Highlights

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.

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.

Engaging young people in the macro-regional discussions should not finish by the end of the EUSBSR Annual Forum. Therefore, on 17 July 2018, the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) Secretariat - one of the key entities involved in the implementation of EUSBSR - promoted further youth involvement, hosting a meeting with members of the Rotary International Summer Camp at its premises in Stockholm.

Despite the progressing age of communities in the Baltic Sea region, needs of the elderly are not being sufficiently addressed by producers of furniture and home equipment. In the project BaltSe@nior, co-financed by Interreg Baltic Sea Region, by developing prototypes of intelligent furniture and upgrading design trends, companies are offered thriving opportunities to develop more suitable products for the elderly. Transnational cooperation that increases the comfort of life of seniors and at the same time fosters a more competitive Europe drew the attention of EU Commissioner Corina Crețu, who recently paid a visit to the project.

Red algae growing in the Baltic Sea are the special feature of facial creams in the Estonian cosmetics line Berrichi. But what’s more, it is the first product developed with the support of the Interreg-funded expert network ALLIANCE. The ALLIANCE is a European cooperation project and a flagship of the EU Strategy of the Baltic Sea Region. It brings together blue biotechnology actors from around the Baltic Sea to create new products and services.