WADCouple for Wadden Sea knowledge co-creation
- Authored by WADCouple -
The WADcouple-project (full title: Wadden Sea knowledge co-creation for the effective use of scientific insights for policy and learning for sustainability) aims for effective use of scientific insights for policy and learning for sustainability via a carefully designed co-creation process inspired by Elinor Ostrom’s social-ecological systems (SES) approach. Three different layers of integration and dissemination will be created to achieve this. First, active integration of research plans and newly acquired knowledge will be facilitated through workshops and online research meet-ups among the researchers in the individual projects. Second, active integration of those societal actors that are not yet represented in the individual projects will be organised through regular short online meetings, including for example business actors and political representatives. Third, further integration of research output with cutting-edge scientific insights from other domains will be employed. This layer of integration includes testing the robustness of Ostrom's social-ecological systems framework in the context of the Wadden Sea and development of an online SES portal based on so-called storymaps and a Massive Open Online Course allowing integrated learning about key social-ecological Wadden Sea themes.
Social-Ecological Systems Background: Towards a Wadden Sea Collective
The overarching goal to keep the Wadden Sea a resilient and adaptive social-ecological system of Outstanding Universal Value in times of climate change, requires reflection and realisation to change our understanding of the Wadden Sea, as well as the individuals and institutions that study, govern and manage it. A social-ecological system is defined as an ecological system linked with and affected by one or more social as well as other ecological systems through many couplings (feedback-loops). Protecting, managing, governing and sustaining a social-ecological system hence involves investigations and improvements of a spectrum of characteristics ranging from ecology, use, users, organisations, institutions, rules, and more. Understanding the dynamics of the Wadden Sea thus requires investigating the many interactions between systems that are often studied from a disciplinary perspective. Bringing this information together helps in identifying key dynamics and to develop strategies to support the adaptive capacity of the Wadden Sea. In order to document, analyse, synthesise, and disseminate Wadden Sea knowledge in a complexity approaching way, WADcouple will use the social-ecological systems framework as a robust framework to guide long term collective action towards sustainable resource management.
Three layers of integration
WADcouple will work towards deciphering the complex social-ecological systems knowledge of the Wadden Sea into the mainstream as a way towards Wadden Sea Management. It believes that Wadden Sea management is knowledge management is people management is ecosystem management. WADcouple is set to organise the knowledge co-creation and integration process at three different layers of integration.
The first layer of integration focuses on the creation of a deeper synthesis between the researchers, (geographical) working areas and intended research plans of all five projects (ParCA, SALTGARDEN, TRICMA², SedWay, WADWAD) and its cooperation partners (WADSed and CoastAdapt). This synthesis will be based on face-to-face interviews with scientists from all projects and an online regular conversation in the form of a podcast series. The output of this analysis will be a common synthesis paper. This paper will form the basis of discussions with relevant actors from the second layer of integration.
On the second layer of integration, WADcouple will organise and facilitate the outreach to social-political actors who are connected with the Wadden Sea and dominantly influencing its complexity. A series of interviews and interactions are planned with those social-political actors who are involved through the partner projects, but also through active engagement with business, farmers, maritime, fisheries, tourists, local inhabitants, civil society organisations and youth. The aim is to document the others who work on the Wadden Sea as WADers of Wadden.
On the third layer of integration, WADcouple aims to deepen the social-ecological systems perspective through development of a publicly available, interactive platform where people can get an overview of issues in the region and the experts working on it. For this Wadden Sea SES platform, a shared online environment is created that combines short videos, interactive maps and storytelling via so-called storymaps. To allow integration and synthesis of the project specific outcomes with the broader knowledge system of the Wadden Sea social-ecological system, a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) is created that leads the users through theory and practice for ensuring the flowering of SES insight.
Wadden Sea management is knowledge management is people management is ecosystem management
WADcouple has set a mission of connecting people for co-creation of Wadden Sea knowledge in a social-ecological framework. In the last months of 2025, first face-to-face interviews have been conducted to reach out to the project partners from 8 Core Teams, 63 PIs and CoPIs plus their research scholars and assistants, hosted by 27 universities-institutions-organisations-centers. While preparing for the mid-term meeting in early May 2026 in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, project partners also hope to represent the WAD collective at the Trilateral Governmental Conference at the end of May 2026 in Esbjerg, Denmark.
For more information and impressions, visit the project website
