for risk analysis, selection of remediation methods as well as environmental impacts assessment. The extension phase project DAIMON 2 offered training in using the new tools and develops them further into standard operating procedures for the environmental impact assessment. Click here for more details on the project and here to learn more on the extension phase project.
Baltic Slurry Acidification: reducing nitrogen loss from livestock production
In the Interreg project Baltic Slurry Acidification, farmers around the region tested the technology of treating animal manure with acid to reduce ammonia emissions harmful to people and the waters of the Baltic Sea, and to gain valuable fertilisers for their crops instead. You can read more about the project and its achievements here.
BEST: enhancing the management of industrial sewage
Industrial waste waters are a considerable challenge for municipal waste water treatment plants as they require special treatment and management. In the project BEST, local water utilities, waste water treatment plants, industrial companies and permitting authorities elaborated and tested guidelines and procedures for a more efficient management of industrial sewage. Check here for more information.
NOAH: protecting Baltic Sea from wastewater spillages during flood events
The NOAH project improved spatial planning and the operation of urban storm water runoff and drainage systems in order to reduce pollution caused by extreme weather such as heavy rains and floods. NOAH developed a new layer for extreme weather events to be used in computer-based modelling of drainage. By combining this modelling with traditional city planning techniques, municipal planning shifted from fragmented individual site-based planning to a holistic approach covering the entire urban catchment. Click here for more details on the project.
FanpLESStic-sea: removing microplastics before they enter the sea
Microplastics must be stopped from entering the sea. They stem from many sources, including car tires, waste disposal, textiles and cosmetics. But there is a need to better understand the sources and pathways of microplastics when assessing the efficiency of measures to treat microplastics and improving policies. FanpLESStic-sea provided tools to municipalities, national policy makers, and water utilities to get to work. The project set up a model to map local pathways of microplastics, pilot removal technologies and defines innovative governance frameworks to reduce microplastics. Find everything about the project and its achievements here.
WAMBAF: managing waters in Baltic Forests
Forestry is a substantial source of the nutrient and hazardous substances inflow into the inland waters and the Baltic Sea. This negative impact can be reduced by better maintenance of drainage systems, management of riparian forests and beaver populations. Good practices and tools for the forestry to improve the water quality were developed in the WAMBAF project. Additionally, the extension phase project WAMBAF Tool Box adapted those tools for a better use among wider groups of forest enterprises, managers, planners, hunters, land owners and authorities. Click here for more information on the project and here for more details on the extension phase project.
These projects are just a few examples of the larger catalogue of projects contributing to maintain the Baltic Sea clean and healthy. To view them all, visit our project library.
Interreg Baltic Sea Region is a source of EU funding for smart ideas of how to shape the region. We provide more than money: We create an environment for working together to let great solutions become common practice.