About us

Light pollution, the excessive, misdirected or inappropriate use of artificial light at night, is increasingly recognised as a cross-regional challenge and serious environmental stressor causing biodiversity loss & habitat fragmentation. A proper reduction of light pollution & biodiversity protection calls out for transnational exchange & intergovernmental management.

Several EU countries, for the first time, consider light pollution in national legislation and strengthen its containment as a mandatory task for municipalities. However, no technical specifications for concrete environmentally sound, cost- & energy-efficient lighting solutions for urban planners & lighting engineers nor a cross-regional strategy guiding public authorities in maintaining/restoring ecological connectivity across the North Sea Region are given.

DARKER SKY is aiming at reducing light pollution & increasing biodiversity and ecological connectivity in the North Sea Area by

1. providing municipalities and ports with innovative measuring, monitoring & co-design methods for the implementation of new light reduction solutions;
2. fostering the interdisciplinary transnational exchange with good practices & lighthouse demonstrators (environmentally-sound lighting techniques and systems on 8 demonstrator sites in pilot regions (in FR: Brest; NL: Groningen, Friesland, DE: Lower Saxony, Hamburg) with replication potential for North Sea Region municipalities & public service providers (e.g.Wadden Sea ports);
3. establishing dialogue among local, regional & national public authorities to develop concrete regional action plans & a transnational strategy for a sustainable policy uptake of light reduction solutions across the North Sea Region.

By doing so, DARKER SKY joins efforts among geographically scattered regions & initiatives to create/strengthen wider transnational dark ecological corridors, thus following the

EU Zero Pollution Action Plan & EU Biodiversity Strategy to mitigate the fragmentation of natural habitats.