The Wilhelmshaven Coastal Museum was expanded to include a waterfront museum harbour in 2023. This work included restoring the light vessel ‘Norderney’, a listed monument, and converting it into a museum ship. This fascinating project showcasing the town's maritime history was subsidised by the EU to the tune of some EUR 700 000. 

Wilhelmshaven lies on the Wadden Sea, the largest tidal-flats and low-lying-island system in the world. It attracts throngs of visitors every year for relaxation and nature tours. While tourism is a mainstay of the local economy and provides secure jobs, it also comes with risks for the area’s flora and fauna. The EU funded the 'PROWAD project to the tune of over EUR 2 million with a view to promoting ‘sustainable tourism and minimising the environmental impact of tourism in the Wadden Sea.’

Children and young people aged 9 to 18 can become 'Junior Rangers' at Lower Saxony’s Wadden Sea and explore this expanse of wilderness in their region by carrying out numerous different activities. An EU grant of more than EUR 200 000 covered half of the project’s budget.  

The Lower Saxony Centre for Marine Sensors (ZfMarS) is a research facility in Wilhelmshaven which is researching sensor technologies for use at sea. ZfMarS focusses its work on areas such as the sustainable use of energy and raw materials at sea. The more than EUR 2 million in EU funding it received enabled the centre to be up and running by the end of 2021.