Annual Forum 2021

GREEN RECOVERY

The Project CULTURE4CLIMATE works on establishing a collaborative and cross-sectional platform/forum for the Baltic Sea Region to address the challenges of climate change by means of Culture. We believe that the cultural sector can take a leading role in tackling climate change.

During the session the panelists will present outcomes of the Seed-Money Phase as well as a good mixed interactive panel discussion on what strong role Culture can take in tackling the Climate Crisis. With good practice examples and a cross sectoral approach.

C4C main partners: ARS BALTCA (GER), Council of Baltic Sea States (SE), Ecologic Institute (GER), Union of Baltic Cities (PL), Action University (DK), Kaunas Artists’ House (LIT). More information: www.culture4climate.com

C4C received INTERREG Seed Money support to develop a further BSR project.

Moderators:

Oleg Koefoed (Growing Pathways)

Marcus Hagemann (ARS BALTICA)

Panelists:

Thorvaldur Kristjanson (CBSS)

Dr. Charlotte Streck (Climate Focus)

Benjamin Görlach (Ecologic Insititut) tbc.

Partners: ARS BALTICA, Growing Pathways, UBC Cultural Cities Commission, Kaunas Artists’ House, Ecologic Institute

Organiser – PA Culture

Humans have long wished to be able to predict the future and prepare ourselves for unexpected developments. Developing shared visions and setting joint goals is crucial for thriving in our territories, strengthening the resilience of our communities, as well as of places we live and work in or just enjoy. Participants of this workshop will discuss the vision for the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) in 2040 based on the four metaphors that were identified already in the first VASAB vision in 1994:

• the pearls (the urban networking, urban-rural partnerships and functional regions),
• strings (the internal and external digital and physical connectivity),
• patches (selected types of uses supporting dynamism and quality of life)
• systems (spatial planning in function).

In this workshop, we will explore the extent to which current developments can be drivers for developing a clear vision for a more sustainable, thriving and modern BSR in 2040.

The VASAB Long-Term Perspective for the Territorial Development of the Baltic Sea Region is a strategic document that provides a territorial dimension to the EUSBSR framework and macro-regional cooperation in the region. The workshop will feed in the work of the update of the VASAB Long-Term Perspective, which has been initiated in order to adapt to arisen global and regional challenges, such as a pandemic reality, demographic trends, impacts of the climate change, territorial patterns of activities, digitalization, etc. This event kicks-off a series of workshops and other stakeholder engagement activities that will take place in 2021-22 throughout the update process.

During the co-creative workshop participants will have an opportunity to actively get involved to discuss and explore how the BSR could look like in 2040 and the relevant trends that may influence the spatial development.

Organized by VASAB/ PA Spatial Planning & Spatial Foresight

Synergies: By bringing together various stakeholders and initiating a dialogue on experiences, new research, exchange of best practices and needs identified the discussion will aim at contributing to evidence based decision making and innovative solutions for issues related to ventilation and microclimate in health care in the BSR. 

Green recovery: Building ventilation system is a key element to maintain proper indoor air quality and human health, however, there is an existing stigma around the associated costs of installation, use and maintenance of such systems. Energy efficiency of a ventilation system plays a major role in the costs of a building. Now more than ever it is important to have these systems optimized, to mitigate health risks in indoor environments and to do so with energy efficient and cost-efficient solutions. The Covid-19 crisis has made it clear that indoor climate and air quality should not be neglected.

We believe that this event will initiate a mindset change around the topic and emphasize the benefits of healthy indoor environment provided by energy efficient solutions and associated regulations or guidelines for it.

Organisers:

PA Health/ NDPHS/

PA Energy/ Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Latvia

The Biosphere for Baltic Network comprises 9 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, that are located on the Baltic Sea coast:

Møn (DK), West Estonian Archipelago (EE), Archipelago Sea (FI), Südost-Rügen (DE), North Vidzeme (LV), Słowinski (PL) and Kristiansstads Vattenrike, Nedre Dalälven River Landscape, Blekinge Archipelago (SE).

Based on the “Man and the Biosphere (MAB)-Program of the UNESCO, these areas are dedicated to function as model regions for sustainable development and implementation of the UN SDGs.

Also based on the EUSBSR Action Plan (15 Feb 2021) the BfB-event will present the main objectives of  UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, will show examples from three areas and gives time for questions and discussion.

1. Introduction      10 Minutes

Themes:

Biosphere for Baltic Network; Function of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves; MAB-Program, UN  SDGs

Johanna MacTaggart, National coordinator for UNESCOs MAB Programme, Sweden

2. Example 1      15 Minutes

Theme:

PA Nutri / Action 1: Reduce nutrient emissions from agriculture and other diffuse sources

Matthias Holmquist., Biosphere Reserve Blekinge Archipelago (Sweden)

3. Example 2      15 Minutes

Theme:

PA Tourism / Action 3: Protection and sustainable utilization of cultural heritage and natural resources in tourism destinations

Cathrin Münster / Lars Korn, Biosphere Reserve Südost-Rügen (Germany)

4. Example 3      15 Minutes

Theme:

PA Culture: Action 2: Promoting Baltic Sea region culture and European values, using culture for sustainable development

Katja Bonnevier, Biosphere Reserve Archipelago Sea (Finland)

5. Questions/Discussion      30 Minutes

Moderation: Anna Särnblad (Sweden)

Main objective of the event is to gain political awareness for the potentials of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves as well as to find stakeholders interest and partners for possible future joint activities.

Organiser – Biosphere for Baltic Network

The workshop contributes directly to the greening of the region and the EUSBSR ‘Save the Sea’ goal. Major R&I funders of ten EU member states and two countries associated to EU’s research and innovation framework (BE, DK, EE, FR, DE, LV, LT, NL, NO, PL, SE, UK), and four transnational strategic partners – HELCOM, OSPAR, ICES and JPI Oceans – joined their forces in an EU-supported Baltic and North Sea Coordination and Support Action (BANOS CSA, 2018–2021). Together, they have developed preconditions for the future joint Baltic and North Sea Research and Innovation Programme – BANOS. The NEW Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda – the BANOS SRIA co-created with over 200 knowledge & innovation end-users – the policy makers, including key actors in EUSBSR – and other stakeholders is in the core of BANOS. The SRIA highlights current knowledge gaps and bottlenecks in marine and maritime R&I and presents R&I objectives and themes with concrete descriptions and outcomes for overcoming the challenges facing the neighboring regions of the Baltic Sea and North Sea, and enables the green transition of the blue economy. It aims to deliver a decisive boost and benefits to the sustainable marine and maritime economy. Regional collaboration is of key importance. Thus, a collective R&I capacity of the Northern European region needs to be elevated to the next level through a scientifically, administratively, and financially firmly integrated R&I programme. BANOS SRIA marks a clear path forward for the region and through regular review and update, allows space for response to the emerging needs for enquiry by scientists and innovators.  The workshop brings key actors together for an open discussion. It also fosters Open Science, -Data, -Access, Citizen Science, and close links with the wider public.

Organiser – BONUS EEIG

The Baltic Sea is highly affected by eutrophication: according to HELCOM (2018), 97% of the sea area is below good status in regard to eutrophication. A major part of the anthropogenic nutrient loading originates from diffuse sources, which are difficult to control and where fewer nutrient load reductions have been achieved. In agriculture, however, there are promising new methods for curbing nutrient loading, namely gypsum and structure lime. Apart from these two innovations, also other solutions are urgently needed. The EUSBSR participants are invited to join a discussion on novel nutrient reduction methods and innovations.

Programme

• Opening words by Anna Hernberg, Ministry of Environment, Finland and PA Nutri
• Keynotes
• Gypsum, Petri Ekholm, Senior researcher, Finnish Environment Institute
• Structure lime, Kerstin Berglund, Associate professor, SLU, Sweden
• Other emerging technologies
• Nitrogen balance calculator, Tapio Salo, Principal scientist, Natural Resources Institute, Finland
• Fiber sludge in agricultural water protection, Kimmo Rasa, Senior scientist, Natural Resources Institute, Finland
• Questions & Closing

For more information, please contact PA Nutri or John Nurminen Foundation: anna.hernberg@ym.fi or anna.saarentaus@jnfoundation.fi.

Organiser – PA Nutri and John Nurminen Foundation

Plastic pollution in our waters is global and regional problem. Even though the Baltic Sea appears to suffer less than other waterways, plastic pollution is an issue. The high number of people living directly at the Baltic Sea leads to a significant potential for human induced plastic pollution in the Baltic Sea. To solve this problem a joint approach that combines different stakeholders from different locations within a circular reflection of the issue is needed.
The post covid “restart” of different industries needs to be more responsible than before. To successfully implement a green recovery, the involvement of industry is essential. A circular approach for different issues like plastic pollution will help us, to develop more sustainable solutions throughout the complete lifecycle of products and processes by integrating various stakeholders at different stages of the circle. Together with the city of Rostock the team of researchers will show, why this is a problem, how it is created and how it can be addressed.

Scope of the workshop:
• Defining the litter problem in the Baltic Sea
• Establishing cooperation between research and industry by matching industrial needs with the scientific methods developed

Hosted by:
• VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
• RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
• Fraunhofer Germany

Part 1 – Plastic Pollution in the Baltic Sea (Kick-Start presentations) – 50 min
Sources and State of Plastic Litter in the Baltic Sea
Monitoring Macroscopic and Microscopic Plastic Litter
Reduction and Recovery of Plastic Litter
Recycling of Plastic Litter

Part 2 – Interactive discussion and conclusions – 40 min
Opening: An Environmental Protection Perspective on Plastic Litter in the Baltic.
Discussion and interactive live polls between:
• The Audience
• Speakers and Institutions from Part 1
• Invited companies, institutions and NGOs who propose solutions or identify further research needs

Key questions that will be discussed are:
• What are the key challenges to overcome, how big is the problem in the Baltic Sea?
• Who will drive and invest in technical solutions?
• Where do you see the highest potential mid- and long term?
• What could solutions look like if budget was no problem?
You should participate, if
… you are interested in new technological concepts on aquatic litter monitoring
… have business interest in aquatic litter detection and cleaning
… do research in the field and seek for cooperation partners
… would like to engage in this topic and pro-actively work towards minimizing the effects of one of the biggest ecological challenges.

Organiser – Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Germany

This workshop intends to inaugurate a regional, interdisciplinary network of professionals interested in the history, present condition, and future of acoustic environments and sonic heritage in the Baltic Sea region. The overarching aim of this forum is to collectively work towards building awareness about the importance of sound regarding many domains of life that pertain to both human and other-than-human species. As many studies demonstrate, the increase in sound pollution affects our well-being. Moreover, underwater noise has been proven to cause devastating effects on multiple ecosystems and marine species. Simultaneously, conscious use of sound and its various expressions have been crucial to local identities, regional cultural conducts, and practices in the coastal areas of the Baltic Sea. The aim of our network will be to bring attention to those intended and unintended sonic realms. We believe that by working across disciplines and national boundaries we are able to address our vision. Following principles of the already established World Forum for Acoustic Ecology, this regional initiative will work through coordinating cultural and research activities inclusive of artists, scholars, environmentalists, scientists, activists, and youth. These activities will include soundscape studies, cultural and environmental soundwalks, sound mapping among other actions. We plan to organize a series of workshops engaging wider audiences in collective listening to diverse environments that constitute the richness of the Baltic Sea region. This inaugural workshop is open to any individuals and groups who share similar concerns about the Baltic Sea region and who would like to get involved.

Organiser – Baltic Forum for Acoustic Ecology

The topic of the Annual Forum 2021 is GREEN RECOVERY. The event aims at fostering green transition in the Baltic Sea Region through a close partnership and more active involvement of the stakeholders, in particular youth and local communities.

Engaged society – examples of active collaboration between project partners and local society for green recovery and more sustainable regions.

The event will be a joint discussion of five projects engaged in:

1. green technologies and environmental protection,
2. skills and labour development and education services for different target groups
3. connecting and involving institutions to establish future partnerships

The discussion aims to present and inspire participants on how the cross-border cooperation projects can effectively involve local society, youth, and local authorities in activities for green recovery on different levels. The variety of invited speakers will allow leading the discussion towards many fields and threads. Invited to the discussion are representatives of such projects as WASTEMAN, CTCC – Creative Traditional Companies Cooperation, Creative Clusters, Umbrella, and SEAPLANSPACE who will present concrete examples of what they did in the context of local community collaboration and their engagement, as well as the impact of the communities’ activities on the sustainable development of their regions. They will discuss options for cross-border training, and networking – all aiming at greener future of small regions and establishing partnerships. After this session, participants will be able to identify which option for close partnership is suitable for their organisation, a project, or a cluster and how to engage local society for green recovery and more sustainable regions.

Organiser – Interreg South Baltic Programme 2014-2020

Fit for 55 is a goal set by Europe to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, (compared to 1990 levels), as a milestone on its way to reaching the 2050 climate neutrality target. In July this year, the European Commission adopted a comprehensive package of interconnected policy activities that allow delivering on the climate and energy ambitions – the European Green Deal. Currently, European countries have adopted the existing policies, including the national energy and climate plans. However, the countries should assess and adjust the plans in order to fulfill the fit for 55 aims.

Energy efficiency is a key area of action, which is critical for the decarbonisation of the European economy. It should be noted that the annual energy savings obligations target has almost doubled from the current level of 0.8% to 1.5%. The European Union will also require its member states to reduce the primary and final energy consumption in 2020-2030 by 39% and 32% respectively. The transport and buildings sectors are facing the greatest challenge. Together, both sectors consume almost 80% of final energy and will have to implement most of the foreseen measures.

The effective use of all measures (technological, innovative, economic, also in education and consultation, etc.) and incentives to change consumer behavior are crucial to achieving the targets for energy efficiency and emission reduction.

It is also essential to develop cooperation between stakeholders at regional level through the exchange of experience and good practices, awareness-raising initiatives to solve energy efficiency issues.

The meeting will highlight examples of energy efficiency measures related to the contribution to the objectives of the National Energy and Climate Plans. Participants will also have the opportunity to reflect on the examples presented and to connect back to their national contexts through identifying their needs and possible future steps.

10.00 – 10.10    Welcome and introduction

Moderator / Viceminister of Energy of Republic of Lithuania

10.10 – 10.30    Lithuanian Energy efficiency Targets and Activities for 2030

Mindaugas Stonkus, the Ministry of Energy of Republic of Lithuania

10.30 – 11.00 The positive socio-economic effects of the apartment buildings for the electricity grid and vice versa.

Tarvo Õng; Fusebox, Estonia

11.00 – 11.20   Energy efficiency monitoring system in Latvia

Vera Suzdaļenko, Energy Efficiency Control Department; State construction Control bureau of Latvia

11.20 – 11.40     Education and consulting of energy consumers: objectives, expectations and results

Karolis Januševičius, Lithuanian energy agency

11.40 – 11.55    Discussion and reflections on sharing good energy efficiency practices and topics for future discussions

11.55 – 12.00    Closure – Moderator

Note: The date of the event has been changed from September 28th to September 30th.

PA Education, Science and Social Affairs organizes a seminar on distance education and what we can do better after experiencing it for more than one year.

Few groups have been less vulnerable to the coronavirus than school children, but few groups have been more affected by the policy responses to contain this virus. The crisis has exposed many of the inadequacies and inequities in our school systems – from access to the broadband and computers needed for online education, the supportive environments needed to focus on learning, up to a failure to enable local initiative and to align our resources with the needs. However, as the pandemic amplifies educational inequities, this moment also holds the possibility that we will not just go back to the status quo when things return to “normal”. It is the nature of our collective and systemic

responses to the disruptions that will determine how we are affected by them. When countries closed their schools in early 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, all teaching

became mediated by digital technologies. In the year since, teachers, students and administrators have done, what is effectively, a collective crash course on digital education. There have been many downsides to it, from screen fatigue and adaptation stress to the falling behind of those ill-equipped for digital learning or unprepared to learn on their own. But the experience has catapulted education systems, traditionally laggards when it comes to innovation, years ahead in what would have been a slow slouch towards smart schooling.

PROGRAMME

10.00 Welcome and opening

Mr Ramūnas Skaudžius, Viceminister, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport in the Republic of Lithuania

10.15 Reflecting on lesson learned from distance education during, COVID-19

Mr Jaakko Vuorio, Project Coordinator, , Finnish National Agency for Education

Panel discussion including dialogue with participants

Ms Heli Aru-Chabilan, Director for Internationalisation, Estonian Education and Youth Board

Ms Ilze Spunde, International Projects Manager, , Riga City Council, Latvia

Mr Anders Duvkär, Head of Unit, Swedish National Agency for Education

10.55 Remote classrooms – what can education technology offer and are schools ready?

Ms Hanna Elving, Head Project Manager, Swedish EdTest

Panel discussion including dialogue with participants

11.25 Closing remarks

Ms Corinna Nienstedt, Head of State Department, Senate Chancellery, Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg

Organiser – PA Education

The deployment of full-scale carbon capture (utilisation) and storage (CC(U)S) on a global scale is key to achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement and mitigating climate change. In the power sector, CC(U)S is key for fossil fuel-based generation, for delivering the deep emission reductions needed for fossil fuel-based power and many industrial applications, while this technology offers opportunities for “negative emissions”. It could also help ensure a secure supply in a clean electricity system with an increased number of variable renewable energy shares.

Although much potential exists in the Baltic Sea region (BSR) for CC(U)S with potential storage sites localized in the Baltic Basin in several countries, such as Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia, the BSR is still lagging behind in deploying a large-scale CC(U)S due to the national policy and regulatory frameworks, which create unfavorable conditions for the technology integration, as well as the public’s low awareness and acceptability in most of the countries of the region.

This event will consist of three talks, which will give an overview of the current state of play of the CC(U)S technology in the BSR.

Organiser – BASRECCS

This session will be an interactive panel discussion with multilevel experts and stakeholders. The aim is to highlight the importance of collaboration and education for Cluster Managers, both on an EUSBSR level and for single Cluster Managers and companies and how the Erasmus+ project ´BSR Cluster Manager Education´ is contributing to this.

We will talk about:

-The benefits of regional clusters

-The importance of well-educated Cluster Managers in EUSBSR

-Skills needed for a Cluster Manager – with representatives from Educational Organisations in the project BSR Cluster Manager Education

-Participation in the pilot education

-Needs from companies, members in clusters in Baltic Sea Region

Facilitator: Kevin Sanikidze and/or Katarina Hansell

Organiser – PA Education, PA Innovation

Dumped chemical and conventional munitions are a problem for the environment and industry. Over 40 000 t of chemical munitions and roughly 500 000 t of conventional munitions are located in the Baltic, some of them on marked dumpsites, and some dispersed. This creates an environmental pressure by leaking military material, and hinders offshore development. Future trends are unknown, since some of the material is still contained in corroding containers. A common solution is needed to address this issue – a set of management options which would include monitoring, identification of munitions that are no longer a threat to the Environment and remediation of those which are most dangerous or in conflict with offshore economy.

The seminar will include a block of presentations focused on following questions:

The seminar plans to answer the question, how Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) and Discarded Military Material (DMM) affect the environment and economy – in terms of its influence on fisheries, tourism, navigation and offshore development. An attempt to evaluate the possible management strategies will be made

Assesment of EU potential to act in case of DMM and UXO related accidents – as ie. massive release due to corrosion or anthropogenic disturbance will be discussed, and means to raise such potential discussed.

Existing tools for munition management, such as toolboxes for risk assessment or Decision Support Systems will be presented, and their utilization discussed.

This presentation block will be followed by a panel discussion, where speakers and organizers will discuss possible future developments and answer questions from the public.

Organiser – Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences

Ensuring the conditions for connecting the Arctic and the Baltic while fostering sustainable development 

Connecting Baltic Sea Region with the Arctic Region requires territorial accessibility and investments in infrastructure and transport (15:45-16:30)

• Mr Olav Jern, Senior advisor at Kvarken Council EGTC and former Chief Executive Officer of the Regional Council of Ostrobothnia
• Ms Anne Sörensson, project manager, Green Flyway about promoting sustainable aviation as way to connect regions
• Mr Jari Vilen, Ambassador, Barents and Northern Dimension, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland to present the Northern Dimension Partnership on Transport and Logistics

Connecting Baltic Sea Region with Arctic Region requires multilevel cooperation (16:30-17:20)

• Mr Anders Josefsson, Vice Chair of the City Executive Committee of Luleå City, Member of Union of Baltic Cities and Arctic Mayors Forum
• Mr Tomas Norvoll, Chair of Nordland County, Chair of the Northern Sparsely Populated Areas network
• Mr Olav Berstad, Representative from the Norway Presidency of Council of the Baltic Sea States, Senior Adviser of the Nordic-Baltic Section, European Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway

Concluding remarks, Mr Michael Mann, Special Envoy for Arctic matters, European External Action Service (17:20-17:30)

Description of the seminar:

In light of the revision of a new Action Plan for the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) and a new EU Arctic policy in 2021, this seminar will explore how the Baltic Sea interlinks with the European Arctic, how the two macro-regional territories can connect, complement and strengthen each other to unlock potential for sustainable development in these territories and contribute to achieve the Green Deal.

The implementation of the new EUSBSR Action Plan should consider the Arctic dimension, as the development of the Arctic in a sustainable way benefits the Baltic Sea Region and the European Union, and vice versa. Furthermore, the new EUSBSR Action Plan put emphasis on the importance of cooperation and coordination with the neighbouring non-EU countries of the Baltic Sea Region, including Iceland, Norway and Russia which are three Arctic states.

The seminar should also feed into the reflection on a new EU Arctic policy 2021, with the publication of an EU communication expected in October 2021. The new EU Arctic policy should consider the link with the Baltic Sea Region and how to connect the two macro-regional areas further, and help to foster the green transition of the BSR.

The seminar is also the opportunity to showcase existing examples, fostering green and sustainable development, at the gateway to the Arctic and on top of the Baltic Sea, with added value to the whole of Europe. The discussion will also focus on the need for stronger interregional cooperation, multilevel cooperation, as well as sufficient transport infrastructure to connect the Arctic with the Baltic and achieve the green transition in both areas.

Angle of debate: How can the Baltic Sea Region benefit from the sustainable development of the Arctic? What innovative growth potential in the European Arctic entitles stakeholders to invest in innovation, transport and digital infrastructure to connect the Baltic with the Arctic? These questions will be addressed from a local, national, macro-regional and EU perspectives.

The seminar is organised by the Arctic Task Force of the CPMR Baltic Sea Commission, chaired by Tomas Mörtsell, Region Västerbotten, Sweden.

30^th of September – 15:00-18:00 “Cities as leaders in Green recovery“

The session will be dedicated to showcasing cities’ strategic projects in advancing green projects and initiatives in terms of transport, food, ecology, smart cities and discovering the role of European and cross-border cooperation in this matter.

Agenda:

15.00 Introduction to the day & Welcome speech from the UBC

15.05 – 15.55 Session I “Infrastructure green recovery – a base?”

16.00 – 16.50 Session II “European project and networking” 

17.00 – 17.50 Session III “Lifestyles and cities – can we do more?”

17.50 – 18.00 Closing remarks 

*During each session of 50 minutes, 3 cities will present their practices (10 min each) and 20 minutes will be dedicated to Q&A and debate moderated by the UBC team.

The transition towards sustainable economies, in line with the European Green Deal, requires a shift in the business models and in the way we produce and consume goods and services. Already before the pandemic outburst, young people have clearly showed commitment, competence, and good ideas to support the green transition. Policy-makers have increasingly realised the central role the youth can play to shape the future of Europe and of the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). Youth inclusion is now incorporated into the EUSBSR, the CBSS Vilnius II Declaration, the Nordic Vision 2030 and many national policy strategies and programmes. However, young entrepreneurs who hold sustainability as a core principle have faced many challenges along the way. Age and gender have often hindered them from being taken seriously, and their ideas have at times thought to be mere utopia. At the same time, many young people have found a fertile ground to promote innovative ideas, in a region that is frontrunner in generating environmental awareness. Many successful start-ups and initiatives in the BSR, often led by young entrepreneurs, are showing the way forward into the green transition. Still, the access to finance in form of loans, as well as the lack of financial instruments aiming to support young entrepreneurs, remain key challenges for green innovations to take off.

This panel discussion will give a platform to young entrepreneurs from across the BSR to share their insights on how to start a green business and provide their experience regarding existing obstacles and barriers for receiving funding and building a business model. The panel will also give the floor to representatives of financial institutions and programmes. Potential actions will be discussed on how to improve the status quo regarding financial mechanisms and accessibility and how to provide a more supportive environment for young people to start their business in the BSR.

Organiser – Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), Nordregio

The Baltic Sea Region is not homogeneous and has a strong spatial diversity. This Region includes bustling metropolises and quiet areas from them. One most important tasks of the transport policy in the BSR is to improve internal connections, and help expanding cities to `cope with new bottlenecks and congestions in urban and suburban passenger transport, as well as in freight transport. What is more, it is very important to have a good transport connection with other macro regions of the European Union The revised EUSBSR Transport Action Plan therefore attaches a great importance to the development of three TEN-T core network corridors Baltic-Adriatic, Scandinavian –Mediterranean and North Sea –Baltic, crossing the territory of the BSR. The development of these corridors, using innovative transport solutions and green technologies aims to provide high quality transport services for business operating among Europe’s most important transport and logistics hubs, as well as providing passenger’s convenient and safe connections to Europe’s major tourist and cultural centers. At the same time, within the whole BSR it is very important to find and adopt rational solutions for ensuring mobility services for the inhabitants of remote and shrinking settlements

It is obvious, that successful implementation of above mentioned ambitious tasks are incomprehensible without the involvement of stakeholders from EU, national and regional levels. Understandably, that the European Coordinators, who coordinate the actions and plans of national governments, play a key role in the development of the TEN-T core network corridors. At the same time, the representatives of regional administrations and municipalities in the BSR, as well as researchers from universities and consulting companies are becoming increasingly important actors assisting on how to successfully reap the benefits of the development of the TEN-T core corridors for local business and citizens.

The transport panel discussion will provide a wide opportunity for the regional transport planners and experts of the BSR countries to share their insights and research results on the potential benefits for the regions of the development of the TEN-T transport corridors. Understandably, also by identifying the challenges that need to be overcome to maximize those benefits.

Algirdas Šakalys, Transport PAC

Climate change, depleting of global bioresources, the important need to supply food, clean water and energy for humanity are stimulating to promote innovations. And those innovations are inseparable from bioeconomy, offering the integrated approach to economic prosperity, social and environmental sustainability in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture. The most important advantage of bioeconomy is to create conditions for the switch from fossil fuel to the sustainably operating society. Thus, sustainable bioeconomy is closely linked with green and blue economy and is the main part of circular economy.

Bioeconomy is not a separate segment of economy; it is a horizontal interdisciplinary area, encompassing farmers, consumers, industrial undertakings, service providers, etc.

Climate change, bioresource depletion, the importance of a stable global food supply, access to clean water and energy stimulate innovation. And those innovation efforts are inseparable from bioeconomy, offering an integrated approach to economic prosperity, social and environmental sustainability in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture. The most important advantage of bioeconomy is the ability to create favorable conditions for a transition from fossil fuels to a sustainable society. Thus, sustainable bioeconomy is closely related with the green and blue economies, and is the main part of circular economy.

Bioeconomy is not a separate segment of economy; it is a horizontal interdisciplinary area, encompassing farmers, consumers, industrial undertakings, service providers, etc.

The objectives of bioeconomy: to reduce dependence on non-renewable raw materials, to increase energy safety and to cut energy costs, to create the potential for the emergence and development of innovative products, to provide opportunities for economic growth and an increase in jobs, and to create conditions for market development.

The reviewed Bioeconomy Strategy, adopted by the European Commission in October 2018, aims to achieve these goals. To create a harmonious circular bioeconomy, joint efforts of authorities and business entities are needed. To stimulate the joint effort, the European Commission already in 2019 started implementing 14 specific measures, including an efficient deployment of the bioeconomy in Europe, ecosystem protection and perception of the ecological limitations of the bioeconomy.

The current bioeconomy market in Europe amounts to EUR 2.4 trillion, with about 2 billion tonnes of biomass used in the production and 22 million persons employed. New types of manufacturing industries are being developed. The OECD forecasts that bioeconomy until 2055 will be the basic principle of the European economic development.

Organiser – PA Bioeconomy/ PA Nutri

The purpose of this workshop is to initialise a long-term project aiming to increase the speed of creation and restoration of wetlands in Europe. Wetlands are multifunctional biotopes. They are rich in biological diversity, providing habitat for a plethora of plants and animals including nursery habitats for many fish; they reduce risk of flooding and drought by buffering precipitation; they reduce nutrient run-off and erosion from farmland and urban areas which reduces eutrophication; and they are carbon sinks. All these functions are highly wanted both to mitigate the effects of climate change and to reduce concentrations of greenhouse gasses. However, the present area of European wetlands is only a fraction of what it used to be. Many European wetlands have been exploited and drained for various purposes, e.g. for agriculture and establishment of human settlements. Constructing or restoring wetlands will thus be an important, perhaps even necessary, part of the EU Green recovery.

The workshop will first give a general view of the benefits of wetlands and the challenges associated with creating more and efficient wetlands. Different activities that can give landowners incentive, e.g. economic profit, to create wetlands will be presented as a start of group discussions. Avoiding drought and flooding of farmland can increase crop yield. Hiking, fishing tourism and agritourism may also be beneficial to the landowner. For a public landowner there are additional benefits, such as increased possibilities for recreation, education and attractive environments in housing areas. During the workshop, a network will be formed with participants interested in continuing cooperation to find ways to increase wetland construction and restoration. A possible goal is that the network develops a project for a joint application to one of the macro-regional strategy funds.

Target groups for the workshop are farmer organisations and landowners interested in constructing or restoring wetlands, NGOs and officials at local, regional, or national authorities working with wetlands, tourism, or rural development.

Organiser – County Administrative Board of Stockholm

Novel advanced materials research and innovation avenues exploring hydrogen as an emerging technologies concept (such as mixed ionic-electronic materials for fuel cells, mechanical materials for hydrogen storage, etc.) are addressed. The aim is to share experiences and best practices through a stakeholder exchange among researchers, innovators, regional stakeholders, need owners, industry, etc.

The technologies will create products and services. These will be adopted by stakeholders. The research and innovation domain is facing a challenge – the routes from the emerging technologies to stakeholder and market uptake are not known. This can be better understood through an exchange of opinions on the latest developments in the field.

The green hydrogen future depends on the advanced materials research and innovation, which is developing and introducing new key enabling technologies. This is made possible by learning to overcome barriers present in the research utilization, innovation communities, and partially societal change. For example, technologies are introduced through value chains due to technical motivation. At the same time, there are regional strategies, such as research and innovation strategies for smart specialization (S3) promoted by the European Commission. These bring together actors that in fact also address value chains. The exchange between technology and regional actors will allow more understanding of how to create synergy in their implementation. Stakeholder exchange will result in a knowledge community. It is expected to elevate the existing smart specialization strategies (S3) to the next level of smart specialization strategies for sustainable and inclusive growth (S4+).

The overall aim is, therefore, to create mutual understanding and synergies. This is only possible by involving engaged stakeholders. This session initiates community exchange in the BSR with the purpose of involving active individuals and organizations related to green advanced materials in the hydrogen future. It will lead to cooperation, partnerships, as well as BSR and EU projects.

Organiser – JMS Center for Research Utilisation | ALMINICA AB (Sweden), Aalto University (Finland)

The 2-hour slot at 10-12 am (CET) on Sept. 29, 2021 will comprise a short introduction followed by 5-6 expert presentations and a concluding panel discussion, which also enables Q & A with the audience. The session and the panel discussion will be moderated by Prof. Lauri Ojala, OIL SPILL Project Director.

The session deals with Host Nation Support activities of Rescue Services and focuses on coastal and maritime incidents involving oil or chemical spills. The following themes will be covered (not necessarily in the order of appearance ) under the title “Host Nation Support and RescEU in coastal and maritime incidents involving oil or chemical spills”

– Welcoming words by Policy Area on Maritime Safety and Security – Mr. Valtteri Laine

– EU Civil Protection Mechanism – overview and specifics of marine pollution emergencies – Mr. Gian Marco Desogus, DG ECHO/ERCC

Focal presentations on Combatting Maritime Oil and Chemical Spills

– A maritime authority view – Mr. Markku Mylly, frm DG of European Maritime Safety Agency

– A HELCOM view – Executive Secretary Mr. Rüdiger Strempel

– A Host Nation Support view from Rescue Services – Mr. Mikael Mattila, Southwest Finland Emergency Service, Project Manager of a Finnish HNS Rescue Service

– A Host Nation Support view from Rescue Services – Swedish Rescue Services (TBC)

Concluding panel discussion with Q & A.

Organiser – OIL SPILL and PA Safe

In January 2021, the European Commission launched a design phase of the New European Bauhaus initiative. It is an environmental, economic and cultural project, aiming to combine design, sustainability, accessibility, affordability and investment in order to help deliver the European Green Deal. The New European Bauhaus calls on all creative minds to engage into interdisciplinary process, reimagine and build together living environment that is beautiful, sustainable and inclusive.

This panel discussion aims to explore how the values promoted by the New European Bauhaus could contribute to achieving the goals of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. Various policies and initiatives related to holistic transformation of urban areas will be presented. The discussion will further evolve around analysing the aspects of culture and its potential to drive sustainable and inclusive living in the city.

Participants:

Rūta Leitanaitė (Lithuania, Head of the Architects Association of Lithuania) will moderate the discussion and present the initiative on holistic renovation of the modernist housing micro-rayons that was started by the Architects Association of Lithuania, under the call of the New European Bauhaus. Eszter Dávida (Hungary, Member of the NEB High-level roundtable) will give a framing of the New European Bauhaus initiative and the reflections made by the members of the High-level roundtable on the housing and sustainability questions. Evelina Ozola (Latvia, Curator of the national pavilion of Latvia “Together and Apart” at Venice Architecture Biennale 2018), Ivo Jaanisoo (Estonia, Head of Department of Construction and Housing, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia), Gall Podlaszewski (Germany, Project manager at Wendt Architekt & Ingenieur) will present the practices and policies of housing renovation in Latvia, Estonia and Germany respectively.

Organiser – Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania

The Swedish Institute, in cooperation with Euroregion Baltic Secretariat, the Union of the Baltic Cities Secretariat and Nordregio, invite you to a webinar exploring different collaborative governance models for enhancing stakeholder engagement in the Baltic Sea Region. The webinar aims to boost stakeholder involvement within emerging EUSBSR initiatives related to the green transition. The programme consists of two parts:

The first part will focus on:

• A policy perspective on stakeholder and citizen engagement in the EUSBSR.
• An overview of different EUSBSR governance concepts and practices.
• Practical learnings from ongoing projects, focusing on concrete stakeholder and citizen involvement tools, methods and practices from the Umbrella 2.0 capacity building programme examining how to engage local stakeholders and CSOs in frameworks such as the EUSBSR.
• Hands-on practices coming from regional city networks working on the green transition in the Baltic Sea region.

The aim of part one is to provide a good overview of both theoretical and practical examples for cross-sectorial and multi-level stakeholder engagement, including horizontal approaches, such as youth participation to boost green transition.

The second part of the webinar will open up the stage to the audience. Smaller group discussions will be arranged to discuss your possible role in future Baltic Sea Region collaborations. Interactive discussions based on participants own personal experiences will be carried out, focusing on: 1) identifying alternative stakeholder engagement best practice tools and methods; 2) establishing how to overcome the challenges of stakeholder mobilisation; 3) exploring the benefits of engagement and how to incentivise stakeholder to become more proactively involved. The key take-aways part of the discussion will be reported to the Annual Forum organisers.

For more information, please contact Gabor Schneider

Organiser – Swedish Insititute, Umbrella 2.0, Nordregio

Digitalization is a driver of innovation and sustainability across all sectors, and effectively addresses many of the global challenges that citizens and businesses face today. This also affects global shipping and ports, where macro-regional collaboration on maritime digitalisation, including in harbours and ports, can help turn climate and environmental challenges into new opportunities in line with the EU Green Deal, strengthen crisis management and rescue capabilities in ports and at sea, and address the rising threat of cyberattacks. The European Commission also points to the need for coordinated and optimized port calls.

During the pandemic the digitalization efforts in the maritime domain has increased a lack of coordination and fragmented approaches run the risk becoming a bottleneck for further development and improvements in efficiency. A more harmonized and coordinated approach would make it possible to offer streamlined services throughout the region, make better use of current project results and give these results a chance to become adopted and scale.

There is a fragmentation among the Baltic States as well as in industry and shipping in how digitalization best can be used to assist effective, seamless, and secure transport flow through Baltic ports and the linking of shipping with connecting rail and road transports. This fragmentation can be de-fragmentized with various methods that supports and guides stakeholders, projects and initiatives. To steer stakeholders clear to avoid becoming isolated digitalized islands.

In the workshop, we will explore the gaps and learning points of existing initiatives and approaches and identify opportunities and threats. We will gain new perspectives, insights, and inputs by inviting participants from academia, industry, and governments to discuss and co-develop ideas for strategic projects that can take macro-regional collaboration on maritime digitalisation to the next level.

The breakout sessions are titled:

1. From project focus to more process based thinking – introduce the power of the process based thinking as compared (and not in competition) with projects.

LISA Linking Sea and Land Flagship Process – How to utilize its potential?

2. BSR Access breakout session will illustrate the functioning of BSR Access project platform in the transition and creation of the LISA Flagship process.

Organiser – PA Transport

RTE can be related to any field, to all EUSBSR Policy Areas, primarily concerning topics of the twin digital and green transitions. It is about the synergy of digitalisation and the exchange of data of any area of life in real time.
RTE is a tool to tackle societal challenges caused by the COVID-pandemic and to develop macroregional recovery measures, especially focusing on green/sustainable recovery bringing forward digitalisation and new solutions. In this way, we can build more resilient economies and strengthen the EUSBSR/BSR contribution to the EU’s Green Deal and its ambitious goals on the twin digital and green transitions.
Regarding green recovery-related opportunities in the Baltic Sea region, one interesting opportunity is the utilisation of data generated from digitalisation to foster the interlink of the highly complex circular economy/industrial symbiosis value chains across the diverse BSR regions.
In general, the RTE concept is a highly useful tool to facilitate digital, data-driven solutions for sustainable business.

The workshop consists of three parts:
1) Presentation: Introduction of RTE concept, RTE building-blocks and services (Accounting and reporting, e-logistics, Circular economy), practical examples;
2) Invitation to join cross-border projects and initiatives;
3) Call for Action and Discussion:
a) compiling joint cross-border project applications- real prototypes of digital services/solutions developments;
b) give input European Commission Technical Support Instrument project in interview format.

Contact:
Reet Reismaa – PA Innovation coordinator, Estonian Ministry of Economy and Communications, reet.reismaa@mkm.ee
Sirli Heinsoo – the RTE flagship lead, Estonian Ministry of Economy and Communications, sirli.heinsoo@mkm.ee

Organiser – PA Innovation

Green transition in maritime industries

The panel will address the crucial question about the Baltic Sea Region – the clean shipping with the involvement of maritime businesses – and will stress the connection of the Baltic and Arctic perspectives through the engagement of representatives of such neighboring countries, as Norway, Iceland, and Russia.

Several institutions and organisations in the BSR are currently adopting strategic papers on the blue economy, green transition of the maritime sector, and, generally, are focusing on clean shipping, alternative fuel, as well as action plans to make the BSR a model region for sustainable maritime economy, at both regional and national levels. The purpose of the panel is to bring different stakeholders together to discuss how to implement these strategies in practice, as well as to identify common challenges and opportunities. The cross-sectorial approach is crucial to these discussions. Therefore, the event will present the perspective, involving the private sector and maritime industries, to the representatives of international organizations and academia.

The knowledge and good practices exchanges with the neighboring countries help providing a broader perspective to the discussions, given that the sustainable development of the maritime sector is a common concern and of high relevance for both the Baltic and the Arctic regions.

Organiser – CBSS (PA Ship, EU DG Mare, VASAB/ PA Spatial Planning)

Baltic Sea Region Climate Change Curriculum

The intention of the event is to disseminate outcomes of the Swedish Institute financed project Baltic Sea Region Climate Change Curriculum (BSRCCC) to the academicians, decision makers and broad public. The project was initiated by the Baltic University Programme (BUP) and united twelve project partners from nine Baltic Sea region countries. The project team was established to answer to the growing need of a regionally based climate change education.

With an increasing threat from Climate Change, there is a growing need for educating students and civil society in the risks and solutions of climate change. The project partners have developed a holistic, scientifically backed and regionally based climate change course module, free for any academic institution, organization or person to download and use.

Climate Change is a complex topic that does not only focus on a single field of science. Rather, it is a transdisciplinary topic connected to several different areas, ranging between three large branches of science; natural sciences, social sciences and applied science. In order to get a comprehensive understanding of the topic, it is important to have some basic understanding of all the different fields and how they are interconnected.

Grounded upon previous works, the project team has elaborated study materials based upon the notion, that the complexity of Climate Change can be broken down into six parts, each explaining the most crucial elements of climate change:

1. It’s Climate – Elaborating on the climate system and its processes.
2. It’s warming – Explaining the methods to measure climatic changes and the observations of a warming planet.
3. It’s us – Expounding the causes of the human interference on the climate systems.
4. We’re sure – Teaching the certainties, uncertainties and scientific methodology behind climate change research.
5. It’s bad – Showing the projected changes impacts that climate change has and is expected to have on the natural and socio-economic systems.

Organiser – Kaunas University of Technology (with a group of other universities)

29^th of September, 15:00-18:00

 “Cities leading positive social transformations”

The session will be dedicated to showcasing cities’ strategic projects in promoting positive social movements in terms of social inclusion, participatory models in communities and decision making, citizenship initiatives, debating the role of new technologies in promoting social cohesion and finally reflecting on impacts of corona crisis on social movements.

The agenda:

15.00 Introduction to the day & Welcome speech from the UBC

15.05 – 15.55 Session I “Inclusion and integration processes”

16.00 – 16.50 Session II “Participatory processes and new technologies”

17.00 – 17.50 Session III “Cultural models for positive transformation”

17.50 – 18.00 Closing remarks 

*During each session of 50 minutes, 3 cities will present their practices (10 min each) and 20 minutes will be dedicated to Q&A and a debate moderated by the UBC team.

Children and youth’s vulnerability to disasters is expected to increase as the intensity and frequency of natural disasters increases. Building resilience in children and youth and their communities through reducing their vulnerability to disasters is important for every country in the BSR. Children and youth represent a diverse group, in need of protection during disasters/accidents, but they can also play an important role as active contributors in preparing society to respond to disasters and accidents. The seminar will explore synergies between the work of civil protection authorities, educators, NGOs, social services and law enforcement protecting children and their peers working on increasing children/youth active involvement in making societies more resilient and the entire BSR more safe and secure. The seminar will include an interactive session, where audience’s knowledge about children/youth and resilience will be tested and ideas about possible engagement will be collected. Young fire cadets from the Danish Youth Brigades will participate live and tell their stories.

Moderators, speakers and projects involved:

• Moderator: CBSS Secretariat, Olivia Lind Haldorsson, Senior Adviser & Head of Children at Risk Unit at CBSS Secretariat
• ChYResilience project  by CBSS Expert Group on Children at Risk
• Kaspars Vārpiņš (Liepaja Municipal Police, UBC Safe Cities Commission, project “Youth for Safer Youth”)
• Ivars Nakurts (State Fire and Rescue Service of Latvia)

Maria Wiktoria Karolini, Danish Youth Fire Brigades

Organiser – PA Secure