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WATERWAYS project supports sustainable use of maritime routes

What does the sustainable and resilient use of the Baltic Sea’s maritime routes look like, and how can it be promoted under prevailing conditions? These are the questions addressed by WATERWAYS, a Strategic Research Council project launched in December 2024. The project aims to balance risks and opportunities while developing sustainable future pathways through collaboration between a multidisciplinary research team and key stakeholders. Experts in information technology, marine engineering, environmental science, and maritime law from Finland’s leading universities and research institutions contribute to the project. The goal is to provide new perspectives, knowledge, and tools that support the sustainable use of maritime routes, benefiting both society and the scientific community.

 

Maritime routes amid change

The Baltic Sea is a vital transport corridor for Finland, supporting national well-being, security of supply, and sustainable development goals. However, intense shipping traffic is also a key contributor to the deterioration of the sea’s ecological state.

The global use of marine areas is increasing for transport, energy production, food production, tourism, and recreation. At the same time, awareness of the vulnerability of marine ecosystems is growing, leading to demands for greater protection and restoration of marine areas. This creates competition for maritime space among various industries and environmental conservation needs.

In the Baltic Sea, several current trends and challenges stand out. Geopolitical tensions impact the safety of maritime routes, and sanctions against Russia have altered traffic patterns, giving rise to a “shadow fleet” of high-risk vessels. Climate change is destabilizing the Baltic Sea’s ecosystems, necessitating effective conservation and restoration measures. Simultaneously, changing weather conditions challenge the operation and planning of maritime transport.

The green transition aimed at mitigating climate change introduces new fuels and offshore wind power, but also new types of emissions and risks that require careful evaluation and management. As oil transport declines, attention shifts to the effects and safety of alternative fuel transportation.

Balancing the risks and opportunities associated with maritime routes in the Baltic Sea within an ever-evolving operational environment is a demanding task. It is therefore timely to consider what sustainable and resilient use and development of maritime routes entails under these conditions, what it requires, and how it can be supported.

 

WATERWAYS: Maritime routes as a source of well-being, security, and safety

The WATERWAYS project, funded by the Strategic Research Council and launched in December 2024, focuses on promoting the sustainable use and development of the Baltic Sea’s maritime routes. Its goal is to enhance the positive contributions of these routes to well-being and security while reducing environmental pressures. By examining ecological, social, technological, and legal dimensions, the project will provide new tools and recommendations to support strategic planning and decision-making.

The project idea emerged in autumn 2023 when Professors Mashrura Musharraf (Aalto University), Sakari Kuikka (University of Helsinki), Osiris Valdez Banda (Aalto University), and Research Director Annukka Lehikoinen of Merikotka gathered to explore collaborative opportunities under the new research program theme Water for Welfare, Security and Peace (WaWe). The team soon expanded to include Dr. Jukka-Pekka Jalkanen, an expert in emission modeling at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, and Professor Henrik Ringbom, an expert in maritime law from Åbo Akademi University.

The research ideas were refined in dialogue with ministries and agencies, deepening the team’s understanding of the challenges and knowledge needs related to the Baltic Sea maritime transport sector. WATERWAYS aims to find solutions for managing the risks and environmental impacts of maritime activities while strengthening their positive societal impacts.

The project will achieve its goals through the following approaches:

  1. Enhanced monitoring: Improving the capacity to track and analyze both legal and illegal activities in marine areas.
  2. Environmental pressure assessment: Developing the ability to evaluate the impacts of shipping and recreational boating.
  3. Facilitating coexistence: Designing solutions to align and balance various maritime activities.
  4. Advancing preparedness: Strengthening readiness to prevent and manage marine spills and environmental damage caused by them.

 

Stakeholder interaction: co-creating sustainable solutions

Kotka Maritime Research Association (Merikotka ry) plays a central role in coordinating societal interaction within the WATERWAYS project. Strategic Research Council projects emphasize stakeholder engagement and the active role of researchers in societal dialogue.

Key stakeholders are encouraged to participate in the project in various roles, including as information providers, co-developers, evaluators, test users, and commentators. Interaction methods range from regular meetings and email communication to in-depth research-based interviews, surveys, workshops, and events. These activities bring together the project consortium, stakeholders, and external experts to build shared understanding and solutions.

The primary goals of interaction are twofold. First, to ensure that the knowledge produced by the project is relevant, timely, and easily usable for stakeholders. Second, to create opportunities for co-production of knowledge, joint interpretation of research findings, and the design of sustainable future solutions.

WATERWAYS project preparations are progressing. The project’s website will be launched, and an advisory expert group comprising stakeholder representatives will be established in early 2025. A kick-off seminar in spring 2025 will bring together researchers and stakeholders to discuss and build collaboration that informs both the research and interaction activities of the project.

Updates on WATERWAYS news and outcomes will be actively shared on Merikotka’s LinkedIn channel thus now is a great time to join its growing follower base!

 

Text: Annukka Lehikoinen

Stakeholders’ perspectives on the sustainable development of marinas in the Gulf of Finland

A research article on the sustainable development of marinas, initiated in the 30MILES project coordinated by Kotka Maritime Research Association and funded by the Interreg Central Baltic Program and the Regional Council of Southwest Finland, was finalized in the Gyroscope project funded by the Research Council of Finland. The article has now been published in the Ocean & Coastal Management journal and has open access. In addition to researchers from the Kotka Maritime Research Association, the article’s authors include researchers from the University of Helsinki and the Finnish Environment Institute.

The starting point for the article was the assumption that making visible the different perspectives various stakeholders have on sustainable marina and on the actions needed to achieve it, can aid reaching a shared understanding and thus support the sustainable development of marinas. Individual boaters and marina operators were interviewed on how they define sustainable development and its goals within the marina context. Further, graphical, conceptual influence diagrams (CID) to visualize and structure the different ways individuals perceive the sustainability of marinas were constructed. The CID’s consist of the key variables and their causal interactions.

Based on the results of the article, the CID is a useful tool for analyzing and comparing stakeholders’ perceptions of sustainability. The method helps to identify the key variables and their potential conflicts. Furthermore, the article indicates that linguistic differences in terms of different concepts, for example, can cause misunderstandings between different people. Therefore, cooperation and co-learning among various stakeholders are necessary to create shared understanding. In addition, the three-pillar sustainability model can help interviewees widen their understanding about sustainability. Hence, we recommend its use when working with stakeholders in sustainability-related issues. Finally, the article proposes management implications that can support the sustainable development of both marinas and boating.

Text: Emilia Luoma

A Joint Statement of the Merikotka Core Research Network on the Coastal Strategy

The Ministry of the Environment requested statements from stakeholders on the new Finnish coastal strategy aimed at the year 2050. The Merikotka Core Research Network conducts interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research, particularly related to maritime logistics. The development of sustainable practices in maritime logistics has a particular importance to the entire coastal region and its well-being. Since the goal of our Merikotka Core Research Network is to increase knowledge and understanding and thereby support sustainable maritime logistics, we decided to provide a joint statement on the coastal strategy focusing on maritime logistics -related topics.

The process of formulating this joint statement began with translating the coastal strategy into English so that each researcher could review it independently and provide comments. Following this, we held a meeting where we discussed all the comments and ideas together. Finally, a joint statement was compiled from the suggestions and submitted to the public statement service. The statement is public and can be found on the website of the statement service.

 

Written by: Emilia Luoma

Doctoral dissertation on the environmental impacts of seabed mining

M.Sc. Laura Kaikkonen defended her doctoral dissertation in the field of environmental sciences at the University of Helsinki on October 29, 2021. The opponent was Professor Anna Metaxas from the Department of Oceanography at Dalhousie University in Canada. One of the supervisors of Kaikkonen’s doctoral thesis has been Professor Sakari Kuikka – a member of the Kotka Maritime Research Centre’s management group, from the University of Helsinki. The thesis work was conducted as part of a sub-project led by Professor Kuikka, in the Smartsea project funded by the Strategic Research Council of the Academy of Finland.

The thesis, titled as “Risks out of depth? A study on the environmental impacts of seabed mining“, consists of four scientific articles and a summary section. Environmental risks associated with seabed mining are assessed in a comprehensive manner, from the structuring of the problem and the synthesis of existing knowledge to the development of a probabilistic risk analysis model. The last article of the entity addresses the attitudes of people towards the state of the mostly invisible and inaccessible seabed environments, and the damage caused to them by mining.

Seabed mining is expected to address globally the growing demand for mineral resources, created by – among other things – the growing battery industry. This creates a call for improved knowledge base and effective methods to support the assessment of the environmental impacts of the ocean mining operations and the need for their regulation. Kaikkonen’s dissertation offers scientifically valid solutions, data and reflection on the topic.

”As ocean mining activities are still in exploratory stages, there are significant uncertainties regarding the exploitation of mineral resources and its environmental impacts,” Kaikkonen says and continues by telling unrestricted mineral extraction can have far-reaching effects on the functioning of the marine ecosystems, which must be clarified before commercial activity can be considered. “An improved appreciation of the risks associated with emerging maritime industries is essential to avoid uncontrolled development and to ensure good status and stewardship of the marine environment,” emphasizes Laura Kaikkonen.

The thesis summary can be downloaded from the University of Helsinki’s publication archive Helda.

 

Written by: Annukka Lehikoinen

Potential of Inland waterways is truly seen!

Finnish Waterway Association organised Winterdays 2020 – seminar in Lappeenranta on Wednesday 29 Jan 2020. The main theme of the seminar was focused on sustainable development and the role of inland waterways in this context. Experts of INFUTURE project were actively involved and several project related presentations were held. It was clearly seen that inland waterways are considered as a potential way of transportation. In the event, almost 90 participants was involved!

On Tuesday 28 Jan, INFUTURE project organised special Round Table discussion, which was targeted to clarify possibility to implement pilot travel to Russian inland waters. As a result, clear list of tasks related to needed conventions and permissions was received.

Material presented during the Round Table discussion could be downloaded here.