The initiative responds to rising interest in marine allotment gardens and supports sustainable, innovative alternatives for future food, according to city officials. A marine allotment garden is a cultivation site in the sea where mussels and seaweed are grown, contributing to sustainable food production and increased knowledge about marine resources. In 2022, Flytevi – a prototype of a marine allotment garden – was built in Frihamnen, where school classes and others can learn about sea cultivation.
Gothenburg City provides the cultivation platform, while residents manage the cultivation through a cultivation association, development leader Martin Bae Pedersen said. The city has a long tradition of offering cultivation plots to residents and is collaborating with the University of Gothenburg on this project. It builds on the city's work with land-based community and allotment gardens, and officials hope to apply existing working methods for cultivation associations to water as well.
Gothenburg City has a coastal landholding that provides opportunities for future expansion of marine cultivations. The conditions for cultivation in Frihamnen are far from optimal, project coordinator Maria Bodin noted. The goal is to test a marine allotment garden in Uttervik on Styrsö, where conditions are significantly better.
Permits for the cultivation are ready, and the operation is slated to start this year. The next step is to form a cultivation association. Cultivating in the sea differs from land-based methods; it occurs on ropes or other structures below the water surface, and neither irrigation nor fertilization is needed because nutrients are naturally present in the water.
Pedersen explained that in water, a smaller effort is needed from the city because seaweed and mussels get nutrients directly from their environment. On April 22, Gothenburg City and the University of Gothenburg will host an information meeting at Café Båtebacken on Styrsö, where plans will be presented and participants can register interest in the association.