Tag: sea

Horizon Europe backs inclusive environmental decision-making: Pensoft joins BALANSED

Within the project, Pensoft is to bridge the gap between complex science and accessible digital experiences, playing a central technical and communications role.

Pensoft will lead the communication, dissemination and exploitation activities of the EU Horizon project BALANSED (Biomass Assessment of Land and Sea for Engagement and Deliberation), while also developing innovative digital tools that support informed public participation in environmental decision-making.

As Europe’s Green Deal goal is fast approaching, policy-makers are increasingly faced with tough choices regarding the use of natural resources. The project was inspired by the need for conflict resolution as main objectives, such as the expansion of renewable energy infrastructure, the protection of biodiversity and the securing of food production have started to compete with one another. Scientific models are good at predicting the environmental impact of various actions, but not so good at factoring in the views, interests and priorities of people who will be directly affected by those decisions. 

That is where BALANSED comes in. 

The Project:

This 54-month project, between 1 June 2026 and 30 November 2030, funded under Horizon Europe, aims to change the way environmental planning and natural resource management is carried out across Europe. Advanced scientific modelling joins forces with community driven deliberation to ensure that climate and environmental policies are not only scientifically sound, but also socially fair, transparent and broadly supported. 

BALANSED is an EU project helping citizens, policymakers, and scientists make better decisions about the environment – balancing land and sea use, biodiversity, and local economies.

It will turn complex environmental data into simple, understandable indicators, so communities can clearly see how different choices affect them. The tools will be tested in six local study regions and two cross-regional ones, tackling issues like water shortages, farming, forestry, and ocean management.

The project will also launch an Online European Public Deliberation Platform and Deliberation Toolkit to support informed public debate on environmental planning across all European regions.

Between 8 and 9 June 2026 representatives from all 13 partner organisations met in Wageningen, Netherlands, to kick off the project. 

Central discussions focused on how environmental decisions can better balance ecological and societal needs. A key theme was the importance of involving citizens, researchers, and policymakers together from day one.

Pensoft’s role:

Pensoft bridges the gap between complex science and accessible digital experiences, playing a central technical and communications role in BALANSED across three key areas:

  • Digital tools – as lead of Work Package 6, Pensoft will turn scientific data and models into intuitive digital interfaces, including online deliberation software and tailored digital environments for each of the study regions
  • EU-wide platform – Pensoft will build the final Online European Public Deliberation Platform, integrated directly with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre to support decision-making across all European regions
  • Communications & impact – drawing on its expertise in science communication, Pensoft leads Work Packages 8 and 9, ensuring the project’s findings are widely shared and put to use across Europe

Project partners: 

  1. Stichting Wageningen Research (WR) – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wageningenenvironmentalresearch/ ; https://bsky.app/profile/wurenvironmental.bsky.social 
  1. Wageningen University – https://www.linkedin.com/school/wageningenuniversity/ ; https://bsky.app/profile/w-u-r.bsky.social 
  1. Internationales Institut Fuer Angewandte Systemanalyse  – https://www.linkedin.com/company/iiasa-vienna/ ; https://bsky.app/profile/iiasa.ac.at 
  1. Gfz Helmholtz-Zentrum Für Geoforschung – https://www.linkedin.com/company/gfz-helmholtz-zentrum-fuer-geoforschung/ ; https://bsky.app/profile/gfz.bsky.social
  1. Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale Ogs – https://www.linkedin.com/company/istituto-nazionale-di-oceanografia-e-geofisica-sperimentale/ ; https://bsky.app/profile/ogsit.bsky.social
  1. Pensoft Publishers – https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/pensoft-project-services/about/ ; https://bsky.app/profile/pensoft.net 
  1. Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias – https://www.linkedin.com/company/coopsagroes/posts/?feedView=all ; 
  1. Unión Regional de Cooperativas Agrarias de Castilla y León (URCACYL) 
  1. Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias Castilla-La Mancha (CALCM) 
  1. Society for Territorial and Environmental Prosperity
  1. Gozdarski inštitut Slovenije – https://www.linkedin.com/company/gozdarski-in%C5%A1titut-slovenije-slovenian-forestry-institute-sfi/ 
  1. Zavod za gozdove Slovenije – https://www.linkedin.com/company/zavod-za-gozdove-slovenije/ 
  1. Mittetulundusühing Ökoloogiliste Tehnoloogiate Keskus (CEET) 

Coordinators: Berien Elbersen & Tomaso Ceccarelli from Wageningen Environmental Research

BALANSED website coming soon! 

Follow us on LinkedIn and Bluesky to stay updated 

New Way of Conservation: An Acoustic Device Helps Reduce Bycatch of Endangered Black Sea Porpoises

A new study published in Nature Conservation shows that not all acoustic deterrent devices may be effective in protecting the Black Sea porpoise, Europe’s smallest marine mammal.

Guest blog post by Dr. Dimitar Popov

The endangered Black Sea harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena relicta) is facing a critical fight for survival. As Europe’s smallest marine mammal, this isolated population is being pushed toward extinction by bycatch – the unintentional entanglement in fishing gear. The crisis is most acute in the Black Sea turbot fishery, where recent estimates reveal that more than 10,000 porpoises die annually.

Led by a strong motivation to address threats to this iconic species, a team of Bulgarian researchers has carried out a four-year trial study of 57 hauls seeking effective solutions to reduce porpoise mortality. The study, now published in Nature Conservation, found bycatch in 61% of all hauls, accounting for 189 cetaceans: 182 harbour porpoises, five bottlenose dolphins, and two common dolphins.

Bycaught Black Sea harbour porpoises.
Bycaught Black Sea harbour porpoises. Photo credit to Dimitar Popov.

The trials did not begin promisingly, as the first two models of acoustic deterrent devices (pingers) tested, proved ineffective at reducing bycatch.

the researchers noted

This initial setback prompted the team to search for an alternative solution, eventually leading to a breakthrough with the PAL Wideband pinger, an acoustic deterrent device developed in Germany.

PAL Wideband pinger attached to a fishing net. Photo credit to Dimitar Popov.

Field trials demonstrated that this device can reduce harbour porpoise bycatch in the Black Sea by approximately 74%. Researchers believe the specific acoustic signals, namely the wider frequency band (between 10 and 150 kHz) emitted by the PAL Wideband model, contributed to its effectiveness, as it was the only one of the three pingers tested, that successfully deterred porpoises from approaching fishing nets.

Map of the conducted trials involving PAL Wideband pingers in 2020 and 2021. Credit to Popov et al., 2026

“Other recent studies have highlighted significant shortcomings in the conservation of harbour porpoise populations in European waters,” the researchers stated. This underscores the urgent need for effective strategies to reduce bycatch, the leading human-induced cause of mortality for the species.

Mitigation measures could include spatio-temporal closures of high-risk fisheries in areas where harbour porpoises are most abundant, as well as the adoption of alternative or modified fishing gear, including the use of acoustic deterrent devices.

the experts noted
black sea harbour porpoise in a net
Bycaught Black Sea harbour porpoise. Photo credit to Dimitar Popov.

Among the available options, the use of effective pingers, supported by appropriate financing mechanisms, is increasingly seen as one of the most practical and widely accepted approaches to reducing bycatch while maintaining profitable fishing operations.

Not all acoustic deterrent devices are equally effective in reducing the bycatch of the harbour porpoise in the Black Sea.

the researchers concluded

Their findings demonstrate that certain pinger models fail to mitigate porpoise bycatch in the bottom-set gillnets specifically used to target turbot.

The study underscores the importance of careful selection and testing of deterrent devices and emphasizes that this distinction must be explicitly taken into account in the development of targeted and effective strategies to reduce bycatch in Black Sea fisheries.

If you are interested in other marine research from Bulgaria, take a look at the topical collection “Black Sea ecosystem in the spotlight” which includes this study.

Original source:

Popov D, Meshkova G, Dimitrov H, Panayotova M (2026) Can pingers mitigate the bycatch of the endangered Black Sea Harbour Porpoise? Nature Conservation 63: 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.63.183768