DARKER SKY Partner Meeting in the Dark Sky Park on Mandø, Denmark

02/10/2025

2 minutes

In September 2025, the DARKER SKY partners met in Denmark. The meeting was organised by Aarhus University together with Esbjerg Municipality and took place at the Vadehavscentret near Ribe and on the island of Mandø, a certified Dark Sky Park.

Day 1 – Welcome, project updates & 1st Dark Sky tour

The meeting started on 23 September with a welcome by Aarhus University and a representative of Jesper Frost Rasmussen, Mayor of Esbjerg Municipality, at the Vadehavscentret. We received a short introduction and guided tour of the centre by director Klaus Melbye.

In the afternoon, our management team gave an overview of the project’s progress, the timeline and the current state of pilot monitoring. Discussions focused on insect, bat and bird monitoring, light measurements and the use of sky brightness data for long-term analysis. Partners will finalise measurements and provide results for the upcoming evaluation.

Further sessions dealt with the evaluation of technical lighting modifications in the pilot sites and how to translate light measurements into the project’s “recovery wheel” for light pollution.

In the evening, we visited the Dark Sky Park of Mandø for a Dark Sky tour, where new moon and a perfectly clear sky made the Milky Way visible. Astronomer Ole from Aarhus University explained constellations and their mythologies, while astronomers from the project team took measurements and photos of the night sky.

Day 2 – Workshops and island impressions

The second day began with a workshop on regional action plans, where partners identified enablers, barriers and stakeholders for improving nature protection policies. These inputs will feed into regional action plans and later into a transnational strategy.

Another session focused on the project’s monitoring guide, which will provide municipalities with easy methods and recommendations how to measure light pollution and its ecological impacts. Partners also brainstormed topics for fact sheets that will present project results in an accessible way.

The communication team presented updates on the Light Challenge 2026, the upcoming Knowledge Hub and series of good practice stories. In a work session we discussed the project’s capitalisation strategy ensuring project results are shared and used beyond the project.

In the afternoon, we joined a guided tour of Mandø with Ivan, who was born on the island in 1946 and is the son of the island’s postman. After dinner, we enjoyed a perfect sunset and experienced another Dark Sky tour, this time with a partly cloudy sky but still impressive night views.

Day 3 – Esbjerg Harbour

On the final day, the partners visited Esbjerg Harbour. In her former position in local politics Karen Sandrini advocated for the certification of Mandø Dark Sky Park status. Now, as sustainability manager of the Esbjerg harbour, she guided the tour and explained how the harbour is working to reduce light pollution and protect the Wadden Sea.