The National Coordinators (NC-group) met on 6 February at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tallinn, Estonia. This was the third NC-group meeting under the Estonian Chair. The NC-group welcomed the new Danish National Coordinator, Mr Morten Skovgaard Hansen.

Future of EUSBSR Communication Strategy

At last meeting, the NC-group suggested that the "Let´s Communicate!" project will lead the process of renewing the EUSBSR Communication Strategy. The NC-group considered that the document should be of more strategic and permanent nature. The “Let’s communicate!” project consortium is willing to function as the core “task force” responsible for the planning and for writing the Communication Strategy.

Preparations for EUSBSR 2018 & 2019 Annual Fora

The Estonian hosts briefed the NC-group about the state-of-play of the preparations for the EUSBSR Annual Forum 2018. The call for seminars had raised high interest with more than 50 received proposals. As this exceeds the capacity, organisers will select 21 seminar proposals. The registration for participants will start in mid-April. 

In the meeting, the EUSBSR Annual Forum 2019 was also discussed. It is planned on 12-13 June and will be organised by the Pomorskie region in Gdánsk, Poland. The envisaged main theme of the Annual Forum 2019 is  "Circular and sharing economy – answer to demographic challenges for the Baltic Sea Region".

Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) ceasing the role of PA Innovation coordinator

The Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) Secretariat informed in the beginning of February that it will not continue as the the coordinator for Policy Area Innovation after July 2018. The NCM has also taken a decision not to continue as manager of the flagship BSR Stars beyond the 31 July 2018. The changing situation and its impacts were discussed and the NC Chair will continue to inform and consult the NC-group about new developments.

New Flagship Approved

A new EUSBSR Flagship Project under the Horizontal Action Climate was approved: “Bioeconomy in the South Baltic Area: Biomass-based Innovation and Green Growth" (BioBIGG). Lead partner is Roskilde University in Denmark. The project is financed by Interreg South Baltic programme and it lasts until 2020.

 

Next NC-group meeting will be taking place during the second half of April. The last meeting during Estonian Chairmanship is planned for 6 June 2018 in Tallinn after the Annual Forum.

 

Read the whole NC-group meeting report here.