Synthesis Report of the 16th International Scientific Wadden Sea Symposium Published
The Common Wadden Sea Secretariat (CWSS) and the Waddenacademie have published the Synthesis Report of the 16th International Scientific Wadden Sea Symposium (ISWSS), held from 28-30 October 2025 in Groningen. The report provides important scientific insights and policy recommendations for protecting the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site at a time of accelerating environmental change.
The Wadden Sea is experiencing rapid ecological shifts driven by a combination of climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and human activities such as coastal protection, tourism, energy production, shipping, and fisheries. These pressures interact in increasingly complex ways, creating cumulative effects that are difficult to predict and even harder to manage.
The 16th ISWSS, themed “The Wadden Sea in Transition: Cumulative Pressures and Conservation,” was convened to address these challenges. More than 200 scientists and stakeholders from Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands attended in person, while another 200 followed online. Over three days, participants shared cutting-edge research through keynote lectures, oral presentations, posters, and field excursions.
The Synthesis Report summarises the symposium’s findings and provides the knowledge base for upcoming trilateral policy decisions. The Executive Summary highlights eight priority recommendations to guide future trilateral policy and management:
- Foster and stimulate engagement within the scientific community
- Build scenarios for sustainable management of the Wadden Sea
- Combine scientific methodologies to assess and forecast cumulative effects
- Coordinate implementation of nature protection and restoration laws
- Actualise monitoring and assessment of the status of the Wadden Sea
- Implement an integrated, ecosystem-based approach
- Improve science-policy information exchange
- Streamline integration of scientific knowledge for trilateral policies
In their preface to the report, Katja Philippart, Director of the Waddenacademie, and Sascha Klöpper, Executive Secretary of the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, highlight the importance of working across borders: “The Wadden Sea is one ecosystem – dynamic, interconnected, and shared by us all. Addressing cumulative pressures requires joint scientific understanding, joint monitoring, and joint management responses.” This call for strengthened transboundary cooperation reflects a recurring theme throughout the symposium and aligns with nearly 50 years of trilateral partnership between Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands.
A primary goal of the 2025 symposium was to deliver scientific input for the Trilateral Governmental Conference in May 2026, where ministers will set future policy directions for the Wadden Sea. The newly released ISWSS Synthesis Report will serve as a central resource for policymakers, managers, and stakeholders seeking to ensure long-term ecological resilience.
CWSS and the Waddenacademie extend their gratitude to all participants, as well as to the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature, and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency for their support in hosting the symposium.