Michael Klages, Lovén Centre for Marine Infrastructure, Kristineberg

The West Coast Maritime Week 2017 is 5th-13th August. The West Coast Maritime Week is a theme park for marine environment, organized by Region Västra Götaland.

On Skaftö there are two marine research stations, Sven Lovén Centre, Kristenberg, in Fiskebäckskil and Klubban Biological Station in Östersidan.

Activities at Lovén Centre during the West Coast Maritime Week

During the West Coast Maritime Week 2017, Lovén Centre organizes excursions on board one of its research vessels, where you can join the ship out on the Gullmar fjord, where animals and algae will be taken from the bottom to study more closely. On board there is a competent marine biologist who shows and tells about the findings made. A beach excursion will also be organized for families in Bökevik during this week. New for this year is the snorkel track with the theme of eel grass in Bökevik which will be inaugurated during this year's West Coast Maritime Week.

One of the most modern marine laboratories in Europe

The Lovén Centre is one of the most modern marine laboratories in Europe, with unique opportunities to perform advanced experimental work. There are well-developed systems with flowing seawater, laboratories of high international standard, high tech instruments, lodging and a restaurant. The ship at the centre and remote-controlled underwater vehicles make it possible to study and collect material from the deepest parts of the sea in Sweden.

One of the oldest marine research stations in the world

Kristineberg zoological station was founded in 1877 on the initiative of Sven Lovén, and is one of the oldest marine stations in the world for research and education. During the 20th century, the name was first changed to Kristineberg Marine Biological Station and then to Kristineberg Marine Research Station. Until 2007, it has been run by the Royal Academy of Sciences in close cooperation with the University of Gothenburg. From 2008, the station is run by the University of Gothenburg.

We met Michael Klages, director at the Lovén Centre since five years back.

The research station has been renamed several times over the years. In everyday language the names Kristineberg and Lovén Centre are used alternately. What is the correct name?

- Since January 1^st , 2016, we are called Lovén Centre for Marine Infrastructure, says Michael. It describes our mission better and may be easier for many to use than the name we had before that.

Many still call the research station Kristineberg. What happens to Kristineberg as a trademark?

-Both Tjärnö and Kristineberg have their trademarks known to researchers all over the world. As it looks, we are likely to rename Kristineberg Marine Research and Innovation Center again.

-For a private company, it would be impossible to change its name as many times as this research station has done, but here it is the university that decides and, on the other hand, this new name, and again a change of names, gives greater opportunity to attract external actors so that's fine.

Regarding external actors: Lovén Centre was on the edge of closing down for a while, but after Pam Fredman, vice-chancellor of Gothenburg University, decided to give Axel Wenblad, former Director General of National Board of Fisheries and Chairman of the board of World Wildlife Fund, WWF, the task to investigate the question once again, the conclusion was that both Kristineberg and Tjärnö research stations were needed in the future. In addition, Lovén Center will also develop, and Axel Wenblad proposed in his investigation that the station Kristineberg will open up to more research actors.

-After my first year here I told Gothenburg University in my conversations that we need to broaden our area of activity. Lovén Centre and Tjärnö can do much more than being research stations for marine biology. I suggest that we also can be a place and a research station for engineering students, for marine biology, marine chemistry and oceanography. 90% of all who come here today are marine biologists.

-What we have done is that we have started a research diving business. There is a great interest internationally for education as a research diver and we have developed a method for this teaching which has proved attractive not only in Sweden but also internationally.

-We have also developed cooperation with Uppsala University and a German university regarding marine energy, where students from these universities are given the opportunity to do their own experiments with wave power and energy converters. This is very interesting and exciting.

Lovén Centre has been run by the University of Gothenburg since 2008, but now there are more actors. Who are they and how far are you in that process?

We are developing an interaction with the IVL Swedish Environment Institute, which currently has offices in the laboratory, but also with RISE - Research Institutes of Sweden (a network of technology-oriented research institutes that interact with universities, industry and society), KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and Chalmers in Gothenburg .

All these actors have signed a letter of intent to design a strategy for developing the research centre into a marine research and innovation centre and want to make use of us more from the beginning of January 2018. The municipality of Lysekil has also signed such a declaration of intent that they want to work more actively with us here at the research station. Read what Lysekils municipality writes about the cooperation here.

The declaration of intent is thus ready and inscribed and at the end of August we will meet in an implementation group where we will discuss what the cooperation will look like, format, rules, costs, how much money each one will subscribe and how much influence these actors will have in strategic development, teaching, research and partnership with Lovén Centre - that is the kind of issues we are discussing. Our next meeting is at the end of August when all stakeholders meet, including Axel Wenblad, chairman of the group together with Lena Gipperth, Principal of the Center for Sea and Society at Gothenburg University.

Test site Skagerrak is a new venture where you are involved, the purpose of which is to create a commercial sea-based test site at Islandsberg and Kristineberg.

Test site Skagerrak is a part of this, developed by Anne Gunnäs and Michael Johansson at Lysekils Kommun, Kerstin Lindblom from RISE and myself. We have so many opportunities here in the Gullmar fjord that we should market ourselves more to attract external actors, other private companies and researchers to come to Lysekil municipality and test their prototypes in our test parks. We can offer them accommodation here or at Klubban, we can support them technically with i. e. technical personnel, underwater equipment such as power cords, camcorders and 24-channel fiber optic cable at 30+ meters depth. We have 4 ROVs, 3 research vessels, research divers with latest equipment, laboratories, conference rooms, halls, etc. This is another opportunity to get more external users here.

Plastics in the sea as a major environmental problem is increasingly media-focused, and more and more people become aware of this environmental threat. We who live on the west coast see the unmistakable consequences of all plastics and other debris that float onto our beaches. An initiative to clean up has been taken through the Strandstädarkartan highlighted during the West Coast Maritime Week. Another thing is that more and more do not choose plastic bags when they go shopping. You yourself have engaged in this subject, and you are co-author of the book "Marine Anthropogenic Litter" and you have also written articles on the subject in many scientific journals.

Cleaning beaches and avoiding plastic bags - How far do our efforts strech?

We know that today people leave more than 9 million tons of plastic in the seas, and we have no idea about the consequences, because we do not fully know the consequences of this for life in the sea and for ourselves. These plastics have a long lifetime in the seas because there is no UV light deeper down, which is important for breaking down plastic. So probably plastic in the sea has a lifetime of more than 400 years. We believe that much of the plastic is on the deep seabed, but we also knows that a lot follow ocean currents around the world.

Cleaning beaches is a so-called "end-of-pipe" solution. No solution to the problem itself, but we have no other chance than trying to find solutions and to clean up. Most of the plastics that float ashore here on the Swedish west coast are not produced here in Sweden but come with the ocean currents in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, which lead here from Holland, Poland, Germany and the UK. We are only the end of these streams. It has to be an international mission and international efforts to reduce plastic production and plastic consumption universally.

I do not know if this is official, but I know that the municipality of Lysekil is in the process of initiating a new strategy where discussions with local traders include not to sell and dispose of plastic bags. Lysekil municipality may become the first municipality in Sweden to be plastic-free. That is good! It does not solve the whole problem, but it is a very important signal that we must reduce the use and production of plastic.

There is no Open Day arrangement at Lovén Centre during the West Coast Maritime Week this year?

We are in the midst of a reorganization so this year we have no chance to do that. However, we have employees from the Center for Sea and Society at the University of Gothenburg who are here with us. They are responsible for the interaction between all marine research activities at the University of Gothenburg and the public, so there will be opportunities to see what we are doing in the future and we will have guided tours here. The University of Gothenburg is aware of the value of informing the public about marine research and we are happy to receive visitors! Contact Marie Svärd for guided tours. She is a communications officer at the Center for Sea and Society and is here at the Lovén Centre. Her email is marie.svard@gu.se.

The school at Skaftö is important for the future

Lovén Centre has thus gone from being close to shut down and now to develop and grow together with other actors. A consequence of the investments you are planning for will also be an opportunity to attract so-called science tourism to Skaftö and Lysekil. That is something Michael Klages regards as positive as it will not only benefit the Lovén Centre Kristineberg but also people who run businesses on Skaftö which hopefully can generate more jobs, and in the long run more children to the school on Skaftö. The school is very important when you want to attract researchers to Skaftö so that the whole family can come here. Lovén Centre is currently working with Skaftö School and Michael discusses with them how to develop a maritime orientation so as to lay the foundation for an interest in natural sciences and marine sciences. The children are our future and our future researchers.

Here is a link to news from Lovén Centre. 

SLC Kristineberg is also available on FB.

Water and weather data is interesting to follow through Lovén Centre.

Here you will find Lovén Centre Kristineberg's website.

More articles about events, personalities and things to see on Skaftö can be found under Skaftö News Archive.

We have also collected videos and animated interviews on Videos from Skaftö.