iVALUE – Improving perceptions and value of Baltic Sea ecosystems through alignment of policy aims and restoration measures
The Baltic Sea faces large challenges concerning habitat degradation and pollution. To turn the situation, there is a need for effective management and interventions along with closing still existing knowledge gaps. The project iValue will address these issues through promoting transdisciplinary catchment-based approaches, for the restoration of land and water resources.
Background
The Baltic Sea is a semi-enclosed, brackish sea with a unique ecosystem, vast catchment area and large human population. Eutrophication is a major concern, along with the release of hazardous substances and other sea-based activities, demanding effective management and interventions. Knowledge gaps on land-coast-sea interactions must still be closed, where especially ecosystem feedbacks, legacy sources and cross-scale, multi-solution management and incentives have been highlighted as critical for success.
Investing in nature and reversing biodiversity loss is a prerequisite to creating sustainable economic activities and ecosystem services, which are also priorities in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR). European (EU) policy has recognized this with the recently enacted Regulation on Nature Restoration Law (August, 2024), requiring European countries to restore 20% of their impacted habitats by 2030 and all deteriorated ecosystems by 2050. The intention is to support efforts begun at the turn of the century, when the EU Water Framework Directive (2000) was enacted. Notably, an efficient implementation of multiple policies also entails understanding the preferences and perceptions held by society regarding the ecosystem services delivered by different habitat types. While such assessments are often conducted for individual habitats and policies, less is known about how these are shaped by the overall policy context, specifically when policies may interact and/or misalign.
Project objectives
To achieve environmental targets set for the BSR, iVALUE will promote transdisciplinary catchment-based approaches, including the development of common, transnational evaluation measures. Approaches advanced by iVALUE will thus support the standardization of methods and indicators used by EU Member States both within and beyond the BSR, further demonstrating the importance of transnational cooperation. Transdisciplinary catchment-based approaches, coupling hydrology, ecology and the social sciences, are critical to explore and holistically address trade-offs and synergies, and promote multi-solution management strategies. This entails also improving knowledge of the context dependency of restoration measures along with their potential to impact freshwater and marine life, including the role of nature-based solutions (NbS) as a problem-solving approach for sustainable development.
Main activities
iVALUE will:
- Produce a concept note, which will help to:
- Describe existing knowledge gaps on land-coast-sea interactions, and propose solutions for closing these gaps;
- Propose broader transnational management solutions that will focus on identifying ecosystem feedbacks and legacy sources; and,
- Offer insights into the importance of society’s perceptions regarding ecosystem services, and how these may impact the transnational solutions required to avoid reaching critical tipping points.
- Submit at least one competitive application to a relevant Call, onboarding additional partners as needed to strengthen the consortium.
About the project
Project period: December 2024 to February 2026
Contact SMHI: Ursula McKnight
Partners: SMHI, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Aarhus University, Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Copenhagen, Finnish Environment Institute
Financing: the Swedish Institute
iVALUE is supported by the Swedish Institute’s Seed Funding grant, within the SI Baltic Sea Neighbourhood Programme. The aim is to strengthen and create lasting cooperation, relations and partnerships between EU countries around the Baltic Sea, as well as with countries in the EU’s Eastern Partnership. Focus is placed on creating opportunities that will ultimately help the region to meet their common challenges, where seed funding aims to lay the foundation for cooperation.
