Over the past year, MMinE-SwEEPER has built a vibrant and growing dialogue with a diverse community of stakeholders—scientists, policymakers, NGOs, industry representatives, and governmental authorities—to gather multidisciplinary perspectives on when, why and how submerged marine munitions risks should be addressed in environmentally responsible, safe and secure ways.
To integrate the different realities that each country faces, we engaged stakeholders across Europe whose activities are directly or indirectly connected to the risk posed by submerged marine munitions. The continuous dialogue, initiated in 2025, through questionnaires, workshops, bilateral conversations, and several informal interactions, enabled us to gain a comprehensive understanding of the diverse challenges and perspectives.
To validate the interpretation of the evidence gathered through the various stakeholder engagements in 2025 and to further explore key concerns yet to be addressed, MMinE-SwEEPER invited leading experts from across all European sea basins to an online workshop. The workshop also assessed the implications of the EU Ocean Pact, adopted by the European Commission in June 2025. The European Ocean Pact is a milestone policy that calls for a healthy ocean, a competitive blue economy, and thriving coastal communities. The Pact acknowledge the urgent need to initiate the removal of unexploded ordnance from European seas to enhance sea health and maritime security and defence. Stakeholder groups from across all European sea basins participated in the workshop.
Here’s how the workshop unfolded: 🗣️ 1. Setting the stage
We started the workshop by presenting the key lines of evidence gathered throughout our stakeholder engagements in 2025. This includes what stakeholders told us, our analysis and interpretation of their concerns and perspectives, and an assessment of the most urgent concerns regarding the remediation of submerged marine munitions. We also shared with them what had been found in previous related research.
After the presentation of our findings and conclusions, the participants were asked to validate them by indicating whether they agreed or disagreed with the statements. This exercise was conducted with a Mentimeter questionnaire in the plenary room. After the exercise, the participants were divided by expertise into breakout groups to discuss in more detail some of the statements, especially those relevant to their expertise. After half an hour of small-group discussion, all participants returned to the plenum, where summaries from each breakout group were shared. The participants were then invited to respond to the second set of Mentimeter questions focused on the next phase of the stakeholder dialogues, specifically on how the implementation of the EU Ocean Pact may affect their activities and perspective on the appropriate level of funding to allocate to remediation efforts.
(*) Organisers: co-leaders of WP1&2, HELCOM and AU.
📊 2. Interactive plenary with Mentimeter Participants shared their views, agreeing or disagreeing with statements based on our findings.
👥 3. Breakout groups: deep‑dive discussions Participants were split into smaller groups according to their areas of expertise. These intimate sessions sparked rich conversations, allowing people to exchange experiences and reflect on how specific issues relate to their sector.
🔄 4. Final plenary: defining next steps Everyone came back together for a final Mentimeter round—this time focusing on what comes next. We explored:
- how the EU Ocean Pact may affect their work,
- what practical steps are needed,
- and what the implications might be for society and public spending.
🌐 What comes next? This workshop is not a final step but a milestone. The stakeholder community continues to grow, and so does the collective ambition to address submerged marine munitions in a way that is safe, practical, and aligned with Europe’s broader ocean commitments.
The energy was high, the contributions were insightful, and the willingness to collaborate was clear. All participants and many others who were invited but could not attend due to other engagements expressed interest in staying in the loop and participating in the following workshops on the topic.
Photo credits: Rosario Dominguez Carrasco (HELCOM)