On 11 June, The MPA Community Network hosted an interactive workshop aboard The METEOR, a German research vessel moored in Port Lympia as part of the UNOC 2025 side events.
Following the introductions, the workshop moved into game mode! Around 30 participants were divided into three groups and challenged to design an MPA corridor based on diverse ecological and stakeholder data. Each team worked with a printed map and was supported by MPA-CN facilitators:
- Sophie Jensen (BioProtect)
- Deborah Gutierrez (MSP4BIO)
- Jannica Haldin (Protect Baltic)
- Mariana Mata Lara (Blue Connect)
- Maëlla Sicard (Blue4All)
Inspired by the mechanics of the game Clue, teams received 20 different data cards—ranging from biodiversity assessments to calls to protest by discontent stakehodlers—and had to collaboratively analyse trade-offs, ecological priorities, and human pressures to propose protected areas.
The discussions were very interesting, all participants were so proactive and to our surprise, the three designs were completely different! While some focused on the ecological value, other decided to protect the most vulnerable areas, and some other to create corridors that would connect different spots. People loved it and despite having been a 1 hour long game, the audience said they would it to be even longer.
