PA Nutri - Saving the sea through cooperation
Common concern about the state of the Baltic Sea prompted the birth of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR). The coastal countries realized that cooperation is vital to improve the ecological state of the Baltic Sea. It also speeds the spread of good practices and innovations from one country to another. The cooperation has a long history, for example the Baltic Marine Environmental Protection Commission (HELCOM) started international cooperation almost 50 years ago. Thus, EUSBSR’s Policy Area Nutri’s (PA Nutri) field of activity is characterized by existing strong cooperation networks, but there is still plenty of work to be done.
PA Nutri works with nutrient emissions and leakage, nutrient recycling and mitigation of internal loading. From the beginning of 2022, the coordination of the Policy Area has been transferred to new organisations. The responsibility is now shared between two countries and handled by Finland (Centre for Economic Development, Transport and Environment of the Southwest Finland) and Poland (PGW Wody Polskie).
Capacity building and actions via projects
PA Nutri has cooperated a lot with EU-funded projects by helping them e.g. in communicating the results. One of the finished projects was SuMaNu - Sustainable Manure and Nutrient management for Reduction of nutrient loss in the Baltic Sea Region. One of SuMaNu’s results was to provide a background for HELCOM’s Nutrient Recycling Strategy for the Baltic Sea region. The theme of nutrient recycling will continue with the soon starting CiNURGi - Circular Nutrients for a sustainable Baltic Sea Region -project. Nutrient recycling increases the region’s self-sufficiency, farmers’ independence from fluctuating fertilizer prices – and generally the region’s independence from non-renewable and mostly imported phosphorus and the very energy-intensive production of nitrogen fertilizers. At the moment, the focus is on more cost-effective solutions and promoting the creation of demand for recycled fertilizers.
PA Nutri has also cooperated with other countries than the coastal states of the Baltic Sea, e.g. in the project that mapped the means of reducing nutrient emissions in Belarus. Due to Russia’s war against Ukraine, cooperation with Russia and Belarus is at a standstill. Instead, more efforts are being made to support cooperation with Ukraine. For example, the inadequate sewage treatment plant of the city of Lviv is one of the HELCOM’s hotspots in the Baltic Sea region. In addition, there are fifty smaller municipalities in the Lviv region, whose wastewater is discharged – in some places without any treatment – into the river that flows into the Baltic Sea. At the end of 2022, PA Nutri started strengthening cooperation with these municipalities and secured funding for a project aiming to develop expertise on wastewater issues.
Similar cooperation will be initiated with other EUSBSR Policy Areas aimed at Saving the sea. The goal is to promote environmentally sustainable reconstruction after the end of the war, so that Ukraine would achieve the environmental requirements of EU membership as quickly as possible.
A new channel for cooperation - PA Nutri Talks
PA Nutri’s activities are currently being developed and the cooperation with regional operators is to be further deepened. The first steps in this direction are the so-called PA Nutri Talks events. In the first such event in May, the subject was sharing experiences with Ukrainians on organizing and developing wastewater treatment. The theme of the autumn event will be agriculture. If the concept proves to be useful, PA Nutri Talks are planned to be arranged several times a year.
The good ecological state of the Baltic Sea is a goal that for decades has increased cooperation between riparian countries. At best, solutions that reduce eutrophication increase self-sufficiency, business opportunities and at the same time create know-how that will also be needed in solving new crises. For example, agricultural water management has been developed for a long time from the point of view of reducing nutrient emissions, but the same know-how is now also needed to manage drought and maintain crop levels in a changing climate.
Text: EUSBSR Policy Area Nutri coordinator Elsi Kauppinen, The Centre for Economic Development, Transport and Environment for the Southwest Finland.
