Mission Blue - Exploring Circular Interventions in the Baltic Sea Region

The 'Mission Blue' workshop, organized by the BONUS RETURN project, engaged 49 stakeholders from seven countries to develop five prototype interventions to combat eutrophication in the Baltic Sea. Using a three-step 'Cook, Incubation, and Evaluation' methodology, participants combined 21 pre-defined measures across coordination, data, ecotechnologies, and policy categories. The resulting interventions focused on nutrient circularity, ranging from improving knowledge transfer between farmers and authorities to integrating sea-based mussel farming with land-based nutrient management. The report discusses the challenges of operationalizing mission-oriented policies, emphasizing the need to move beyond 'silo' organizational structures, align local capacities with strategic visions, and utilize public procurement to drive circular business models.

• The workshop developed five circular interventions to address eutrophication in the Baltic Sea, utilizing a pool of 21 measures categorized as coordination, data, ecotechnologies, and policy.
• Participants identified 'Improve knowledge transfer between farmers, authorities and decision makers' (C1) as the most prioritized and frequently selected measure, and it was included in all five developed interventions.
• The developed interventions target both 'flows' (the movement of nutrients and carbon) and 'stocks' (legacies of nutrients and carbon in soil and sediment) to close nutrient loops.
• One specific intervention, 'Surf and Turf', proposes an integrated approach linking sea-based nutrient removal via blue mussel farming with land-based measures at identified pollution 'hotspots'.
• The report identifies a significant organizational barrier in the form of 'silo' structures within public agencies, which hinders the implementation of cross-sectoral, systemic interventions.
• To move from concept to practice, the report argues that innovation must extend beyond technology to include service-oriented business models and the use of public procurement to signal market demand for circular products.
• The workshop highlighted a critical need for better data to define nutrient 'hotspots', quantify environmental externalities in cost assessments, and understand consumer attitudes toward recycled nutrients.

APA

Barquet, K., Rosemarin, A., Järnberg, L., Joshi, S., Leander, E., Olsson, O., & Sindhöj, E. (2020). Mission Blue - Exploring Circular Interventions in the Baltic Sea Region. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/report-mission-blue-by-bonus-return-nov-2020.pdf

Chicago

Barquet, Karina, Arno Rosemarin, Linn Järnberg, Somya Joshi, Elin Leander, Olle Olsson, and Erik Sindhöj. Mission Blue - Exploring Circular Interventions in the Baltic Sea Region. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2020. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/report-mission-blue-by-bonus-return-nov-2020.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{barquet2020mission, author = {Barquet, Karina and Rosemarin, Arno and Järnberg, Linn and Joshi, Somya and Leander, Elin and Olsson, Olle and Sindhöj, Erik}, title = {{Mission Blue - Exploring Circular Interventions in the Baltic Sea Region}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/report-mission-blue-by-bonus-return-nov-2020.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }