Special Baltic Earth Colloquium
Achievements, thanks and future challenges
- LocationHamburg, Germany
- Time4 February 2025
- HostInternational Baltic Earth Secretariat at International Maritime Museum Hamburg
History
The transition of the Baltic Earth Secretariat from Hereon to its two new host institutes, IOW and IOPAN, ends a period of more than 30 years in the history of the BALTEX and Baltic Earth programmes, during which the international secretariat at Hereon has successfully promoted scientific co-operation in the Baltic Sea region. With the fall of the Iron Curtain, the idea was born in the summer of 1990 to contribute to GEWEX (Global Energy and Water Exchanges) with a new Earth system science programme with focus on the Baltic Sea catchment area, BALTEX (Baltic Sea Experiment). This idea was implemented by the BALTEX steering group under the leadership of Erhard Raschke, Lennart Bengtsson and Zdzislaw Kaczmarek and the International BALTEX Secretariat (IBS) was officially founded on 1st April 1994.
Hans-Jörg Isemer was the first director of the IBS in the years 1994-1999 and 2001-2009. In 2009, Marcus Reckermann took over the management of the IBS, which was renamed International Baltic Earth Secretariat (IBES) with the reorientation in the Baltic Earth Programme in 2013. With the support of Silke Köppen, the heart and soul of the secretariat, and initially also through Hans-Jörg Isemer, Marcus Reckermann has supported many activities in Baltic Earth until his retirement in April 2025, of which the presentations during the scientific colloquium on 4th February 2025 could give a small overview.
group picture in front of the International Maritime Museum Hamburg (IMMH)
Achievements of Baltic Earth
In the following a few selected examples may highlight the achievements of BALTEX and Baltic Earth since 1994. In brief, the IBES fostered
- the scientific networking at conferences, workshops, colloquia and working group meetings;
- the international collaboration within the Baltic Sea region and with other parts of the world;
- the compilation of the Baltic Earth Assessment Reports (BEARs) and other special issues of papers from conferences and workshops;
- the cooperation of Baltic Earth scientists with stakeholders (HELCOM, EN CLIME & climate change factsheet);
- the Earth system science education at summer and winter schools.
For more information see also https://baltic.earth
Challenges and future perspectives
The retirement of Marcus Reckermann clearly poses a challenge for the work of Baltic Earth. However, the new strategy of locating the secretariat at two institutes in two different countries also opens up new opportunities for international cooperation. Two different perspectives will hopefully enrich the work of the secretariat.
At the same time as a new secretariat at IOPAN and IOW is being set up, the Baltic Earth programme will enter a new phase. A new science plan with new research areas will be implemented. The new or revised research topics (RTs) are
RT1: Climate variability and teleconnections
RT2: Small-scale (submesoscale) processes and their impact
RT3: Natural hazards and extreme events
RT4: Sea level and coastal change
RT5: Biogeochemistry of the Baltic Sea – Linking observations and modelling
RT6: Multiple drivers of Earth system changes
RT7: Marginal Seas – Humans and Environment
RT8: Philosophical aspects of Baltic Sea Earth system research
In addition, a new edition of the Baltic Earth assessment reports will be discussed and prepared, which should ideally be published in 2028. This new material will then be available for an update of the HELCOM - Baltic Earth climate factsheet. Alongside these activities, the Baltic Earth steering group is to be rejuvenated and renewed with additional members, including early career researchers, who will help shape and mould the new Baltic Earth Programme.
Thanks
The Baltic Earth science community would like to thank the former Baltic Earth Secretariat and its host institute Hereon for their many years of support. We wish Marcus Reckermann all the best for his retirement and lots of fun on new adventures.
