From the German Wadden Sea Coast to the Danish North Sea: MANABAS Coast Partner Meeting

Partners of the MANABAS Coast project recently gathered for an in-person meeting across Germany and Denmark, bringing together workshops, collaborative discussions, and field visits centered on climate adaptation, coastal resilience, and the role of Nature-based Solutions along the Wadden Sea and the North Sea coasts.

The meeting included sessions in Husum, Germany, and Thyborøn, Denmark, alongside visits to the pilot sites at the Halligen islands and the Danish pilot sites at the Lodbjerg–Nymindegab area. These visits provided project partners with an opportunity to explore different coastal landscapes and management approaches firsthand, while exchanging experiences on climate adaptation and nature-based coastal resilience.

During the visit to the Halligen islands in the Wadden Sea, partners explored the unique marsh island landscape and discussed the challenges of living with dynamic coastal processes, rising sea levels, and climate adaptation in low-lying coastal environments. In the Lodbjerg–Nymindegab area, discussions focused on long-term coastal protection, adaptation measures, and balancing the needs of local communities, infrastructure, and natural systems facing the North Sea.

Hosted by the Danish Coastal Authority, the field visit to the Danish Nature-based Solution site, showcased more than 150 years of coastal management experience and highlighted how nature-based solutions have played a central role in coastal protection efforts since the 1980s. Despite being located within a relatively small stretch of coastline, the pilot sites demonstrate striking differences in coastal morphology, erosion dynamics, flood risk, and management strategies.

Alongside the site visits, MANABAS Coast partners participated in workshops and collaborative working groups aimed at strengthening capacity building, advancing practical approaches within the project, and building baselines for mainstreaming strategies. These sessions provided space for partners to exchange expertise, discuss challenges, and further develop tools and strategies for nature-based coastal adaptation.

The meeting highlighted the value of transnational cooperation and shared learning in addressing the increasing challenges faced by coastal regions across the Wadden Sea and the North Sea basin.