Projects
News
Our talented colleague, Vilma Havas, this week successfully defended her PhD in environmental and resource economics at Aalborg University in Denmark. She brilliantly presented her thesis, "Improving the sustainability of downstream solutions to marine macroplastic pollution by applying systems thinking."
Through her PhD work, Vilma has produced research and policy papers that provide new perspectives and guidelines for Norway and the world on achieving more sustainable management of plastic waste and pollution. Her thesis investigates how the application of systems thinking can improve
the sustainability of existing downstream solutions to marine macroplastic pollution, considering the currently highly linear plastics economy as a global system, while applying a Norwegian perspective to it.
We congratulate Vilma on a excellent PhD defense and look forward to future research projects together!
Until the spring of 2028, SALT will be working on marine conservation and the restoration of marine habitats and ecosystems as part of a new international research project funded by the EU. The BLUE CONNECT project addresses the urgent need to protect and restore marine habitats and ecosystems and to overcome gaps in the effective implementation of EU and global legislation by mobilizing the MPA managers, authorities, industries and local communities to co-develop and demonstrate a systematic approach to marine conservation planning and management. SALT will be participating in the project together with NIVA, while Raet National Park is highlighted as one of the example conservation areas.
The world's first-ever World Cleanup Day took place in Tromsø on September 20. This global event, established by the UN, will be celebrated annually to combat the urgent issue of mismanaged waste and pollution and to encourage worldwide participation in voluntary cleanup activities. The theme for this year's event at the Fram Centre was "Arctic cities and marine litter". Among the presentations was the work of "Rydd i Tide." Rydd i Tide is managed by SALT on behalf of the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund.
We have monitored Litter deposition and resuspension for 31 months on three Arctic beaches in the Lofoten archipelago in Norway. In an article published, in cooperation with Akvaplan-niva, in the Marine Pollution Bulletin, we describes the effects of tides and weather on deposition and turnover, and implications for cleanup strategies. Read the article here.
