ENG / SVE 

Why does this matter? 

 

The Baltic Sea connects nine countries and the lives of millions of people along its shores. It is a source of livelihood, cultural heritage, and a world where communities have formed their relationship to place, to each other, and to the natural world over generations.

 

Yet the knowledge connected to the Baltic Sea rarely travels between these worlds. Researchers study changes in water temperature, fish populations, and the condition of the sea over time. Fishermen observe changes in fish behaviour and sea conditions through a lifetime on the water. Communities hold memory of changing coastlines, disappearing practices, and transforming ways of life. These forms of knowledge develop separately from one another, despite addressing the same realities. This project starts from a simple premise: the Baltic Sea can be better understood when these different ways of knowing are brought into dialogue. 

 

When these forms of knowledge do not reach each other, decisions about the sea's future are made with an incomplete picture. The people who know the sea most are rarely in the room. This project takes a social perspective on the Baltic Sea. To address the challenges it faces, we first need to understand what the sea means to the people whose lives are connected to and through it. And that requires finding new ways to bring that knowledge and experience forward. 

 

How does this work? 

 

The project will document the lived experiences and insights of cultural practitioners, fishermen, people from fishing communities, and those whose lives have been formed by the sea. Through filmed documentary stories, they will reflect on what the sea means to them, what they have witnessed over time, and the knowledge formed through years of living alongside it. In their experiences, observations, and reflections, we aim to encounter dimensions of the human relationship with nature that are often absent from broader conversations about how to contribute to the sea today and in the future.

 

This kind of lived experience and meaning was observed during the project research stage when project author Marta Kaprale had a conversation with a solid-state physicist who comes from a long line of fishermen. He described a rare optical phenomenon at the horizon called the green flash. When it appears, it is traditionally taken as a sign of a good catch. Though his life path took another turn and he dedicated his life to science, he still carried with him that human-nature relational imprint in his own way. He said he began to look for the green light in other people. That story stayed. It reflects how knowledge formed through a life connected to the sea becomes part of how a person makes sense of the world around them. To integrate this kind of experience into other fields, the filmed stories will be brought into dialogue with researchers, policymakers, and educators to explore how this knowledge can contribute to the work dedicated to the long term preservation of the Baltic Sea.

 

 

What becomes possible?

 

Meaningful change in how societies relate to the natural world around them takes time. This project contributes to that process by offering a new way to sustain it. Experience-based knowledge — the knowledge formed through a lifetime of living alongside the sea — is increasingly recognised in research and policy as a valuable source of understanding. Yet it rarely finds its way into the conversations and decisions that concern the sea's future. This project works toward changing that.

 

We define impact as a change in behaviour, perception, and practice. Through this lens, we envision the project impact in the following ways. Community experience can inform policymaking. Observations formed through daily life alongside the sea can enrich research. Education can draw on human stories and relationships to the natural world as a source of knowledge in its own right.

 

The sea belongs to everyone. So does its today and the future.