Restoring the Night – DARKER SKY project final event

AquaPLAN is pleased to share that the Interreg North Sea Programme’s DARKER SKY project recently marked a major milestone with its final project event at the 15th European Conference on Ecological Restoration (SERE2026) in Brest, France. The event, hosted by their partner University of Brest, brought together project partners, ecological restoration experts, policymakers and practitioners from across Europe to reflect on three years of work aimed at restoring and protecting the night environment.

SERE2026 is one of Europe’s leading ecological restoration conferences, providing a platform for discussing the implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Law across a range of habitats and ecosystems. Within this context, the DARKER SKY project demonstrated how reducing light pollution and restoring natural darkness can contribute to broader environmental restoration efforts. During their final event, partners showcased the key achievements and lessons learned throughout the project. Topics covered included the role of night restoration in ecological restoration, innovative co-design approaches with municipalities and ports, methods for measuring and monitoring light pollution, and research on the impacts of artificial light at night (ALAN) on biodiversity. The programme also introduced the project’s Night Restoration Wheel, a practical framework developed to support decision making and guide night restoration initiatives.

Alongside the conference presentation, DARKER SKY partners held their final project meeting. The consortium reviewed the project’s achievements, reflected on lessons learned and discussed future opportunities to build on the project’s legacy. During the meeting, partners presented the Transnational Dark Sky Strategy for the North Sea Region and a series of Regional Action Plans, which are expected to be published online in the coming months. Project partners also visited two demonstration sites in Brest, where improvements to outdoor lighting implemented by the University of Brest and Brest Métropole are already demonstrating how practical measures can reduce light pollution while maintaining functionality and safety.

As DARKER SKY enters its final phase, the partnership will continue to publish key outputs and project results, ensuring that the knowledge, tools and strategies developed over the past three years remain available to support night restoration efforts across the North Sea Region and beyond.

The AquaPLAN team congratulates all DARKER SKY partners on the successful conclusion of this important project and looks forward to seeing its outcomes inform future approaches to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration and sustainable lighting management.

Learn more: watch the final event conference presentation and view the PowerPoint presentation

Visit the DARKER SKY project website