Our mid-term event took place from 8 – 11 September in the city of Marstrand, on the west coast of Sweden. Marking the halfway point of our project, this event brought partners together to exchange experiences on mainstreaming and upscaling Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for the North Sea coast. They were joined by project ‘observers’ and Swedish regional and local stakeholders. The event was hosted by Länsstyrelsen Västra Götaland and the Swedish Geotechnical Institute.
Day 1: Steering Group and How-to groups
For the second time since the start of our project, the Steering Group met in person at Länsstyrelsen Västra Götaland in Gothenburg. Discussions focused on how the project is shifting from pilot implementation toward strategies and frameworks for mainstreaming NbS. Besides that, the Steering Group discussed and agreed upon a proposed budget shift between the project partners. This shift allows some project partners to take up extra activities within or between their NbS pilots. Meanwhile, several How-to groups took the opportunity to meet and make progress together on their how-to questions.
Day 2: Main event
Around 50 participants attended the main event. Opening remarks were given by Mats Eriksson (SGI, HoD) and Saskia van Gool (project lead), followed by Monique Busnach (Rijkswaterstaat, HoD) and Pascal Mousset (Hollands Noorderkwartier, HoD), who reflected on Steering Group and Policy Reflection Group meetings. The spotlight was on the fifteen NbS pilots, with each lead presenting key barriers to implementation and mainstreaming actions designed to overcome them. These actions take place across three systems: natural, social, and governance, which help the pilots to define their objectives and structure their work. The Interreg North Sea storytelling template helped bring the pilots to life, enabling comparison across cases. These stories will soon be published in our project library as part of the mid-term assessment, along with an overall project story.
At the end of day 2, partners joined the WP3 workshop “From Circle of Influence to Effective Mainstreaming Strategies.” The session marked an important step in embedding NbS into coastal resilience and climate adaptation across the North Sea Region. The workshop centred on the Circle of Influence (CoI) framework, used to map stakeholders and identify where partners can make the greatest impact. Applied to NbS, it helped participants explore ways to strengthen biodiversity, boost climate resilience, and improve flood safety while involving the right stakeholders for effective mainstreaming. A SWOT analysis built on the CoI work, clarifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in pilot projects. This provided input for developing realistic mainstreaming strategies, shaping participatory activities, and aligning efforts with regional priorities. A key takeaway: the road to mainstreaming NbS is non-linear, and requires flexibility, reflection, and collaboration.
Day 3: Fieldtrip to Bärby & Köleröd
An excursion was arranged to Bärby and Köleröd, both locations in the 8+ fjordar pilot area. These Natura 2000 sites and nature reserves are home to small salt meadows. These habitats are rich and significant in terms of biodiversity but also limited in size and vulnerable to erosion driven by climate change. To stop or slow erosion and protect the biodiversity, nature-based structures were recently built in cooperation with landowners and local entrepreneurs. Our MANABAS team observed these constructions and spoke with the landowners, who were happy to engage in discussions. When asked why he spends so much time and effort to preserve his land, landowner Roland Olausson simply says: “I am doing this for the next generation.”
Day 4: Strategies workshop
A key question for the project is: “What does mainstreaming NbS look like in practice, and how can it be accelerated?” To explore this, partners developed drafts of mainstreaming strategies prior to the mid-term event. Since an image says more than a thousand words, we asked everyone during the workshop to ‘translate’ these drafts into images, creating strong visual metaphors that highlighted essential approaches. This led to an engaging session that resulted in clear metaphors, bringing it all back to the essentials. The workshop deepened our understanding of different strategies for mainstreaming NbS and sparked ideas to strengthen efforts across the partnership.
Next up: mainstreaming
Looking back on the first two and a half years, we can see that our NbS pilots progressed a lot. The event provided a great opportunity to share insights with each other and with the Steering Group. While enthusiastic about results so far, the Steering Group emphasized the need to shift from the pilots to mainstreaming: our focus for the coming years. The mid-term event marked the first steps with workshops on strategies and circles of influence. All in all, it was an intensive programme, but with plenty of time for social activities like yoga, swimming, kayaking, and, of course, fika!