Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is the youngest sea on the planet and one of the world’s largest brackish waters. It is surrounded by nine states: Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia, with parts of Belarus, Czech Republic, Norway, Slovakia, and Ukraine in the drainage basin. More than 85 million people live in the Baltic Basin. It is about 1,600 km long, an average of 193 km wide, the surface area is about 349,644 km2, and the average depth is 55 metres.
Brackish water is a rare and unstable environment, and the Baltic Sea has a low biodiversity. It is inhabited by a mix of marine and freshwater species. There is a salinity gradient from south to north, with more species in the saltier south. The Baltic is also one of the most polluted seas in the world. Despite decades of agreements, treaties and plans, the Baltic Sea is dying. Key pressures on the Baltic Sea ecosystem include eutrophication, pollution from hazardous substances, land use and overfishing. Around 20 % of the bottoms of the Baltic Sea are anoxic areas devoid of life due to lack of oxygen. The largest so-called “dead zone” in the world is found in the Baltic Sea. According to the intergovernmental organisation Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM), “Transformative changes are needed in all socioeconomic sectors interacting with or affecting the Baltic Sea environment. Actions are needed both to stop current negative trends and to protect and restore ecosystems.”
Embassy of the Baltic Sea
In a transnational context, representation is executed through embassies. Today, the voice of the Baltic Sea is not being heard, it is not represented when decisions affecting its health are made. The Embassy of the Baltic Sea builds on the vision of the interconnected well-being of human society and nature in the Baltic Sea watershed, through recognition of the rights of the Baltic Sea to flourish and its more-than-human voices to be represented in decision-making. The mission of the Embassy is to act as a space for practising representation of the more-than-human voices; to serve as a convening space for dialogue and collaboration between actors at all levels from a mutual viewpoint of respect for the rights of the Baltic Sea; to share concrete examples of integrating human flourishing with the whole living community in the Baltic Sea bioregion; and to support diverse ways of knowing from sources like law, science, art, traditional ecological knowledge and regenerative design.
