CoMaDe
The CoMaDe (Coastal and Marine Development through collaboration and interdisciplinary learning) project aims to raise awareness about the sustainability challenges of the coastal areas of the Baltic Sea and build knowledge on how to tackle them with interdisciplinary measures.
This project was born from the knowledge and know-how gathered from two fruitful editions of the summer school 'Science and Sail' in Lithuania. CoMaDe aims to grow the summer/winter schools with the knowledge gained to increase the input by adding partners from Latvia, Poland, Lithuania and Sweden. This project is funded by the Swedish Institute.
The work for the 1,5 year long project started in September 2025. The first winter school took place at Hel Marine Station in collaboration with our partner, Gdańsk University. This was followed by a summer school hosted in Klaipėda and Liepāja with our partners Klaipėda University and Riga Technical University, Campus Liepāja. The final winter school will be held in January 2027 in Visby at Uppsala University’s Campus Gotland. The individual events are accompanied by online sessions during which students will receive an introduction to the region’s sustainability challenges and be introduced to measures to prepare for their time on site during an event.
This project strives to contribute to building networks and forming a long-lasting bond between universities, researchers, educators and students in the Baltic Sea Region. It aims to deepen students' understanding of sustainability challenges along the Baltic Sea coastline and explore local strategies to counteract them.
The events being offered as part of the project welcome bachelor's, master's, and PhD students completing their studies at a BUP participating university to take part.
Each summer and winter school will host a new cohort of students, ultimately allowing a minimum of 90 students and 12 PhD students to participate in the project.
Photo: Pontus Ambros
Winter school Science by the Coast
This event focused on coastal and marine development in the Baltic Sea Region. It took place from 2-6 February 2026 at Hel Marine Station, University of Gdańsk, Poland.
During the event, 39 students representing 30 BUP participating universities took part. Among these were four PhD students who each supervised a group of students.
The highlights in the program, according to the participants, were the lecture and workshop on Marine Spatial Planning and the introduction to the Hel Peninsula and Puck Bay. The winter school received an overall score of 9/10.
On the final day of the event, the students presenter their group work in the form of storytelling projects. Each had different target groups. Here are the projects from the winter school:
Group 1 - Christopher's Story (pdf) pdf, 3 MB., is a comic targeted towards kids, where a seal explains it's struggles related to overfishing, pollution, and tourists in Hel.
Group 2 - Algae Tales Instagram account, an informational account targeted towards tourists visiting Hel, focusing on eutrophication and its impact on marine life.
Group 3 - Role play game 'The Impacts of Offshore Windfarms' Instructions png, 479 kB. & game cards, pdf, 6 MB. targeting high school students.
Read more about the event in the winter school Science by the Coast event report.
Photo: Pontus Ambros
Summer school Science and Sail
This event had a focus on the Baltic Sea environment and coastal development. It took place from 2-9 August 2026 in Klaipėda, Lithuania, with a two-day excursion to Liepāja, Latvia.
Attending the event were 31 bachelor's and master's students and 4 PhD students, who in total represented 27 different BUP participating universities.
One day of the summer school took place on board Klaipeda University’s sailing vessel Brabander, sailing from Klaipėda to Liepāja, while conducting tests and collecting samples. Participants also studied the unique coastal environment of the Curonian Spit and visited the Sventoji settlement, Seaside Regional Park, the Liepāja Sea Groyne, the Liepāja Nature House and the Klaipeda Port Authorities. During the week, they learned about the impacts and solutions to climate change, biodiversity loss, and the human aspects of the unique Baltic Sea Environment. The excursions were accompanied by relevant lectures and seminars.
Read more about the event in the summer school Science and sail event report.
Photo: Pontus Ambros
Winter school Science on the Island
This event will be held on the island of Gotland, where the participants will travel through the past, present, and possible futures of Baltic Sea coasts.
The winter school will take place from 31 January to 6 February 2027 at Uppsala University, Campus Gotland, Sweden. Using Gotland as the classroom, the participants will explore how people and coastal environments have shaped one another over time. The winter school targets students at the bachelor’s or master’s level, as well as PhD students, from BUP participating universities.
Read more about the event in the winter school Science on the Island event page.
Photo: Niklas Jonasson
Project partners
The CoMaDe project is jointly organised by the following BUP partners:
- Uppsala University (Sweden)
- University of Gdansk (Poland)
- Klaipeda University (Lithuania)
- Riga Technical University (Latvia)
Questions and more information
For questions and more information regarding this project in general, please contact Project coordinator Pontus Ambros via pontus.ambros@balticuniv.uu.se.
