On Wednesday, 8 October, Campus@Sea attended the Women for the North Sea meeting, hosted this time by EBN in Utrecht. This edition focused on nature-inclusive offshore construction, exploring how collaboration can help scale up initiatives that strengthen marine nature within the energy sector.
The afternoon was opened by Sybilla Dekker, Chair of the North Sea Consultation, and Nicolien Vrisou van Eck, Business Unit Director Gas Transition at EBN. In their introductions, they emphasized the importance of knowledge sharing and cross-sector collaboration to accelerate the transition toward a sustainable and nature-inclusive North Sea.
The keynote lecture by Anne-Mette Jørgensen provided a historical and ecological reflection on sixty years of oil and gas production in the Dutch North Sea. At its peak, the North Sea counted around 160 production platforms. Today this number is rapidly declining and is expected to have largely disappeared by 2050. Jørgensen showed that offshore infrastructure has not only had negative but also unexpectedly positive ecological effects. The steel foundations of platforms provide hard substrate on which reef-forming species such as mussels and cold-water corals can settle. These structures serve as stepping stones for larvae, increasing local biodiversity. In addition, the 500-metre safety zone around platforms provides a refuge where seabed disturbance is minimal, allowing species to recover.
At the same time, she pointed out several challenges: seabed disturbance during construction and decommissioning, light and noise pollution, and the spread of invasive species. A key takeaway was that the ecological value of platforms currently plays no role in decommissioning decisions. “What grows on and around a platform is not considered part of nature,” said Jørgensen, a missed opportunity for the conservation and restoration of marine biodiversity.
During two parallel sessions, women from the network shared their experiences with implementing nature-inclusive design in the mining and energy sectors. Claire Nichols (ONE-Dyas) discussed the opportunities and challenges of using production platforms as sites for ecosystem restoration, while representatives from Aramis, Shell and ENI presented their internal selection process for incorporating nature-inclusive measures within CO₂-storage projects.
The workshops revealed that there is growing attention for nature-inclusive design in offshore projects, yet practical implementation often encounters complex permitting procedures and differing interpretations of what constitutes ecological gain.
The closing reflection sessions highlighted several key themes:
Permitting procedures are often cited as a bottleneck in implementing nature-enhancing projects. The Noordzeeoverleg aims to address this issue more structurally.
Knowledge exchange between universities, government, and the oil and gas sector is lagging. Universities are increasingly reluctant to collaborate with industry, while this connection is essential to translate research into practical solutions.
Reputation and trust play a significant role: cooperation with the fossil sector can be sensitive but is also seen as an opportunity to drive sustainable change from within.
Participants proposed the creation of a Noordzeefonds, in which savings from decommissioning projects could be reinvested in nature-enhancing initiatives elsewhere.
The meeting demonstrated the wealth of expertise and motivation within the network to advance nature-inclusive offshore development. The stories, experiences, and dilemmas shared by the speakers highlighted that collaboration, trust, and a shared vision for the future of the North Sea are essential for success.
“Building with nature at sea requires not only technology, but also connection, between people, organisations, and knowledge.”
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