During the Partner Day of Jouw Noordzee, researchers, entrepreneurs and policymakers came together to discuss the future of a sustainable North Sea. The Mayor of ‘’Jouw Noordzee” opened the day with a look back at the past year and a preview of what’s ahead. Next year, work will be underway on a Videoland documentary series about the North Sea. This year also marked an important change in how we look at the sea: the North Sea is now recognised as being in the midst of four major transitions. Previously, these focused on energy, nature and food, now a fourth transition, safety, has been added.
Our colleague Alexander Ebbing presented his insights on seaweed cultivation as a way to create both ecological and societal benefits. While discussions often focus on reducing negative impact, he argued for increasing the ocean’s carrying capacity. The impact of human activity has become greater than the system’s capacity to recover. We need to reduce that impact, but also actively work to increase the system’s resilience. Both are necessary. Research shows that multi-year seaweed cultivation can have a net positive effect on the marine ecosystem. Seaweed absorbs nutrients, stores carbon, provides shelter for marine life and can help buffer coastal erosion.
Another key topic was the reuse of decommissioned offshore infrastructure, such as wind turbines and oil and gas platforms. Under current law, these structures must be completely removed after decommissioning.
This legislation was designed at a time when the main goal was to restore the sea to its natural state after industrial use. However, it has become increasingly clear that many of these underwater structures have evolved into valuable biodiversity hotspots. Their steel foundations now function as artificial reefs, providing complex habitats that attract corals, sponges, fish and shellfish. In some cases, the species richness is even higher than it was before construction.
Despite this, the law still requires complete removal, a costly process that can also damage the ecosystems that have developed over decades. As a result, there is growing interest in controlled partial retention of offshore structures, keeping sections that have high ecological value, provided that safety, liability and navigation risks are properly managed.
This approach opens the door to a new perspective: not just dismantling, but transforming. What once served as industrial infrastructure can now become part of the natural environment, supporting life instead of extracting from it.
Small oil spills occur more often than news headlines suggest. Sheep’s wool offers a natural, circular solution: 1 kg of wool can absorb up to ten times its weight in oil, repels water, and, just like the recovered oil, can be reused. Unlike chemical dispersants or burning, which cause additional ecological harm, wool has shown no negative environmental effects to date. It’s a simple yet powerful example of biomimicry, using natural materials to protect natural systems.
The event took place at Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin. After a shared lunch, participants headed out for a guided “zen walk” along the beach, with headphones and music, a peaceful moment to reflect on the day’s ideas and connect with new and familiar faces.
The Partner Day made one thing clear: innovation and nature go hand in hand. Seaweed that builds resilience, platforms that evolve into reefs, and wool that cleans the sea, together they tell a story of transformation.
As Campus@Sea, we are proud to be part of this network of innovators working towards a resilient, sustainable and thriving North Sea.
Campus@Sea
Hellingweg 9c
2583 DZ DEN HAAG
info@campusatsea.nl