Euroregion Baltic | Interreg South Baltic

The 3rd Seed money call for proposals of the Interreg South Baltic Programme 2014-2020 is open between 13 September and 5 November 2021. The call is open for proposals which are aiming to develop ideas for regular projects to be implemented and financed under the future Interreg South Baltic Programme 2021-2027.

The template of the ISBP 2021-2027 being under public consultation by 15 October 2021 is available here

The applications must be developed under one of the current Interreg South Baltic Programme 2014-2020 specific objectives:

SO 1.1 Increase the presence of blue and green sector SMEs from the South Baltic area in international markets through joint cross-border actions;
SO 1.2 Improve the transfer of innovation for the benefit of blue and green sector SMEs through joint cross-border actions;
SO 2.1 Increased development of the South Baltic area’s natural and cultural heritage assets into sustainable tourist destinations;
SO 2.2 Increased use of green technologies in order to decrease the pollution discharges in the South Baltic area;
SO 3.1 Improve the quality and environmental sustainability of transport services in the South Baltic area
SO 5.1 Improve the cooperation capacity of local South Baltic area actors through participation in cross-border networks.

Interested applicants are invited to access the application documents here

The call closes on 5th November 2021 (Friday), 4:00 p.m. CET.

The Joint Secretariat is organising a webinar with questions and answers session dedicated to the 3rd Seed money call on 23rd September at 1:00 p.m. CET. The registration for the webinar is available here

The GDPR rules for the meeting are here. Please, say YES during the registration if you consent to the rules.

In case of questions, please contact Project Officers at JS, contact details to be found here

The Joint Programming Committee approved a draft of the Interreg South Baltic Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2021-2027. An external contractor prepared a draft report of the Programme Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).
Now, you can HAVE YOUR SAY!

Add your comments until 15th October 2021.

South Baltic programme JS Team is happy to announce that the Joint Programming Committee approved a draft of the Interreg South Baltic Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2021-2027. In parallel, an external contractor prepared a draft report of the Programme Strategic Environmental Assessment.

This means that we are ready to announce the documents and start public consultations. It is time to share your opinion and contribute to the future of the South Baltic Programme.

Use the opportunity to get familiar with the draft documents:

and give your feedback by filling in two separate online questionnaires:

We also encourage you to take a direct and active part in the seminars organised by the Regional Contact Points of the South Baltic Programme. Relevant information will be announced on our website in the “Events“ section as well as on the Programme’s social media platforms Facebook, Linkedin and directly by the Contact Points.

The public consultation process will take 37 days. The deadline for submitting comments is 15 October 2021.

Your feedback is very valuable in developing the new Programme and will be used by the Joint Programming Committee to finalise the programming process.

Best regards

South Baltic Team

More information: https://lnkd.in/gAjagy4U

#PublicConsultations #SouthBaltic #Interreg #JPC #SailingTogether

The event will be a joint discussion of five projects engaged in:

green technologies and environmental protection,
skills and labour development and education services for different target groups
connecting and involving institutions to establish future partnerships

The discussion aims to present and inspire participants on how the cross-border cooperation projects can effectively involve local society, youth, and local authorities in activities for green recovery on different levels. The variety of invited speakers will allow leading the discussion towards many fields and threads. Invited to the discussion are representatives of such projects as WASTEMAN, Baltic for All, Umbrella, ArchaeoBalt and SEAPLANSPACE who will present concrete examples of what they did in the context of local community collaboration and their engagement, as well as the impact of the communities’ activities on the sustainable development of their regions. They will discuss options for cross-border training, and networking – all aiming at a greener future of small regions and establishing partnerships. After this session, participants will be able to identify which option for close partnership is suitable for their organisation, a project, or a cluster and how to engage local society for green recovery and more sustainable regions.

REGISTTER HERE: https://eusbsr2021.eu/

Organiser – Interreg South Baltic Programme 2014-2020

Are you familiar with the SOUTH BALTIC CREATIVE CLUSTER project? Its main objective is to establish cross-border cooperation between creative industries actors and local networks in four different locations around the Baltic Sea. Join us and present yourself in the international virtual arena by filling in the form on the website:

http://creativecluster.mediadizajn.pl/ (there will be a form to register)

As part of this project, we have prepared something interesting for you.

An event you have not seen before.

Submit your team and on June 17th 2021 take part in the “Speed dating with Creative Sectors”. Share your good practices and learn about the secrets of other companies and institutions. The meeting will also allow you to meet new business partners operating in the international zone.

Connect with us and get inspired.

By participating in the event you also take part in the competition, in which you can win two vouchers worth 500 euro for a study visit to the headquarters of a company or institution participating in the meeting or institution participating in the meeting. You also will be part of the European catalogue of creative institutions.

Follow closely our social media. More information coming soon.

Jump into creativity with SOUTH BALTIC CREATIVE CLUSTER project!

Interreg South Baltic Programme seeks to stronger involve local, regional & non-governmental stakeholders as well as academia in the programming process. Euroregion Baltic, a Lead Partner of the ”Umbrella – Boosting cross-border cooperation capacities of local actors in the South Baltic Sea” project decided to become an active part of this process. Between October and December 2020 ERB/Umbrella project organised:

Four thematic focus group workshops

•Blue & green growth

•Energy transition & connectivity

•Sustainable & innovative tourism –and cultural heritage

•Building civil & more inclusive society

Umbrella project final conference on 2.12.2020 with a panel called: South Baltic Programme – Future. Speakers:

Niels Chresten Andersen, Regional Municipality on Bornholm

Introduction of the panel. South Baltic programme 2021-27 – state of art

Dominika Butkiewicz, Head of the Joint Secretariat of South Baltic Programme

Proposed Priority Axes and specific objectives of the next Interreg South Baltic Programme

Anna Drążek, Director of the Pomorskie EU Office in Brussels, ‘Pomorskie in the EU’ Association
Jens Masuch, GA-MA Consulting

Input on the future of the South BalticProgramme given by the Umbrella beneficiaries summary – report

2020-12-02_UMBRELLA_Focus Group_inputs Download

Direct consultations with the representatives of the Council of Non-Governmental Organizations of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (ROPWWM) and request to provide their written feedback

Council of Non-Governmental Organizations of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship comments EN Download

Organisations actively involved in the process – their representatives took part in the 4 thematic focus group workshops:

1. BMUC Innovation & Development, Member of the Offshore Center Bornholm, Denmark

2. Energy Agency for Southeast Sweden, Sweden

3. Municipality of Västervik, Sweden

4. Symbiosis Kalundborg, Denmark

5. Baltic Tech Park, Klaiped, Lithuania

6. Warmia and Masuria University, Centrum Biogospodarki i Energii Odnawialnych (CBEO), Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie, Poland

7. Pomorskie Voivodeship, Economic Development Department, Energy Efficiency office, Poland

8. Baltic Institute for Regional Affairs, Gdynia, Poland

9. Western Ships Agency (legal name in Lithuanian language UAB ,,Vakarų laivų agentai”) , Lithuania

10. Gate 21, NGO, Albertslund, Denmark

11. “Pomorskie in the European Union” Association, Gdańsk, Poland

12. Klaipeda Association of Communities, Lithuania

13. Roskilde University, Denmark

14. Municipality of Kalmar, Sweden

15. Municipality of Guldborgsund, Denmark

16. Kalmar County Museum, Sweden

17. New Competence Center., Gdańsk, Poland

18. Netport Karlshamn , Sweden

19. Rotorwerk, consulting company, Germany

20. European Solidarity Center Gdansk, Poland

21. DIALOG Association, Poland

22. Water Users Partnership Oskarshamn, Sweden

23. Kalmar County Administrative Board, Sweden

24. Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IOPAN), Poland

25. Gdansk Water (Gdanskie Wody sp. z o.o) , Poland

26. Voivodeship Fund for Environmental Protection & Water Management in Olsztyn, Poland

27. Masuria Entrepreneurship Agency, Poland

28. Leibnitz Institute of Farmed Animals Biology, Dummerstorf, Germany

29. Linneus University of Kalmar, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Sweden

30. Region Kalmar County, Sweden

31. Municipality of Karlskrona, Sweden

32. Oskarshamn Municipality, Sweden

33. Bornholms Museum, Denmark

34. Museum Lolland-Falster, Denmark

35. Baltic Sea Cultural Centre, Gdańsk, Poland

36. Tourism Associiation Vorpommern, Germany

37. The Coastal Union Germany (EUCC-D), Germany

38. University of Gdańsk, Poland

39. CSE Światowid, Elbląg, Poland

40. CittaSlow cities, Olsztyn, Poland

41. Pomorskie Tourism Board, Gdańsk, Poland

Joint Secretariat of the Interreg South Baltic Programme has released information about the current state-of-the-art in programming the Interreg SBP for the years 2021-2027. You can read it below on go directly to the Interreg SBP website: https://southbaltic.eu/interreg-south-baltic-2021-2027

Euroregion Baltic is directly involved in the works on the new Programme for 2021-2027 being an active member of the Joint Programming Committee, members of two SWokring Groups for the new Programme, as we as leading the Join Delegation of Euroregions in the Programme Monitoring Committee.

The Joint Programming Committee (JPC) was established and the 1st meeting took place on 4th February 2020, during the meeting, the JPC Rules of Procedure, as well as Terms of Reference for the socio-economic analisys, were adopted. In the following months, the public procurement procedure was carried out and the best offer was selected. Contract with the PWC Advisory was signed on 18th June 2020.

During the second meeting of the JPC held on 22nd of June 2020, PWC Advisory presented the methodological report and the first results of the study. The cooperation with the Contractor was divided into two stages:

In the first stage, Contractor was obliged to conduct socio-economic analysis, SWOT/TOWS analysis and Problems and Objectives Tree (POT). The socio-economic analysis, SWOT and POT stage ended on 8 October 2020 and it was a starting point for further discussions and decisions on Programme Strategy, Priorities and Specific Objectives;
In the second stage on the basis of the conducted research, surveys and workshops with JPC, MA, JS, public stakeholders etc. (held in the Summer) as well as requirements and requests submitted during the 3rd JPC meeting (10th September 2020), Contractor prepared a proposal of the Programme Strategy, Priority Axes and Specific Objectives, covering:

In the Programme Strategy

– characteristics of the eligible area;

– most important common challenges;

– characteristics of the basic social, economic and territorial differences occurring in the CP area.

In the Programme Priorities and Specific Objectives

– justification of the choice;

– related types of actions and their expected contribution;

– indicative percentage breakdown of funds by category of intervention;

– first proposal of the output indicators and result indicators selected from the common list;

– the main target groups.

The first proposal of the Strategy and Programme Priorities was delivered on 20 October 2020 by the PWC Advisory. Working Group 1 was established by the JPC (20 October 2020) and started work jointly with the Contractor on Programme Strategy and Priorities. During the 4th JPC meeting organised on 3-4 November, 2020 first draft of the Strategy was presented.

The next step was the establishment (19 November 2020) of the Working Group 2 for the implementation arrangements of the future Programme. Afterwards, the second draft of the Strategy and Programme Priorities incorporating the results of the WG1 discussions was developed on 30 November 2020.

Currently, work is focused on the joint elaboration of contribution to Programme Document according to the template for Interreg Programmes as stated in the draft of Interreg regulation:

Programme strategy: main development challenges and policy responses etc.;
Priorities, covering: specific objectives, types of actions, indicators, main target groups etc.;
Financing plan (incl. ERDF and national co-financing);
Implementing provisions (Programme Authorities, liabilities of Member States );
Use of simplified costs options.

During the 5th JPC meeting planned for 12th January 2021, the final draft of the Strategy, Priorities and Specific Objectives should be adopted. In the next steps planned for I – II Quarter of 2021, the process of drafting of the Cooperation Programme document as well as Strategic Environmental Assessment will begin.

The Joint Secretariat of the Interreg South Baltic Programme encourages all stakeholdrs to take part in the public consultations of these documents. Information will appear on the programme website in due course.

The past year was the final and firmly the busiest year for the Interreg South Baltic Interconnect project which started in June 2017. 2020 began with some great news from one of the project partners, Innobaltica (Poland), who announced an open tender for the implementation of FALA – integrated ticket for the Pomorskie Region – a charges collecting system for transportation in collective passenger transport and a consistent passenger information system, standard for both coordinators and carriers.

On February 17th the Interconnect project was presented on a hearing regarding the revision of the TEN-T regulation held by Ministry of Infrastructure in Sweden. During the conference, the Interconnect project Manager Mr Mattias Andersson, representing Region Blekinge, had an opportunity to emphasise the importance of cross-border public transport. The collaboration between Blekinge and Pomorskie Region in the Interconnect project was set as a good example where regions collaborate with private players, in this case, Stena Line, to find new ticket solutions.

In March 2020, the South Baltic success story series, developed within ERB’s Umbrella project, noted the Interconnect project as an example of Interreg South Baltic Programme success story, offering an understanding of the best practices and the success of the project’s results and outcomes.

On March 11th 2020, a first partnership meeting was held in Karlskrona, Sweden. Due to the travel restrictions following the Covid -19 pandemic, only ten persons participated in Region Blekinge office, and two persons experienced online. During this meeting, partners discussed the multigovernance co-operation model for public transport in the South Baltic area, the main outputs of the project, and the project’s final conference details. The partnership has submitted a request for changes where additional activities were mentioned and a prolongation of the implementation period of 6 months until the end of November 2020. Furthermore, a decision was made to postpone the final conference to preliminary October 1st 2020, instead of May 7^th and most likely to hold it online.

At the turn of March and April 2020, Joint Secretariat agreed on the project’s prolongation by six months while Monitoring Committee approved all requests for changes.

With the begging of June, The Hanseatic Institute for Entrepreneurship and Regional Development at the University of Rostock (HIE-RO) announced it is about to deliver an Indicator-based self-evaluation tool in Excel for public transport planners within the task 4.2 “Implementing a multi-stakeholder planning model for public transport services”. The tool’s main objective is to develop an easy-to-use self-evaluation (or monitoring) indicator tool in Excel that can be used by public transport planners to evaluate the performance of the local and regional (public) transport system.

Between 13th and 26th of July, a joint Danish-German exhibition called “ekspeditioNORD” took place, as part of the German-Danish year of cultural friendship. The event was co-financed by the Interconnect project on the principle of supporting co-operation and cross – border interconnections between local governments and public administrations and civil societies with a specific focus on educational institutions and schools, culture and tourism organisations and business co-operations.

In August Mr Mattias Andersson, Interconnect Project leader was invited by Mukran Port in Germany to participate in ‘South Baltic Transport Loops’ project partnership meeting, where he had a chance to speak about the findings the Interconnect project and discuss the cross-project exchange.

In August, the Polish Ministry of Development Fund and Regional Policy has chosen the Interconnect Project to be promoted as one of the best projects of Interreg South Baltic Programme 2014-2020. Therefore, a photo session was organised to present the main goals and achievements of Interconnect Project. The photo session results were presented in December 2020 in a publication on “15 years of Interreg programs in Poland”.

Summer period ended up with information that the first Interconnect scientific paper on ‘PT Data for multi-stakeholder planning and monitoring excel tool for public transport services’ was accepted for publication at the CSTFM-conference in Madrid October 2020. The paper resulted from WP 3.5 and related to a process and solutions for sustainable cross-border and regional public transport.

With the beginning of September, intensive preparations for the upcoming Final Conference started. The invitation and conference agenda sent to more than 300 people and an intensive promoting campaign in social media began.

On September 8th, Mr Mattias Andersson attended the ERB Executive Board meeting. He presented the idea of establishing a new task force within ERB, concentrated on sustainable transport issues and related to the Interconnect project’s outputs.

On September 17th, the Project partner Mr Frede Danborg from Guldborgsund Kommune was invited to become one of the pannelists during the Interreg South Baltic Programme’s Annual Event celebrating 30 years of Interreg South Baltic. Mr Danborg had a chance to present the Interconnect project, its objectives and challenges throughout projects lifetime, and opportunities it has created to impact public transport in small Baltic Sea regions.

On October 1st 2020, the Interconnect Final Conference titled ‘Future of Public Transport – Trends, Tools, Governance’ was held online via Hop.in the platform. Nearly 100 participants from 14 countries joined the conference to take part in many valuable lectures on sustainable transport, cross-border passenger transport and new solutions in public transport given by experts from EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, The Hanseatic Institute for Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Innobaltica, Blekinge Institute of Technology and Interreg South Baltic. The participants also had a chance to hear panellists from ESPON Programme, Interact Programme, Region Blekinge and Euroregion Baltic discussing and exchanging experience on various multilevel governance options.

In November, as a result of several workshops and discussions among project partners and experts in the transport sector, a Catalogue of Solutions for Sustainable Cross-Border and Regional Public Transport was finally developed and published on the project website.

The publication was shortly followed by the Interconnect Final Report on Guidelines on multilevel governance for Public Transport in the South Baltic Area published on November 25th 2020.

On November 30th 2020, partners from Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, and Viimsi Municipality in Estonia met for the last time, to sum up, the Interconnect project results. After 42 months of an exciting and fruitful co-operation, the Interconnect project partners from 6 EU countries met for the last time to finalise their work results achieved within the project. During the final meeting, the project partners had a chance, to sum up, their previous work & results within the project and share their experience and ideas for further co-operation. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the meeting was held online. All the partners expressed their hopes to continue cooperating to support the development of sustainable public transport, mobility and connectivity in South Baltic Area.

Finally on December 3rd 2020 during the final ERB Executive Board meeting in 2020 the Board members all agreed to establish another task force in the Euroregion Baltic – Mobility Core Group, which will consist of partners from the Interconnect project, as well as contact persons and experts from the ERB member organisations.

Below you can find all 7 Umbrella promo video clips summarising the project that we prepared for the final conference. We asked our project beneficiaries and Umbrella partners to give their comments on the activities and outcomes of our project. Enjoy!

The Umbrella project was meant to be exactly that – an umbrella to gather other projects and a way to connect people through cross-border projects. It was aimed at newcomers who had not yet been involved in projects in the South Baltic Programme. These included small local and regional organisations with an interest in developing a South Baltic identity.
Stakeholders were invited to participate in national training courses in project management and offered tailor-made solutions to help build capacity. Different initiatives and micro-activities such as “meet your- neighbour” has helped break down barriers and spread the concepts and values of cross-border cooperation.

A cross-border project to inspire more cross-border cooperation The overall purpose of this project was to enlighten people that cooperation is important for geographic, economic, and social cohesion and that approaching the field of EU grants and projects can be an advantage in local development policies. A gradual process with great potential This development is not without obstacles, and capacity building should not be seen as a goal in itself, but rather as a process. To build a house you need to lay brick by brick, starting from the foundation. That is why the Umbrella project was introduced with awareness-raising events to say: “Hey you! Change is just around the corner! Go out and see what is going on in the region you live in.”

And for those who were already aware of the great potential of the Baltic Sea Region, well, knowledge can always be increased. We have been looking forward to introducing you to the benefits of cross-border cooperation in the South Baltic Sea region. These 12 Interreg South Baltic projects are here to motivate and to inspire – and we are pleased to include our own achievements – and tips & tips on how to be part of the Interreg South Baltic family.

This is our Success Story Book
To inspire. To encourage. To bring the action!

Download full publication here: The Benefits of Cross-Border Cooperation

WHAT: Please register for the CTCC Final Conference – Final Digital Workshop within the EU Interreg Project CTCC – Creative Traditional Companies Cooperation part-financed within the Interreg South Baltic Programme 2014-2020. The project gathers together multi-level policy actors from academia & research, creative and traditional businesses, policymakers, intermediaries that work together since 15th July 2017 towards improving creativity and design-driven innovation capacity in – SMEs – as the backbone of our regional, national and EU economy, which enable sustainable and customer-driven growth and shared value creation and capturing opportunities.

WHEN: Tuesday, 12th January 2021 von 09:00 UTC+01 bis 12:00 UTC+01

WHERE: ONLINE, the link will be sent to registered participants only.

HOW: Precondition to take part: stable Internet connection and any device needed, like smart phone, laptop.

WHY: To learn best practices from the South Baltic Sea Region on traditional industry SMEs innovation driven by cross-sectoral collaboration with Creative Industries and cross-innovation. By showing tangible results – innovation prototypes developed for traditional sector SMEs – the CTCC project envisages avenues and possibilities for SMEs to contribute to the so-called Blue & Green Growth in the region and in the EU as well as to facilitate regional development through increased innovation capacity of all participating companies, interdisciplinary learning and multi-cultural experience sharing across borders, disciplines and cultures.

WHO: Everybody is welcome who feels that creativity and creative skills are the next competitive wave and sustainable future driving forces.

Register using this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeVCw8QAIKdqsvCtFqHTDrxfFHcd7NYcJcHgdFKHtwpdzkUPQ/formResponse

Seed Money project possibilities by Interreg South Baltic Programme!