Fisheries, nature conservation, renewable energies, shipping, tourism – our coasts are used in many ways. When planning and using coastal areas, however, the coordination of the many actors often fails, as some interests may conflict with each other. The project Baltic Sea2Land – Fostering integrated governance for the joint sustainable use of human and natural capital in the near shore zone, a follow-up project to the project Land-Sea-Act, in which the Baltic Environmental Forum Germany was also involved deals with the different interests and stakeholders that clash in coastal areas. To bring them together, we are developing a compass – a guide to action on how coastal space can be used efficiently and sensibly. This will serve as a tool for administrations and governments and will be tested in pilot regions.
INTERREG Baltic Sea2Land
One pilot region we will be working closely with is the Island of Fehmarn. The municipality on the Baltic Sea Island with its approximately 13,000 inhabitants has set itself the goal of making the island climate-neutral by 2030. Fehmarn also wants to become energy self-sufficient and make the tourism sector more climate friendly. We are participating in this project and support the expansion of renewable energies on Fehmarn. To this end, we are drawing up a concrete plan that also considers possible obstacles such as NIMBY – the English acronym stands for not in my backyard, in Germany it is known as the Saint Florian principle. Together with the stakeholders, we develop concepts to overcome possible conflicts so that the regional energy supply is strengthened.
Project details
- Project name: Baltic Sea2Land
- Project management: Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia
- Subject areas: Energy and climate change, Water management and marine protection
- Funded by: INTERREG Baltic Sea Region
- Operational time: 01/2023 – 12/2025
- Project website: https://interreg-baltic.eu/project/balticsea2land/
Participating countries
Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland
Project team
Project leadership:
Other employees:
Project results
During the course of the project, valuable insights were gained on Fehmarn for the local energy transition and for better interaction between planning, stakeholders, and the population. A survey conducted showed broad support for the use of wind energy, coupled with sensitivity to the landscape and tourism. In addition, a legal opinion commissioned by the city of Fehmarn sets out the conditions under which electricity from wind power can be supplied directly to local consumers – an important building block for the island’s energy autonomy. In addition to the complete legal version (only in German) of the legal opinion, an editorially simplified summary (only in German) is provided, which reproduces the essential content in a generally understandable form. However, the original version remains authoritative for legal assessments.
In addition, the Sea2Land Navigator has been tested in practice and further developed. It offers a structured approach to identifying conflicts at an early stage and making decisions based on jointly developed data. The results and tools were presented and discussed at various events, including the Fehmarnbelt Days and the 5th Baltic MSP Forum. The guidelines, methods, and dialogue formats developed in the process can also serve as guidance for other coastal communities in the future for integrated and participatory planning processes.
A detailed pilot report can be found here. Below, you can also take a look at various information materials.
Information material
Guideline Navigator game
Project postcard
Project poster
Picture gallery
Partner meeting Hamburg 2024
Excursion Fehmarn 2024
5th MSP Forum Riga 2025
The action is supported by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme 2021-2027 – through the Subsidy contract for the project #C018 Baltic Sea2Land of Interreg Baltic Sea Region.
