As pressures on our marine environments intensify, there is a growing need for thresholds that can guide decision-making and support the achievement of Good Environmental Status (GES) under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). At the request of the EU (DG ENV), ICES is advancing technical work on threshold-setting for seafloor condition indicators (D6C3 and D6C5). Input from the scientific community is essential to ensure these thresholds are scientifically robust, operational, and applicable across diverse management contexts.
WKD6SCOPE is a scoping workshop aimed at presenting, compiling, and documenting expert input on current threshold-setting methods, their practical use, and key knowledge gaps. It will bring together a broad range of perspectives to explore what makes thresholds usable, how uncertainty and risk are managed, and what is needed to support implementation across different regions, habitats, and pressure types.
The workshop also welcomes contributions from managers, spatial planners, policymakers, regional sea conventions, and competent authorities to explore what makes a threshold operation and acceptable, considering both scientific robustness and policy relevance.
The input gathered will support the delivery of a Technical Service to DG ENV and inform subsequent workshops and the further development of ICES advice on thresholds under MSFD Descriptor 6.
WKD6SCOPE is chaired by Karin van der Reijden (The Netherlands), and Philip Boulcott (Scotland).
It will take place 30 September – 2 October (3 days) 2025 Online and in Copenhagen, Denmark (in hybrid format).
Participation is limited, with priority given to those able to attend in person, contribute relevant policy or technical insight, and actively engage throughout the workshop.
Registration is required.
To express interest, please email Ryan Dunne, indicating your expertise related to the workshop and whether you wish to participate online or in person. Registration will close by 22nd September.
Note: If oversubscribed, ICES will aim to ensure a balanced mix of expertise, gender, and regional representation.
This workshop is closely linked to the 2025 ICES data call on benthic community and human pressure
data to address an EU request to provide advice on operational methods for defining quality thresholds for sea-floor integrity.
