We run different types of activities, all with the aim of improving knowledge about the Baltic Sea and contributing to an improvement in its condition. On this page you can read more about what we do.
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The Baltic Sea Foundation has developed a free teaching resource for primary schools, which we call The Baltic Sea’s Young Heroes. We believe that if young people receive the right knowledge, they will play a decisive role in reversing the negative development in the Baltic Sea as they grow up.
The Baltic Sea’s Young Heroes is an educational material consisting of 48 short films that follow the micro-lesson concept “Thing of the day” (“Grej of the day”), where YouTube personalities and brothers Daniel and Emil Norberg teach in a simple and fun way about at least one interesting thing about the Baltic Sea in each film. For some of the films, teacher guides have also been developed in collaboration with Havet i skolan.
The material is also available in Finnish, Nuoret Sankarit, presented by the actress Tuuli Heinonen.
Ecucational material in Swedish
Educational material in Finnish
Since 1990, the Baltic Sea Foundation has awarded more than 120 prizes to individuals and organizations for significant and outstanding contributions to the Baltic Sea’s environment. By highlighting those who are at the forefront in protecting the Baltic Sea, we want to show that individual efforts matter and that change is possible. We want to give our laureates affirmation that their work is valuable and to inspire them to continue.
Through the award, we also bring important Baltic Sea issues into public discussion and seek to influence decision-makers and public opinion.
The Foundation has four awards: the Baltic Sea Award, the Youth Award, the Åland Award, and the Lasse Wiklöf Politician Award.
For eight years, the Baltic Sea Foundation has collaborated with Åland’s Nature School to provide Baltic Sea education for students in grades 4–6. Each school year, around 150 students from all over Åland participate in what we call the Baltic Sea Foundation’s classes. During the autumn, the classes explore a seashore near their school and learn more about the Baltic Sea’s unique and fragile environment. In the spring, they meet again—this time at a wetland—to see how it can help reduce eutrophication and how wetlands support biodiversity.
Thanks to the cooperation between Åland’s Nature School and the Foundation, over the years we have reached more than 1,300 students and teachers—from the city of Mariehamn to the outer archipelago. The goal is to spark curiosity about the sea and increase the next generation’s understanding of what lives beneath the surface and how we affect the sea.
Together with the Åland Government, the Foundation has created a wetland near Kastelholm Castle in Sunds municipality. The wetland is signposted and is easy to visit. Link to Google Maps
Why a wetland?
A wetland works like a sponge that slows down water flow and acts as a filter for nutrients. Created wetlands are particularly effective in agricultural landscapes to reduce runoff from farmland before the nutrients reach the sea. Besides reducing eutrophication, they also benefit birdlife and biodiversity, since new valuable habitats are formed for aquatic plants, birds, amphibians, and other water-dwelling animals.
The purpose of Wallin’s Oasis is also to offer the public, especially children and young people, an opportunity to get to know a wetland and learn why wetlands are important and how they work. Åland’s Nature School regularly uses the wetland in its teaching. Three information boards next to the wetland explain why it was created, who Wallin was, about the plant and animal life in the wetland, and how a wetland functions.
Wallin’s Oasis is a joint project between the Baltic Sea Foundation and the Åland Government, with PAF and Ålandsbanken as funders.
The album — funded by Anders Wiklöf — contains five songs and was produced in connection with the celebration of Åland’s 100 years as a self-governing region. Artists involved include Lasse Berghagen, LaGaylia Frazier, John Martin Bengtsson, Therese Karlsson, Anders Wiklöf, and the Åland children’s choir. The album is available on major digital platforms (links below) and as a CD — all revenues go to the Baltic Sea Foundation.
In conjunction with the foundation’s 30th anniversary, we produced a 12-part podcast in which some of our past award winners talk with people from the foundation about major and decisive issues for the Baltic Sea.
The pod on Spotify
The pod on Youtube
