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Science-informed, reductionist policy has systematically failed to address wicked situations. Such situations are highly interconnected and unpredictable. As a consequence, the implementation of so-called desirable interventions can lead to the export of vulnerabilities within and across different societal domains, sectors, intersections and scales. Systemic practice is an emerging field, and highlights the need to enrich scientific inquiry and policy actions through action learning with an "extended peer community'' as a means to navigate wicked situations. In this paper, we report on the potential of game co-design as a systemic practice to improve the situation of Baltic Sea nutrient enrichment. Findings from water catchments in Finland, Sweden and Poland suggest that the co-design of serious games can both enhance the comprehension of wicked situations, and foster self-organized concerted action without imposing a convergence of perspectives amongst diverse stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There exist numerous ecotechnologies for recovery and reuse of carbon and nutrients from various waste streams before they are lost to runoff. However, it remains largely unknown how growing implementation of such ecotechnologies affect nutrient emissions to surface waters at catchment scale. Here, this knowledge gap is addressed by application of SWAT model in three case study catchments draining to the Baltic Sea: Vantaanjoki (Finland), Fyrisån (Sweden) and Słupia (Poland). Sustainability analysis with Multi-Criteria Analysis was applied in the stakeholder workshops in the case study areas to assess different ecotechnology alternatives. The following ecotechnologies received the highest sustainability scores: in Vantaanjoki anaerobic digestion, based on mostly agricultural residues; in Fyrisån source-separation of wastewaters; in Słupia nutrient extraction within the wastewater treatment process. The effect of application of digestate on agricultural soils in the Vantaanjoki catchment was simulated by adjusting the model parameters describing the organic carbon content and physical properties of soil. The results showed small reductions of nutrient loads to the Gulf of Finland. Larger reductions of nutrient loads to Lake Mälaren in Sweden and the Baltic Sea in Poland were achieved as a result of the wastewater treatment upgrades. In the Fyrisån catchment, higher relative reductions were simulated for TN than TP, and in dry years than in wet years. Although the studied ecotechnologies did not show as high effectiveness in nutrient load reduction as combinations of traditional Best Management Practices reported in literature, they do have other multiple benefits including crop yield increase, electricity, heat and bio-based fertilizer production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riverine nutrient loads are among the major causes of eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. This study applied the Soil & Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in three catchments flowing to the Baltic Sea, namely Vantaanjoki (Finland), Fyrisån (Sweden), and Słupia (Poland), to simulate the effectiveness of nutrient control measures included in the EU's Water Framework Directive River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs). Moreover, we identified similar, coastal, middle-sized catchments to which conclusions from this study could be applicable. The first modelling scenario based on extrapolation of the existing trends affected the modelled nutrient loads by less than 5%. In the second scenario, measures included in RBMPs showed variable effectiveness, ranging from negligible for Słupia to 28% total P load reduction in Vantaanjoki. Adding spatially targeted measures to RBMPs (third scenario) would considerably improve their effectiveness in all three catchments for both total N and P, suggesting a need to adopt targeting more widely in the Baltic Sea countries.