The Northern European Sea Basins project (NESBp) proudly participated in the 4th Mission Arena of the Blue Mission BANOS project, held on 28–29 April 2025 in Sopot, Poland. This vibrant event brought together 200+ stakeholders from the South Baltic region to discuss what is needed to turn the blue economy carbon-neutral, circular and more secure, while reducing pollution and increasing biodiversity.

The NESB project joined the session titled “Multi-Use in the South Baltic: Exploring Opportunities on Offshore Wind Farms,” during which the participants explored how the growing offshore wind sector in the Baltic Sea can be reshaped through multi-use approaches — enabling co-location with other marine activities such as low-trophic aquaculture, marine habitat restoration, and nature-inclusive design.

The workshop underlined the critical role of multi-use strategies in supporting major EU frameworks, including the Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy, the Mission Ocean & Waters, and the Marine Spatial Planning Directive.

During this session the NESB project manager Marjoleine Nascimento da Silva Karper from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency introduced workshop participants with MariPark concept – an active multi-use of the offshore wind farm sites. The MariPark concept is to be bolstered in the NESB project – a research led by the Blue Cluster. This concept represents a new way of thinking and provides a clear pathway for succeeding with multi-use.

The presentations were followed by a discussion together with practitioners tackling the challenges of making Multi-Use a reality.

At the Mission Arena exhibition area, the VASAB Secretariat represented and promoted the NESB project, engaging with stakeholders, decision-makers, and fellow initiatives. The project’s goals, recent progress, and upcoming activities were highlighted at the exhibition as well as the connections with other actors working toward a sustainable blue economy were strengthened.

Follow the project activities on website www.nesbproject.eu, on social media – Bluesky @ theNESBproject.bsky.social, LinkedIN NESBproject.

The project is funded under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF).

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the project consortium only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.