SedWay: Safeguarding the natural sedimentary processes in the Wadden Sea for biodiversity and people“

The four-year research project SedWay aims to help protect the natural sedimentary processes in the Wadden Sea, which is a critical region recognized by UNESCO for its unique geomorphological and ecological characteristics. The project is motivated by the necessity to preserve the interactions between these processes, which are essential for maintaining biodiversity and providing ecosystem services that local communities depend on.

Climate change, economic activities and pollution, and biodiversity loss are interconnected problems that threaten the unique region and require an integrated management approach that combines scientific understanding with practical management within the socio-ecological context of the Wadden Sea.

The project seeks to achieve several societal impacts, including the maintenance of the Wadden Sea's naturalness alongside socio-economic development, adaptation to climate change, and the enhancement of resilience for both nature and people. Additionally, SedWay aims to engage stakeholders while ensuring the knowledge and tools developed are effectively integrated into local management practices. This holistic approach aims to balance environmental, social, and economic needs, and thus support the long-term sustainability of the Wadden Sea region.

The project team from Ecological Economics is coordinating project management and leading the social science investigation of the project, which aims to co-create a common definition of “naturalness” in the context bio-sedimentary dynamism with scientific researchers and involved stakeholdersIn coordination with the other working groups within the project, we will analyze how stakeholders’ experiences of central socio- economic and environmental events (such as economic or energy crises, flood events, droughts, invasive species) influence their perceptions and behavioral responses to past, present, and future climate change impacts particularly regarding the sediment dynamics including their ecological consequences. This local knowledge and the resulting co-created definitions will help inform project recommendations and thus foster social-ecological transformations.

June 2024 - May 2028

The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

To address these challenges, SedWay brings together researchers and practitioners to investigate and synthesize knowledge about the interactions among geomorphological, ecological and biodiversity processes.

The project partners include:

• the Chair of Ecological Economics (University of Oldenburg)
• the Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences (University of Oldenburg)
• the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park Authority (NLPV),
• the University of Groningen Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ)
• the HZ University of Applied Sciences and Deltares.

The interdisciplinary collaboration focuses on how anthropological activities disrupt natural sedimentary processes and how they might be managed in the future in a way that fosters the quality of the unique ecosystems and the services they provide. A key outcome of the project will be the development of a GIS-based Decision Support System (SedWay DSS) that will facilitate rapid assessments of potential threats and support the planning of restoration efforts using Nature-Based Solutions tailored to the regional context.