WP2: Data collation

As the work progresses, a number of challenges have surfaced. 

Deadlines have not always been strictly followed, in part due to ongoing crucial projects in Finland and shifts in institutional responsibilities in Lithuania and Denmark, where new key contacts have only recently been established. 

The timeline for the work has stretched with the arrival of new information—often not yet integrated into the harvesting process or showing overlaps—and this has added further complexity. A central difficulty has been the lack of standardized data across countries, which has created a considerable amount of harmonization work, but this has also highlighted an area where the project can play a constructive role by identifying these inconsistencies early.

The project now has the chance to explore in detail what officially constitutes a “Marine Protected Area” in each Contracting Party. For Finland, this remains limited to HELCOM MPAs; in Sweden, different legislative frameworks lead to multiple types; while in Denmark, the definition depends on sector-based management. 

The second data call will not only strengthen the regional dataset but also directly feed into the work of Work Package 7, supporting the development of robust country profiles.