Over €8 million awarded to 19 projects tackling challenges facing the Baltic and North Sea 

From polluted rivers and disappearing coastal habitats to harmful algal blooms and growing pressure on our seas, communities across the Baltic and North Sea region face increasingly complex challenges. Nineteen new projects will receive over €8 million from BlueActionBANOS, to turn local ideas into practical solutions and develop longer-term pathways towards healthier waters and more resilient communities.

Across the region, many of these challenges are already being experienced locally. Pollution and excess nutrients affect rivers, lakes and coastal waters, marine habitats are under pressure, while fisheries, energy production, recreation and nature protection all compete for space and resources.

The 19 newly funded projects will approach these challenges in two complementary ways: by putting solutions into practice locally and by building the cooperation and longer-term plans needed to make change happen on a larger scale.

From everyday problems to practical solutions

The projects show how the health of Europe’s waters is closely connected to people’s everyday lives and local economies.

In the Helsinki metropolitan area, for example, one project will tackle PFAS pollution in the River Vantaa by identifying pollution hotspots and testing treatment solutions. At a recreational lake in Belgium, another will test a nature-based approach to recurring toxic cyanobacterial blooms that can create health risks and temporarily prevent people from using the lake.

Elsewhere, projects will explore how discarded mussel shells can be used to restore mussel reefs, how algae and reeds washed ashore can be turned into compost and soil improvers instead of going to landfill, and how underused fish resources can contribute to healthier lakes while creating new opportunities for local food production.

Some challenges require change that goes beyond individual community projects. Other funded initiatives will therefore look at how ports can prepare for alternative fuels and electrification, how cities can reduce microplastic pollution, how shipping can move towards eliminating harmful discharges, and how fisheries can be managed with greater consideration for entire ecosystems. The portfolio also explores how island communities can benefit from offshore wind development. 

From local action to long-term change

Eight of the selected projects are Community-Led Actions. They will test and demonstrate solutions in real-life settings together with local communities and stakeholders. A further eleven are Transition Agendas, designed to develop the knowledge, partnerships, governance approaches and roadmaps needed for lasting change beyond the lifetime of an individual project.  

The projects will generate knowledge, tools and approaches that can be shared and replicated throughout the Baltic and North Sea region, contributing directly to the objectives of the EU Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030.  

Strong response across the Baltic and North Sea region

The funding announcement follows a highly competitive selection process. When the first BlueActionBANOS Open Calls closed in May 2026, 222 proposals had been submitted from across the Baltic and North Sea region. Of these, 161 applications were submitted to the Community-Led Actions Open Call and 61 to the Transition Agendas Open Call. Following evaluation by internal and external experts, 19 projects were selected for funding.

See detailed information about all 19 funded projects, including project descriptions, partnerships and expected results.