scholarly journals Environmental Governance of the Baltic Sea: Identifying Key Challenges, Research Topics and Analytical Approaches

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Gilek ◽  
Mikael Karlsson ◽  
Sebastian Linke ◽  
Katarzyna Smolarz
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Analytical Approaches

scholarly journals Appropriate Scale and Level in Marine Spatial Planning – Management Perspectives in the Baltic Sea

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aron Westholm
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Ecosystem Approach ◽  
Marine Spatial Planning ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Transboundary Cooperation ◽  
Maritime Spatial Planning ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Eu

The ecosystem approach has become a common tool in environmental governance over the last decade. Within the EU context this is most clearly accentuated through the adoption of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Directive on Maritime Spatial Planning, that both include requirements for member states to apply the approach. This paper examines how the EU countries in the Baltic Sea Regionhave organised their marine spatial planning (MSP) in terms management levels and geographic delimitations. The examination shows that there is no consistent interpretation of what the appropriate level of management, or ecosystem scale, is. These findings are used to inform a discussion on how the ecosystem approach has been applied in the countries around the Baltic Sea, and how this may affect thepotential of transboundary cooperation initiatives.

scholarly journals Is there a BMAA transfer in the pelagic and benthic food webs in the Baltic Sea?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadezda Zguna ◽  
Agnes Karlson ◽  
Leopold L. Ilag ◽  
Andrius Garbaras ◽  
Elena Gorokhova
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
Benthic Invertebrates ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Phytoplankton Communities ◽  
Benthic Food ◽  
Benthic Food Webs ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Analytical Approaches

AbstractThe evidence regarding BMAA occurrence in the Baltic Sea is contradictory, with benthic sources appearing to be more important than pelagic ones. The latter is counterintuitive considering that pelagic primary producers, such as diatoms, dinoflagellates, and cyanobacteria, are the only plausible source of this compound in the food webs. To elucidate BMAA distribution in trophic pathways, we analyzed BMAA in the pelagic and benthic food webs sampled in summer 2010 in the Northern Baltic Proper. As potential BMAA sources, phytoplankton communities in early and late summer were used. As pelagic consumers, zooplankton, mysids and zooplanktivorous fish (herring) were used, whereas benthic invertebrates (amphipods, priapulids, polychaetes, and clams) and benthivorous fish (perch and flounder) represented the benthic food chain. To establish the trophic structure of the system, the stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) composition of its components was determined. Contrary to the reported ubiquitous occurrence of BMAA in the Baltic food webs, only phytoplankton and lower consumers (zooplankton and mysids) of the pelagic food chain tested positive. Given that our analytical approaches were adequate, we conclude that no measurable levels of this compound occurred in the benthic invertebrates and any of the tested fish species in the study area. These findings indicate that widely assumed presence and transfer of BMAA to the top consumers in the food webs of the Baltic Sea and, possibly, other systems remain an open question. More controlled experiments and field observations are needed to understand the transfer and possible transformation of BMAA in the food web under various environmental settings.

scholarly journals Baltic Sea sediments record anthropogenic loads of Cd, Pb, and Zn

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sina Shahabi-Ghahfarokhi ◽  
Sarah Josefsson ◽  
Anna Apler ◽  
Karsten Kalbitz ◽  
Mats Åström ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Heavy Metal Contamination ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
The West ◽  
Large Spatial Scale ◽  
Bottom Waters ◽  
Baltic Proper ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Bothnian Bay

Abstract The unsustainable settlement and high industrialization around the catchment of the Baltic Sea has left records of anthropogenic heavy metal contamination in Baltic Sea sediments. Here, we show that sediments record post-industrial and anthropogenic loads of Cd, Zn, and Pb over a large spatial scale in the Baltic Sea. We also demonstrate that there is a control on the accumulation of these metals in relation to oxic/anoxic conditions of bottom waters. The total concentrations of Cd, Zn, and Pb were obtained with the near-total digestion method in thirteen cores collected from the Bothnian Bay, the Bothnian Sea, and the west and central Baltic Proper. The lowest average concentrations of Cd, Zn, and Pb were observed in Bothnian Bay (0.4, 125, 40.2 mg kg−1 DW, respectively). In contrast, the highest concentrations were observed in the west Baltic Proper (5.5, 435, and 56.6 mg kg−1 DW, respectively). The results indicate an increasing trend for Cd, Zn, and Pb from the early nineteenth century until the 1970s, followed by a decrease until 2000–2008. However, surface sediments still have concentrations above the pre-industrial values suggested by the Swedish EPA (Cd is 0.2, Zn is 85, and Pb is 31 mg kg−1 DW). The results also show that the pre-industrial Cd, Zn, and Pb concentrations obtained from 3 cores with ages < 1500 B.C. were 1.8, 1.7, and 1.2 times higher, respectively, than the pre-industrial values suggested by the Swedish EPA. To conclude, accumulations of metals in the Baltic Sea are governed by anthropogenic load and the redox conditions of the environment. The significance of correct environmental governance (measures) can be illustrated with the reduction in the pollution of Pb, Zn, and Cd within the Baltic Sea since the 1980s.

scholarly journals Cooperation, Media and Framing Processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (s1) ◽  
pp. 41-55
Author(s):  
Anna Maria Jönsson ◽  
Mikael Karlsson
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Media Framing ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Baltic Sea Region ◽  
Controversial Topic ◽  
The One ◽  
The Baltic

AbstractCooperation and communication play an important role for environmental governance. This holds true for the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe, one of the most disturbed ecosystems in the world, where insufficient cooperation between different stakeholders is one reason for goal failure. This article addresses the linkages between (media) framing on the one hand, and cooperation on the other. The case in focus is a set of negotiations related to the Baltic Sea Action Plan, the most central governance strategy in the Baltic Sea region. Our results show that in order to influence political decision-making, key stakeholders compete over the power to define and interpret problems, causes and solutions to an extent impeding cooperation. We focus the analysis on eutrophication, which we show to be a complex and controversial topic, framed in incompatible ways by different stakeholders.

Enabling policy innovations promoting multiple ecosystem benefits: lessons learnt from case studies in the Baltic Sea Region

Water Policy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 546-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andis Zilans ◽  
Gerald Schwarz ◽  
Kristina Veidemane ◽  
Maria Osbeck ◽  
Andrzej Tonderski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Nutrient Management ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Nutrient Emissions ◽  
Baltic Sea Region ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Ecosystem Benefits ◽  
Factors Of Success

Abstract This paper analyses how specific institutional barriers and drivers affect the success of agri-environmental governance and policy innovations in four case study catchments in Germany, Latvia, Poland and Sweden. Possible adaptations of institutional settings are explored, aiming at increased effectiveness of policies and governance in delivering multiple ecosystem benefits along with reduced nutrient emissions and flood management. Factors of success synthesized from existing examples of innovative policy instruments in the EU and further afield are used to identify barriers and opportunities for the implementation of policy innovations in different institutional settings across the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). Key factors of success include close and trusting cooperation in scheme development, utilization of intermediaries in trust building, an active role of civil society and private sector, spatial targeting and coordination of measures, and result-based and long-term approaches. It is concluded that the effectiveness of measures can be increased by (i) adopting a less prescriptive approach to implementation, (ii) strengthening bottom-up participatory stakeholder learning processes, (iii) fostering cross-sectoral planning and funding initiatives, (iv) creating incentives for local collaborative actions, (v) developing cooperative nutrient management initiatives in the BSR and (vi) developing a systematic and coordinated approach to pilot-testing of new concepts and measures.

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