BlueGreen Governance participated in the ECSA 61 Conference in Brussels, where researchers, policymakers, and practitioners gathered to discuss how estuarine and coastal areas can be better protected against biodiversity loss and the impacts of climate change.

Key Message

A key message that emerged throughout many of the conference sessions was that a vast amount of knowledge is already available about the condition of our coastal and aquatic ecosystems. The main challenge now lies in translating that knowledge into effective policies and concrete actions.
This theme ran through various workshops. Discussions focused on topics such as cross border cooperation, the role of ocean observations, science diplomacy, and the involvement of a new generation of professionals. A recurring question was how science, policy, and practice can be connected more effectively.

Workshop ‘Transforming Together’

Within this context, BlueGreen Governance organised the workshop Transforming Together: Learning Pathways for Sustainable Coastal Futures. During this interactive session, participants shared experiences from Horizon Europe projects Bluegreen Governance and Permagov. Seven short pitches provided insights into a variety of cases from coastal and estuarine regions.
The pitches demonstrated that sustainability transitions are often shaped by a combination of barriers and enablers. Examples of barriers include fragmented governance structures, differences between policy levels, limited stakeholder engagement, and challenges in knowledge exchange. Participants also highlighted factors that can facilitate change (enablers), such as co-creation, collaborative learning, and long-term cooperation between science, policy, and practice.

Takeaways

The workshop confirmed that sustainable change depends not only on knowledge, but also on the ability to connect people, organisations, and governance levels. This is precisely where BlueGreen Governance aims to make a contribution.
We look back on an inspiring conference that placed strong emphasis on how societal and ecological challenges can be translated into collective action for a more sustainable future for coastal and estuarine regions.

Video

The video provides a short recap of the ECSA 61. You will see Raoul Beunen (0:18), Uyen Nguyen (0:48) and Gunnar Sander (0:58),  participants of the BlueGreen Governance project.