The National Coordinators (NC-group) of the EU Strategy fro the Baltic Sea Region met on the 28th November at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tallinn, Estonia. This was the second NC-group meeting of the Estonian Chair and the final one during the Estonian EU Council Presidency period.

EUSBSR communications

Several communications matters were discussed in the NC-meeting. Firstly, it was decided that the EUSBSR communication strategy should be updated. The EUSBSR communication project "Let's communicate!" is prepared to lead the work regarding this process.

Secondly, the funding of the EUSBSR communications was discussed: there will be another call in Interreg Baltic Sea Region to support the communications of the EUSBSR. However, it was agreed that the current solution (project funding) lacks long term stability.

Thirdly, "Let's communicate!" project launched a communication tool kit platform to the NCs. The tool kit is a "one-stop-shop" for those communicating the EUSBSR providing material, tools and tips for better communications. During the spring the platform will be open to all key stakeholders of the EUSBSR (NCs, PACs, HACs and Flagships).

Preparations of the 9th Annual Forum

Six months to go until the next EUSBSR Annual Forum in Tallinn, Estonia! The preliminary programme is now published at the Annual Forum section. There will be a call for seminars open during 3-31 January 2018 and it will be published at the EUSBSR website. 

Study on macro-regional strategies

The comprehensive study about EU macro-regional strategies and their links to cohesion policy (contracted by Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy and conducted by a consortium led by COWI company) was discussed in the NC-meeting. It was agreed that even if the EUSBSR Policy Areas are at slightly different phases of development, the Strategy as a whole shows positive progress. The NC-group widely supported the main conclusions and proposals of the report. 

Five new Flagships approved!

The NC-group supported five new EUSBSR Flagships!

  1. RDI2CluB (Rural research, development and innovation milieus in transition towards smart bioeconomy clusters and innovation ecosystems) under Policy Area Bioeconomy;
  2. BONUS BLUEWEBS under Policy Area Bioeconomy;
  3. BSR Digi co-lab: Transitional Digital Collaboration in the Baltic Sea Region (with 2 sub-projects) under Policy Area Innovation;
  4. HAZBREF (Hazardous industrial chemicals in the EID BREFS) under Policy Area Hazards;
  5. INTERCONNECT (Better public transport services for regional and cross-border travels in the South Baltic area) under Policy Area Transport.

The Flagships are already included in the Annex of the EUSBSR Action Plan, where all ongoing and completed Flagships are listed. More about the newly adopted Flagships will soon follow in the EUSBSR blog!

 NC group in Tallinn November 2017

The EUSBSR NC-group and the cooperation partners were photographed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tallinn, Estonia. 

Read the whole NC-group meeting report here.