The 12th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region will be hosted in Lithuania this year. It will take place online from 27 September to 1 October. The week-long event will offer participants the opportunity to take part in 40 discussions and seminars. The main topic of the Forum is green recovery, but the full programme of the event is much broader, including a presentation on the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme for 2021-2027, discussions on the culture’s contribution to green transformation, social challenges of COVID-19 faced by youth, role of the EU macroregional strategies in shaping the EU agenda, and more.

Recently, the Baltic Sea Region, like the rest of the world, has been facing a variety of challenges, including climate change, the global pandemic that led to health, social, economic, educational and other challenges. Any country can solve these challenges alone, so it is more important than ever to join forces and pursue our common goals. For this reason, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, Kaunas City, Klaipėda City and the Union of the Baltic Cities are inviting to REVITALISE the Baltic Sea Region Strategy, to RECOVER economic, social, health and other areas after COVID-19 pandemic together and to RECHARGE for a greener, more prosperous and more resilient Baltic Sea Region. The Forum will focus on increasing the involvement of local communities and authorities and young people in cross-border cooperation and the search for solutions to common challenges.

The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is the first EU macroregional strategy that helps countries in the region address their common challenges. It was approved by the European Council in 2009.

The EU Member States participating in the implementation of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region are: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. They are cooperating in finding solutions to reducing pollution in the Baltic Sea, as well as supporting energy innovations, education, culture and many other areas of shared interest.

The Annual Forum is the largest event of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, which takes place annually in a different Member State of the Strategy, bringing together the policy area coordinators, representatives of various organisations and other active members of the civil society.

Read more about the Annual Forum 2021 and register here!