EU projects produce lots of positive results to the region and to the people living in the region. However, it is not only the results that we benefit from but equally being part of producing them can be as rewarding or more.

8 millimeters each year. About this much the land rises in the Kvarken Archipelago/High Coast area, located both in coastal Finland and Sweden in the very top of the Baltic Sea. The uniqueness of this area has also led to a UNESCO World Heritage Site status. 

All four EU macro-regional strategies gathered in Izola, Slovenia on 19 September for a communication workshop to learn how to communicate macro-regions in an efficient way.

The 27th BSSSC Annual Conference in Klaipeda will tackle several important issues underlined by the EUSBSR. It’s going to be a vital meeting of representatives from central, local and regional governments, NGOs and academia.

Let’s face it. The EUSBSR is hard to communicate. In general terms, yes, but perhaps especially to outsiders such as youth. The strategy is volatile, intangible and hard to measure. Therefore, it is hard to sell. The Baltic Youth Camp 2019 will try the mission impossible: Not only explaining it to youth – but also activating them in the strategy.

The period of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) promotion campaign (marked with #EUSBSRBetterTogether) has been an exciting time for Baltic TRAM, a project which is part of the Baltic Science Link flagship of the Policy Area Innovation.

Made of Courage is a short video series produced by the PA Bioeconomy. The series consists of five videos telling stories of people driving the development of the bioeconomy in the Baltic Sea Region. It celebrates entrepreneurial spirit, disruptive innovation and those who challenge the use of fossil and artificial resources by creating viable options that already work.

So far, four EU macro-regional strategies have been adopted. They cover different parts of Europe, but they are all based on the same principles and ideas, and often deal with similar problems and challenges. Thus, exchange across the regions is important and fruitful, as the two workshops “Message in a bottle: communication across macro-regional strategies” and a joint kick-off meeting to promote the role of social policies in the macro-regional context prove. The workshops were organised in September by Interact Programme.

The youth is important. The youth is our future. The youth wants to be heard. And involved. These statements are common slogans at various International forums and macro-regional gatherings. But often they are not more than that.

Routes4U project organized its first meeting for the EUSBSR in Oslo, Norway on September 6-7 2018. The meeting gathered together actors from almost all of the Baltic Sea region countries, and based on the discussions was an appreciated and much needed opportunity to exchange ideas and share experiences.