The Island communities Spiekeroog and Juist and the mainland municipality Wangerland and the city Norden have come together to jointly provide challenges of demographic change and new solutions for the tasks of the future. The event is part of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research through the funding measure "municipalities innovative" by a joint project "Wat nu? - Demographic changes in Wadden Sea area". (click on the readmore-link below to be forwarded to the "Wat Nu? - Demographischer Wandel im Wattenmeer Raum" site)

ENHANCE aims at developing and analysing new ways to enhance society’s resilience to catastrophic natural hazard impacts. For this, the project developed new multisector partnerships (MSPs) between public and private sectors, with an important role for the financial sector (e.g. insurers). The hazards were related to heat waves, forest fires, flood, drought, storm surge, and volcanic eruptions. Through close engagement of stake holders and policy organisations, ENHANCE developed MSPs in 10 case studies for managing risk from natural hazards.

After working for 3 years on concrete steps to implement the trilateral goose management scheme, the installation of a management group under the responsibilities of the regional governments has not made progress. But a step forward was taken at the international conference on goose management on 27-29 October 2015 in Denmark, where recommendations for a sound management on flyway level and the establishment of an “European Goose Management Platform” were agreed on and forwarded to the 6th Session of the Meeting of the Parties of AEWA in Bonn in November 2015 at which the recommendations were adopted. A new international management plan for some species will be elaborated.

Architecture and roadmap to manage multiple pressures on lagoons was a research project to develop methodologies to manage the multiple problems affecting lagoons in Europe. The project was funded by the The Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development (FP7) of the European Commission. The WSF was involved as advisor from the stakeholder side. (click on the readmore-link below to be forwarded to the NGI "Arch" site)

To develop the Wadden Sea region by 2030 into a CO2-neutral region is an ambitious goal, which needs the support of the entire region with their industry associations, environmental and conservation organizations and social institutions as well as the local and regional politicians. Energy topics, climate change and CO2 reduction have been on the WSF agenda for many years. Recently, a cooperation with the WSB has been arranged to elaborate on elements of a CO2 neutral Wadden Sea Region.

The WSF has elaborated on indicators since 2003 and recently, in cooperation with the Wadden Academy and the universities of Tilburg and Kiel, a new approach was elaborated to make the indicator tool more applicable and attractive for decision makers. An inventory of more than 60 indicators for 570 municipalities in the German WSR as well as a detailed analysis for 2 municipalities have been carried out. The aim was to discuss the scientific results with stakeholders and practitioners in order to consider characteristics of the local level and to make it more applicable.

The Wadden Sea Region (WSR) Planning Portal, based on a GIS, is an innovative application mapping the WSR including the EEZs of The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. The Planning Portal has a focus on existing and partly planned activities in coastal and off-shore areas. It contains a wide range of uses, facilities and protection demands and is designed to meet the information needs of integrated management and marine spatial planning.

The working group „Geography of Seas and Coasts“ (AMK) regards itself as a platform for science, economy, administration and practice. Annual conferences refer to communication about new studies, projects and measures in geo-science, biology, hydraulic engineering and fishing. The WSF is member of the AMK and supports the aims. The annual conference 2017 will take place in Kiel. (click on the readmore-link below to be forwarded to the "AMK" site)

Climate change and climate adaptation concerns our society and our stakeholder of the different sectors. Due to cooperation agreements, the climate office of the HZG (Helmholtz Zentrum Geesthacht) has adapted their existing climate atlas to the requirements of the WSF sectors. For the Wadden Sea Region, more than 100 climate scenarios are placed in this atlas and different parameters can be selected.