Who
Koen van Swam works for the Stichting Noordzeeboerderij (Organization Northsea farm), which was founded in 2012. In 2014 he got involved, when they redefined their project goal to focus on sustainable seaweed farming.
Their goal became to show other organizations that seaweed farming was definitely possible in the open sea. They started with the first tests (the kiloproef) in a location ten kilometers from the coast of Texel. In November 2014 they started the first tests to see which types of seaweed were compatible with the conditions of the Northsea. This has not before been successful. The first harvest was this july, with two species (Laminaria digitata, also known as oarweed and Saccharina latissimi, which is also called sea belt). There are currently more tests going on. While they were doing this, they also set up a platform to create an information point for future seaweed producers, and to connect these companies to each other.
The main location is the Northsea farm, which is where the experiments are happening, but they would prefer to combine this with other activities, such as sustainable fishery and possibly an energy aspect such as windmills.
Connection to Texel
Their organization is near Texel, and they do work together with organizations that are located on Texel (NIOZ and Hortimare), of which several employees work on Texel. However they do not have any activities or methods to reach out for contact with the inhabitants, other than having been featured in local newspapers a few times.
The only reason this organization is on Texel is actually because this was the location assigned to them by Rijkswaterstaat. The initiative had no real influence over this. They are an experimental organization, whose goal is to inspire entrepeneurs, and to show the possible options for working with seaweed.
As there is currently no sustainable seaweed farming, they are experimenting with different types of seaweed for different functions. Seaweed can be food for humans, fish or animals. They can use it as a chemical basis for medicine or cosmetics. They can also use it as manure or energy. Currently there are two research institutes who work on this (NIOZ and the North Sea farm), and one company that produces seaweed seeds (Hortimare). However there are no actual seaweed farmers in the area, and until there is all these ideas are not yet realistic.
Relation
They are of the coast of Texel, and their location is mostly a coincidence. While they had a few interviews with the local papers, they are not aware of any changes they have wrought in the area or if they have influenced this. They are also not really aware of the local’s opinion of their project, but they are always open towards new ways to use space in a multifunctional way, by working together with other interested parties, such as fishermen or hotels. However there are no real relations to speak off.
Time
While they have been featured in several newspapers, there is no real link or stream of information between the municipality or the inhabitants. This organization is mainly focused on experimenting with possibilities, and any other further growth into another organization is not yet determined. After sustainable seaweed farming is possible, the initiative will have to grow into another role to continue in, which they imagine as a central point that defends the interests of the sustainable seaweed farm. While this next phase will be a long term initiative, it will not be local to Texel.
Place
They are quite far removed from Texel, but they do take up space in the sea, and there is the possibility that fishermen might feel negative about this, which could lead to problems in integration later down the line. This could lead to a negative emotional reaction from the inhabitants of Texel itself.
While they are currently experimenting, these are on such a small scale that actual physical influence on the sea cannot yet be measured, and he stresses it will be important to research this when the tests scale up in size.
Action
Before this project started, all negiotiations were done by Rijkswaterstaat, which organized a large part of this project. This initiative is very much a protected nice project, isolated from most actors in the existing socio-technical system.
They are so far cautiously enthusiastic about progress in the experiments. While they do get a lot of attention, very little of this results in actual financial support, which makes it harder for them to conduct a wider variety of experiments.
However there are quite a few organizations and companies from Texel but also from other areas (even internationally) who want to learn more and possibly start a cooperative project. On Texel specifically there are a few who stand out as interested parties. There was a hotel which was very open to using seaweed in their kitchen. At this time however the project is in such an experimental stage that none of their products are cleared for actual use. There was also a charter organization which organizes fishing trips that was open to cooperation. Most of their attention is from companies, probably because seaweed provided interesting possibilities for a profitable future line of products. However he does not know the exact motivations of these interested parties, and they could have an eye on sustainable development at the same time as profit. However until there are active investors, no real sustainable development can be created.