Renate Foks, Project manager, tell us about your job?
– I am the Project manager for LIFE SURE and I am responsible that milestones are reached within budget. I also report to HaV and the EU and I am responsible for the project administration and information. I also contribute in the practical work such as sampling, permit application, and other areas where my knowledge as an environmental scientist can be used.
Renate thinks it is exciting to be involved in developing a new technology that can help restore our bays and water. The technology we develop in LIFE SURE can be part of the environmental actions for a cleaner Baltic Sea.
– The strength of LIFE SURE is that we have an international team and everyone contributes in their own unique way. I think my unique contribution is that I have worked for many years in the Netherlands where there is a lot of experience in water management and dredging.
LIFE SURE can help Kalmar municipality and other actors to use low-flow dredging in water management. We have developed an easily manageable technology that can gently pick up sediment from bays and ponds. We will also be able to advise on how sediment is best dewatered, treated and used, for example as a soil amendment.
|
Johan Persson, new Project coordinator
– In my previous employment, I was Port manager and Health and Safety advisor within Heidelbergcement. I also work at the Rescue Service Öland.
Johan is coordinating various work steps and contractors, keeping in touch with suppliers and ordering inputs and equipment, commissioning and carrying out the dredging process itself, keeping clean and tidy on and around the site, informing and arranging study visits about the project etc.
– It is a fantastic fun and interesting assignment and it is really fun to be part of this innovative project. There is an enormous competence within the project group. And the view over Malmfjärden is almost as nice as it is in Degerhamn!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Frank Schmieder, Post-Doctor
– I am a Post-Doctor at Linnaeus University. My main research interest is the turnover and dynamics of phosphorus and other nutrients in soil and sediment. It is important to be able to understand the chemical and biological processes that lead to the release of phosphorus from sediments and agricultural land, as this is one of the main causes of eutrophication of Swedish lakes and the Baltic Sea.
In LIFE SURE he will primarily contribute to the development of a sustainable method of reusing nutrients in dredged sediment to grow crops. For example, we will perform various experiments where we test the sediment's suitability as a cultivation substrate or as amendment to improve structure and nutrient availability on agricultural soils.
|
|
|
|
Varvara Sachpazidou, Project assistent
She graduated from the department of oceanography and marine biosciences at the faculty of the environment at the University of the Aegean. She received her master in 2017 from the department of biology and environmental science at the faculty of health and life sciences at Linnaeus University.
After her studies, she worked as a project assistant and laboratory engineer at Linnaeus University. Her role in the LIFE SURE project aims to identify the Sustainable reuse and recycling of dredged sediments as an alternative growing substrate in agriculture through economic, environmental and social criteria
|
|
|
|
|
|
The study proposed
– The study proposed here is an integral part of the LIFE SURE project aiming at the development of an innovative, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective dredging system including new techniques to recycle dredged sediments, says Varvara Sachpazidou.
The trial aims to investigate the potential of dredged sediment from the Baltic Sea to function as a substrate for growing edible or ornamental plants that are commercially cultivated in the region and as such make use of the high content of nutrients (P and N) in the sediments. Therefore, plant growth on different substrate mixtures comprising of variable portions of sediment, compost will be evaluated. Besides, the amendment with material such as beach wrack or biochar will be evaluated. Potential use of the dredged sediment as a soil amendment to improve structure and nutrient availability on nutrient-deficient sandy soils at field scale will also be evaluated. This would also comply with the concept of a circular economy.
|
|
|
|
Laura Ferrans and her study in the greenhouse
At Linnaeus University, we have started a new small scale test to study the feasibility to employ dredged sediments as a plant-growing substrate.
– The experiment takes place in a controlled greenhouse, and we aim to mix sediments with compost and biochar to find optimal substrates to increase the yield of plants says Laura.
Read more about LIFE SURE project on the website and social media, to know the final results.
LIFESURE - LIFESURE
More about Lauras work here
|
|
|
|
We love collaboration!
We want to share what we learn during our project and we are eager to have input from others! Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any inquires or are curious about our project.
During 2021 we will host a number of study visits. We will send invitations to all who subscribes to our newsletter. If you are a larger group that wants to visit LIFE SURE in Kalmar, you are welcome to contact our project leader Renate Foks: renate.foks@kalmar.se.
Contact LIFE SURE
|
|
The LIFE SURE project has received funding from the LITE programme of the European Union and the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Managerment
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
