08/05/2026 Report: NESB Project Synthesis Workshop
With the Northern European Sea Basins project’s (NESBp) Synthesis Workshop titled “Let’s talk a common language” in Gdansk end of March 2026, project’s work package 3 reached an important milestone. All tasks were presented, discussed and brought forward to a new level.
The workshop was also intended to bring together various projects and initiatives to coordinate common effort towards nature conservation and restoration and ensure sustainable energy transition. An open dialogue on the MSP’s role in nature conservation and restoration as well as keeping cumulative impact at the level which does not jeopardize healthy functioning of the marine ecosystem enriched the content of NESBp deliverables. Experts representing different sectors and target groups forged a common language which strengthens cooperation and knowledge exchange not only at project level but between European sea basins.
Session 1 “Let’s talk a common language”
The workshop started with the session related to project task 3.1 “A glossary on terminology related to energy transition and biodiversity”.
At first, Philipp Arndt (BSH) gave and introduction to the work in the NESBp project on the glossary of terms. After framing the projects concept and timeline, further presentations were held to widen the focus and enrich the following discussions. Participants were divided into 2 groups in presence and 1 online group to ensure lively and structured discussions.
Discussions were guided by several main questions in order to achieve a viable result:
- The demand for the glossary from the North and Baltic countries
- Preferable status of such a terminological platform
- The vision of the glossary’s structure and content
- Feasible technical solutions for maintaining, updating and administering
Presentations:
Introduction by Phillip Arndt (BSH)
Session 2: Development without damage
The second session of the workshop was dedicated to one of the most difficult MSP questions – what are practical measures which can be introduced by MSP to support nature conservation and restoration? The session was intended to discuss the result of respective survey conducted by NESB project within the North and Baltic Sea regions and capitalize on additional inputs from other targeted projects and regions. The goal of the session was to verify and complement information compiled for the overview of nature conservation and restoration measures and assess progress towards the project deliverable – a catalogue of mitigation measures.
The introduction session included three presentations setting the scene for subsequent breakout sessions.
The discussions, organised in two groups in presence and one online group, were intended to synthesis presented information with expert views of project participants to respond to two major questions:
- Which nature conservation measures fall under MSP remits? What are practical means to support restoration in MSP?
- What are practical means to support restoration in MSP?
Presentations:
Mitigation measures
The second session also dealt with the topic of mitigation measures related to task 3.3 “Mitigation measures – a catalogue and gap-analysis on mitigation measures”. The task includes two activities: cataloguing effective and proportionate mitigation measures for the maritime economic sectors in the North and Baltic Sea basins and beyond, based on an evaluation of current practice in MSP; and gap analysis and identification of potential mitigation measures and respective research needs.
At first, Marie Dahmen (BSH) gave an introduction to the work in the NESBp project on mitigation measures, with a focus on the results of the questionnaire and the draft catalogue. In addition, a presentation on the French MSP was held by Alan Quentric to provide a practical example on how mitigation measures are integrated in MSP.
The participants were divided into 2 groups in presence and 1 online group to ensure lively and structured discussions. Discussions were guided by several main topics:
- MSP helps to mitigate potential impacts
- Integration of mitigation measures in national plans
- MSP as an effective tool for energy transition and protection of the marine biodiversity.
Presentations:
Session 3: Joint effort to reduce joint pressure
The session, related to task 3.4 “Cumulative Impact Assessment at North Sea Basin level”, started with the introduction of the work in the NESBp project on Cumulative Impact Assessments undertaken thus far by Jitske Nugter (NL, MinIenW). She presented the results of questionnaires and interviews with country representatives and four regional organisations (OSPAR, HELCOM, ICES, and NSEC).
After this introduction further presentations were held to widen the focus and enrich the discussion topics:
- Approaches to the translation of human activities (sea use in MSP) into impacts
- Practical recommendations on building sea use-pressure-impact matrix
- Uncertainties of the application of CIA in MSP
- Potential of scenario-based approaches for CIA in MSP.
Presentations:
WP3 project deliverables will come in 3 stages: The first product -a glossary of terms - is close to completion for June, most content will be published end of 2026 while the final policy briefs, summarizing and pinpointing the broad spectrum of topics for the end of the project in 2027. The workshop demonstrated that respective NESBp tasks are progressing as scheduled and synergy with other projects and processes is ensured.
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NESB project is 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.
