8th International Marine Conservation Congress (IMCC8)
The Baltic Sea as a living lab for marine protection.
This symposium explores how the Baltic Sea—one of the world’s most impacted, yet data-rich and institutionally integrated marine regions—is serving as a living laboratory for transformative marine protection.
Under the Regional Seas Convention, Baltic Sea countries have launched the largest project in the Convention’s 50-year history: a coordinated effort to transform marine protection across the entire governance-planning-designation-management lifecycle, and unlock its full potential across an entire eco-region.
Central to this transition is the development of the broad knowledge base and infrastructure required to operationalize an ecologically relevant network perspective on marine protection.
The session will present concrete examples of how knowledge across ecological, socio-ecological, management, and governance systems has been strengthened and integrated into policy-relevant decision-making at national and international levels.
Speakers will share perspectives on building cohesive, intersectional, and transboundary scientific collaboration, as well as developing multidirectional methodologies and infrastructures that support effective marine protection across jurisdictions.
Facilitated discussion will identify key lessons and transferable elements that can inform marine protection efforts in other regional seas and global ocean governance processes.
Practical information
Date: Sunday, 15 November 2026
Time: 16:00–17:45 GMT
Venue: Fintry Auditorium, Edinburgh International Conference Centre,
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
