About us

Light pollution, the excessive, misdirected or inappropriate use of artificial light at night, is increasingly recognised as a cross-regional challenge and serious environmental stressor causing biodiversity loss & habitat fragmentation. A proper reduction of light pollution & biodiversity protection calls out for transnational exchange & intergovernmental management.

Several EU countries, for the first time, consider light pollution in national legislation and strengthen its containment as a mandatory task for municipalities. However, no technical specifications for concrete environmentally sound, cost- & energy-efficient lighting solutions for urban planners & lighting engineers nor a cross-regional strategy guiding public authorities in maintaining/restoring ecological connectivity across the North Sea Region are given.

Learn more about light pollution here

DARKER SKY is aiming at reducing light pollution & increasing biodiversity and ecological connectivity in the North Sea Area by

1. providing municipalities and ports with innovative measuring, monitoring & co-design methods for the implementation of new light reduction solutions;
2. fostering the interdisciplinary transnational exchange with good practices & lighthouse demonstrators (environmentally-sound lighting techniques and systems on 8 demonstrator sites in pilot regions (in FR: Brest; NL: Groningen, Friesland, DE: Lower Saxony, Hamburg) with replication potential for North Sea Region municipalities & public service providers (e.g.Wadden Sea ports);
3. establishing dialogue among local, regional & national public authorities to develop concrete regional action plans & a transnational strategy for a sustainable policy uptake of light reduction solutions across the North Sea Region.

By doing so, DARKER SKY joins efforts among geographically scattered regions & initiatives to create/strengthen wider transnational dark ecological corridors, thus following the

EU Zero Pollution Action Plan & EU Biodiversity Strategy to mitigate the fragmentation of natural habitats.

Policy framework strategy:

A collection of regional strategies to enhance the implementation and adoption of policies addressing light pollution 

Light pollution mapping and monitoring guide

A guideline on easy-to-adapt methods, tools and technical specifications to map and monitor light pollution and its environmental impact. 

Light reduction solutions implemented and evaluated:

8 different environmentally-sound light installations, co-developed with stakeholders and citizens, implemented and evaluated in 6 pilot regions

6 Regional action plans for the roll-out of light reduction solutions

Providing local policy makers with guidance and practical requirements for the implementation of sustainable lighting infrastructure

Transnational strategy to reduce light pollution and strengthen dark ecological corridors

A collaborative effort to develop recommendations for transnational/EU uptake of light pollution in related regulations