NEWS
When the annual Kalmar City Festival took place, some EcoChange coworkers took the opportunity to discuss the Baltic Sea environment with commoners.
The EcoChange coworkers Karen Krüger, Kristofer Bergström and Mireia Bertos Fortis from Linnaeus University spread the word about EcoChange on Kalmar City Festival. The dog Smilla helped out as a visitors magnet.
The nice weather and interesting festival programme appealed to quite a lot of people. Some of them stopped when they passed the EcoChange tent. There they could take a look at different algae, read a roll up about EcoChange, and discuss the environmental issues of the Baltic Sea. – They want to talk about the effects of the global warming, for example, says marine biologist Mireia Bertos Fortis, who worked in the tent.
Innovative solutions for decreasing salinity
Posters, algae in different colours, and the possibility to discuss the Baltic Sea environment was used to spread knowledge about EcoChange.
The difficulties for salt water to enter into the Baltic Proper, and then spread to the Gulf of Bothnia, generated a creative discussion – and an as unexpected as unrealistic suggestion for a solution:– One visitor suggested that we just simply take away the Danish islands, says Mireia Bertos Fortis with a smile. The problem could also be solved by building a canal from the Bothnian Bay to the Norwegian Sea, the visitor proclaimed.
Dangerous algae interesting topic
Maria Nilsson and Åke Johansson from Löttorp, Öland, had their picture taken in the EcoChange tent.
In the tent, samples of different algae were hung up for the visitors to watch. Some more serious discussions were held on the topic dangerous algae.
– The algae generate a lot of questions. Many people are aware of the summer bloomings, and they have a lot of questions about whether they’re dangerous or not, says marine biologist Kristofer Bergström.
– And some don’t understand that the samples contain algae, they simply think the water is dirty. When we tell them it’s algae, they think it’s disgusting, says Mireia Bertos Fortis.
Most people are aware of the blue-green algae, but the fact that there are red and brown ones as well impressed more than one visitor.
EU politicians got environmental film greetings
In the tent, it was also possible to have your picture taken behind a signpost of two divers in action. The water they dive in is dyed red to illustrate it being heated through climate change, and the message on the signpost was “Stop the climate change in the sea”.
Joakim Palovaara from Kalmar recorded a greeting to the EU politicians in the EcoChange tent.
It was also possible to record a short message to the EU politicians. Joakim Palovaara took the opportunity and posted a greeting.
– What troubles me is the poisonous algae blooming. It destroys the growth in the sea. I’m also very concerned about all the trash that is thrown into the sea. We have to take action against this, in order to be able to pass on a healthy sea to the next generation. The sea is an important source for oxygen and food, says Joakim Palovaara.
The signpost pictures and the message recording were performed in cooperation with the EU project CLAMER – Climate change and European marine ecosystem research.
