Knowledge leads to action for thriving archipelagos

Just under fifteen years ago, Björn Carlson’s Baltic Sea Foundation, BalticSea2020, launched the Living Coast project in Björnöfjärden in the Stockholm archipelago. The aim was both simple and challenging: to demonstrate whether it is actually possible to reverse the trend in a heavily eutrophicated coastal bay, and, if so, what is required to achieve this. The project provided important evidence that the right combination of measures can lead to clear environmental improvements, but it also served as a reminder of why restoration so often remains limited to individual initiatives. The measures were successful and significant, but they were also costly, complex and required a level of coordination that can be difficult for individual stakeholders to manage.

The experiences gained from Living coast formed an important starting point when BalticWaters took the work forward and formulated the ‘Levande vikar’ project. Here, we did not simply want to find out which measures work in shallow sea inlets, how effective they are and what they cost. We also wanted to develop knowledge and methods that more people can use – from local authorities and county councils to archipelago residents, community associations and sailing clubs.

“Living Bays has demonstrated how complex coastal environments can be restored. We are now building on that knowledge to strengthen Sweden’s capacity to restore natural environments in a time of rapid change,” says Linda Kumblad, project manager for Living Bays and programme director for the new Mistra Back2Future programme.

The work enters a new phase

The new Mistra programme will make it possible to generate new knowledge, and to gather, further develop and disseminate the knowledge that has emerged over the years – ranging from the initial lessons learnt in the ‘Living Coast’ programme to the measures and methods now being tested in the ‘Living Bays’ programme, as well as from other restoration options. The aim is to make it easier for local authorities, county councils, community associations, sailing clubs and other local stakeholders to turn their intentions into action themselves. Because if the sea and our archipelago bays are to thrive, it is not enough simply to know what works. The knowledge must also be easy to find, possible to understand and simple to put into practice.

– Mistras’ investment demonstrates the value of research that takes real environmental problems as its starting point. In Living coast and Living bays, we have not merely asked whether restoration is possible – we have investigated how it can be carried out, what it costs and what results can be expected. Now our applied research has the opportunity to make a difference on a larger scale and help more people move from ambition to successful restoration, says Konrad Stralka, CEO of BalticWaters.

Find out more about the new programme on the Mistra and Baltic Sea Centre websites.