Exhibition “The reefs off Borkum” (in German)
Starting from end of July 2024, the North Sea Aquarium Borkum is showing a special exhibition that introduces Borkum residents and tourists to the underwater world off the island.
It provides an overview of ecological, legal, local history and political aspects of the two sea areas Borkum Reef and Borkum Reef Ground / Borkumse Stenen, of marine conservation efforts, and it explains the planned but contested natural gas extraction in Dutch and German waters off the island.
"Dangerous shallows and endangered habitats”

all pictures © Nordseeheilbad Borkum GmbH
Dr. Irit Ittner from IDOS is researching the political dynamics in the sustainMare project Create in order to analyze the approval procedures in the Netherlands and Germany as a case study for the governance practice of conflicts of use in the North Sea.
At the end of 2023, she came up with the idea for an exhibition, which she was able to design and realize together with the staff of the North Sea Aquarium Borkum Claudia Thorenmeier and Maria Oetjen, the local heritage association of the island of Borkum and Environmental Action Germany. Corina Peter and Dr. Bernadette Pogoda from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Marine and Polar Research in Bremerhaven contributed a module and information material on the reintroduction of the European oyster to Borkum Reefground.