Havets Hus aims to raise awareness of the marine environment and promote its sustainable development. We focus on educating about marine ecosystems and their significance while emphasizing the importance of the land environment. Our ambition is to clarify these connections, spread our deep respect for the ocean’s vital inhabitants and ecosystems, and inspire action. We achieve this by offering educational and inspiring experiences and striving to practice what we teach.
Guiding Principles
Sustainable Consumption
Havets Hus promotes sustainable consumption and production of goods and services. Many of today’s environmental problems are linked to our consumption patterns—we use too many of the Earth’s resources and often fail to utilize them efficiently. Consumption can also have negative consequences for social sustainability. To reduce its impact, we must change how and what we consume.
Social, economic, and ecological sustainability are equally important and interdependent. Therefore, Havets Hus considers all sustainability factors in procurement, purchases, and the goods and services it offers.
Lysekil Municipality has strong climate requirements for procurement. In addition to these, Havets Hus will consider social aspects, meaning that goods from certain countries will not be purchased. Whenever economically feasible, we will always choose environmentally certified and fair-trade products and ensure that a sustainable option is available. The same applies to the products sold in our shop.
A significant part of Havets Hus’ climate footprint comes from visitors’ travel to the aquarium. Therefore, we will highlight sustainable travel options and encourage collective transportation. Staff travel for work should primarily use public transport. Energy use must be efficient and continue to include recycled heat and cooling from seawater, self-produced electricity, district heating, and fossil-free energy. All vehicles and machinery will remain fossil-free.
Sustainable Nature
Havets Hus promotes biodiversity. A rich biodiversity is essential for functioning ecosystems, as their processes rely on interactions between species, each playing a unique role. Nature also holds great value for our physical and mental health, serving as a place for recreation and well-being.
Biodiversity loss, alongside climate change, is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The 2019 IPBES report shows that populations of wild vertebrates have declined by 69% since 1970, and one million species worldwide are at risk of extinction. If no action is taken, the balance of ecosystems will be disrupted, leading to unpredictable consequences.
Havets Hus informs about biodiversity both in the aquarium and through external communication—explaining what biodiversity is, why it matters, and how to support it.
Together with external partners, Havets Hus contributes by breeding and releasing endangered species. These projects serve multiple purposes, including strengthening populations, increasing knowledge about species, improving breeding and release methods, and raising awareness of biodiversity conservation.
Havets Hus also showcases examples from current marine research, participates in research projects, and helps visitors contribute to scientific studies. To ensure that our sales do not harm biodiversity, we will continue offering palm oil-free products.
In Practice, This Means:
- We work to increase knowledge about biodiversity, the Swedish Red List, and the importance of a thriving ocean.
- We encourage individual responsibility for environmental protection through information, programs, and educational activities.
- We actively engage in conservation projects and contribute to research collaborations when possible.
- All food provided to our animals comes from sustainable sources.
- Our vehicles run on electricity or renewable fuels.
- We encourage staff to use bicycles or public transport, and for longer trips, we prioritize train travel.
- We inform and run campaigns to increase the number of visitors using public transport.
- We actively seek environmentally and fair-trade certified products for our shop and highlight locally produced items.
- We train all staff in environmental awareness, hospitality, first aid, defibrillator use, and fire safety procedures.
- All energy we use is fossil-free.
- We sort waste and actively work to minimize waste in our operations.
- Our workwear and camp participants’ shirts are primarily environmentally certified.
- We offer environmental training to other businesses.