Nutrient pollution is the prime cause of the Baltic Sea having the largest area of dead seabeds in the world. Through the Baltic Sea Action Plan, the Baltic Sea coastal states have agreed to radically reduce their nutrient emissions, and several states have implemented measures with this goal. However, knowledge of their cost-effectiveness is limited and dispersed.

The project BONUS TOOLS2SEA will summarize research results and insights from a broad array of studies, projects and publications in the international literature, as well as in national languages of the Baltic Sea region. It will synthesize potentials and practical experiences with specific policy instruments designated for nutrient management within the context of domestic and regional governance institutions in the Baltic Sea region countries and internationally. The aim is to identify critical gaps in current knowledge and translate knowledge into practice to provide suggestions for future institutional arrangements, pilot experiments in nutrient management and innovations in policy instruments, as well as for improvements in the knowledge base.

The project is coordinated by Mikael Skou Andersen (Aarhus University, Dept. of Environmental Science, Denmark) and will be completed in 2021. The other project partners are Finnish Environment Institute and Baltic Study Centre (Latvia).