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Research project Blue Transition identifies pathways to climate-resilient water and soil management

How can regions better adapt their water and soil resources to the impacts of climate change? After four years of research, the European collaborative project Blue Transition, led by the LIAG Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG) in Hanover, Germany, takes stock. The final report brings together the findings from 16 pilot regions in six countries and and identifies three key levers to strengthen climate resilience: changing land use, improving soil health, and diversifying water resources and optimising their use.

[Translate to Englisch:] Beispiel aus Blue Transition: Im ostflämischen Meirdam wurde ein trockengefallenes Gebiet wieder zu einem „Urban Wetland“, einem bewohnten Feuchtgebiet, entwickelt. Quelle: Daan Stemgée, Blue Transition Endreport BE2.

Example from Blue Transition: In Meirdam in East Flanders, an area that had dried out was redeveloped into an “Urban Wetland”, an inhabited wetland. Source: Daan Stemgée, Blue Transition End Report BE2.

The results from the pilot areas show that climate-resilient water and soil management is based on three key levers: changing land use, improving soil health, and diversifying water resources. Source: Blue Transtion / Anne-Marie Pogoda, LIAG.

The results from the pilot areas show that climate-resilient water and soil management is based on three key levers: changing land use, improving soil health, and diversifying water resources. Source: Blue Transtion / Anne-Marie Pogoda, LIAG.

Blue Transition report. Source: Anne-Marie Pogoda / LIAG.

Blue Transition report. Source: Anne-Marie Pogoda / LIAG.

The Interreg North Sea project Blue Transition investigated, through an interdisciplinary approach, how regions in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden can become more resilient in the long term to periods of drought, changing precipitation patterns, salinisation and other impacts of climate change in the North Sea Region. To this end, scientific findings on groundwater, soils and land use were combined with questions of practical implementation and governance.

Different regions develop solutions suited to local conditions

The 16 pilot regions show how strongly solution approaches depend on the respective local conditions. In France and Flanders, for example, the focus was on the joint management of water resources and the needs of ecosystems. In southern Sweden and Denmark, new approaches to groundwater and urban water management were investigated. In Germany and the Netherlands, pilot regions addressed, among other topics, the improvement of soil health, nitrate pollution, and cooperation between agriculture and science.

Across the different pilot approaches, several key success factors emerge for the successful implementation of the three levers to strengthen climate resilience of a region:

  • Interdisciplinarity: Scientific, political, economic and societal perspectives need to be considered together.
  • Cooperation: Long-term collaboration, knowledge exchange and the involvement of relevant stakeholders provide the basis for robust solutions.
  • Robust data basis: Continuous monitoring and high-quality scientific data enable well-founded decisions.
  • Transferability and continuity: Successful approaches need to be transferable to other regions and larger scales. This requires long-term cooperation and reliable political and financial frameworks.

"In 16 pilot regions, we were able to show that there are many concrete pathways towards more climate-resilient water and soil management. What matters is scientific systems understanding, long-term monitoring and robust data. Only when these are combined with practice and policy do solutions emerge that have a lasting impact and can be transferred to other regions,“ says Prof. Dr Mike Müller-Petke, project lead of Blue Transition and Head of Research Department at the LIAG Institute for Applied Geophysics.

Cooperation creates long-term impact

A key finding of Blue Transition is the value of international and interdisciplinary exchange. Successful adaptation does not arise from technical solutions alone, but from the interplay of scientific systems understanding, local experience, appropriate policy frameworks and long-term cooperation.

Regions need sufficient scope to adapt solutions to their respective conditions and to test new approaches. At the same time, exchange between regions and the connection of local experience with European objectives can help further develop successful approaches and increase their impact.

“Climate resilience does not result from a single measure, but from long-term cross-border cooperation and joint learning,” says Müller-Petke.

Background Information

Blue Transition brought together 23 partner organisations from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. The project began in September 2022 and is now coming to an end after four years. Results were already discussed in May 2026 at a European Policy Day in Brussels with representatives from policy, research and practice.

The final report “Blue Transition – How to make my region climate resilient” summarises now the results from the 16 pilot regions and the recommendations derived from them.

Scientific Contact

Prof. Dr Mike Müller-Petke (coordinator)
LIAG Institute for Applied Geophysics
Telephone: +49 (0) 511 643 3253
Email: Mike.Mueller-Petke(at)liag-institut.de

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