Invitation for Media: Can Gypsum Applied to Fields Help Save the Baltic Sea? Join the GYPREG Final Seminar on 28 October 2026

The three-year GYPREG project, led by the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) under the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme, has explored the potential of gypsum treatment as a measure to reduce phosphorus loads from agriculture to the Baltic Sea. The final seminar will present the project's key findings and discuss whether gypsum treatment could become a large-scale solution for reducing agricultural nutrient loads across the Baltic Sea catchment area.

Speakers include:

• Petri Ekholm and Maria Kämäri, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke)
• Fereshteh Pourazari, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
• Markku Ollikainen and Sanna Lötjönen, University of Helsinki
• Maija Salmiovirta, John Nurminen Foundation
• Elsa Bertils, Race For The Baltic
• Alexander E.S. Van Driessche, Andalusian Institute of Earth Sciences (IACT-CSIC), Spain

The seminar will offer timely insights into topics such as:

• Can gypsum treatment reduce agricultural phosphorus loads across different parts of the Baltic Sea region?
• What results were achieved in Åland, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland?
• What role do farmers play in protecting the Baltic Sea, and how can their experiences support the wider adoption of gypsum treatment?
• What role could the circular economy and the utilisation of gypsum play in the future?
• What are the next steps towards practical implementation and wider uptake of gypsum treatment?
  
  

A press release working entitled "Can Gypsum Applied to Fields Help Save the Baltic Sea?" will be published on 22 October 2026.

Practical Information

Date and time: 28 October 2026, 10:00-14:30 (EET)
Format: Hybrid seminar (in English)
Venue: Paasitorni, Paasivuorenkatu 5 A, Helsinki, Finland / online

If you are attending the seminar online, please register via the regular registration form.

If you are attending the seminar in person, please register by email (Sari Väisänen, forename.surname@syke.fi). Please also indicate whether you will take part in the additional programme.

• Coffee and lunch will be provided during the seminar.
  
  

Additional Programme

• Visit to the research vessel Aranda from 15:15 to 17:00: a guided tour of the vessel, a gypsum demonstration, and an expert briefing on why the Baltic Sea is recovering slowly despite reduced nutrient loading.

• Dinner at Restaurant Katajanokan Kasino at 18:00.

Welcome!

The GYPREG Project Team
Finnish Environment Institute (Syke)