BalticBaltic CitiesCities Z INN LSINKI EnvironmentalEnvironmental bulletinbulletin NoNo 2,2, 20002000 •KEMI•KIEL•KLAIPEDA•KØGE KARDLA •LOMONOSOV•LÜBECK•LEBA•MALBORK•MALMÖ• •VÄSTERVIK•VÄSTERÅS•VÄXJÖ••YSTAD VORU LINKOPING

•TURKU•UMEÅ•UPPSALA•VAASA•VILJANDI•VILNIUS••VORDINBORG• UBCUBC AgendaAgenda 2121 ProceedingProceeding TUKUMS

•NACKA••NAESTVED•NORRKÖPING•NORRTÄLJE•NYKØBINGF•NYKÖPING•OSKARSHAMN•OXELÖSUND•PALANGA•PANEVEZYS•PÄRNU•PETERHOF•PORI•PRUSZC GenderGender EqualityEquality Up-dateUp-date U N I O F T H E B A L C S MARIJAMPOLE BicycleBicycle pilots,pilots, StreetStreet train,train, BEIDS,BEIDS, AALBORG•AARHUS•BALTIJSK••BÜTZOW•CESIS•CHOJNICE•COPENHAGEN•ELBLAG•ELVA•ESPOO•GDANSK•GDYNIA•GÖTEBORG•••HE •HORSENS•JEKABPILS•JELGAVA•JOHVI•JURMALA••KALMAR•KARLSHAMN•KARLSKRONA•KARLSTAD••• •KOLDING•KOSZALIN••KRISTIANSTAD•KRONSHTADT••KÄRDLA•LAHTI•LANDSKRONA•LIEPAJA• MARIEHAMN• GDANSKI•REDA•REZEKNE•RIGA••SESTRORETSK•SIAULIAI•SILKEBORG•SILLAMÄE•SOPOT••ST.PETERSBURG•SUNDSVALL•SZCZECIN•TALL •TAMPERE••TONSBERG• WaterWater management,management, RiverRiver Dane...Dane... Baltic Cities Environmental Bulletin

EDITOR Dear UBC Friends, Risto Veivo my city, the city of Klaipeda, is just finalising Municipal Environmental Auditing (MEA). It LAYOUT took us a lot of work to carry out the process, but I believe that the results are worth it. Sari Bowie We now have solid information of the envi- EDITORIAL ASSISTANT ronmental performance of our city, and pro- Sanna Salminen posals for improvements given by external ex- perts. These recommendations will hopefully be useful for us when we plan further develop- EDITORIAL BOARD ment and prioritise environmental investments. Irja Alakivi, Tartu The external experts, who evaluated the MEA information and gave the Guldbrand Skjönberg, Nacka recommendations, came from the UBC, ECAT-Lithuania and our twin city Ralf Giercke, Lübeck Kotka. I would like to warmly Thank these partners and also the Nordic Mikko Jokinen, Turku Minister Council which co-funded the project. Carl Nielsen, Aarhus The voluntary expert work provided by our friends from Kotka was invalu- Zita Tverkute, Panevezys able. This is probably one of the best examples of how twin cities can do Pawel Zaboklicki, Gdansk beneficial work together! I know that many other UBC cities will soon start * MEA, and on behalf of my city I promise that we will do our best to help PUBLISHER them with our experience. Union of the Baltic Cities As the Vice President of the Union, I also had this year the pleasure to Commission on Environment participate in the Pan-European Sustainable Cities Conference in Hanover Linnankatu 61 as one of the plenary speakers. In my speech I brought up the points of view of CEE cities and emphasised the benefits of local Agenda 21 process- FIN-20100 Turku es. Among the 1500 participants were also many of you. I do believe that by engaging our cities in European co-operation we can together share and www.ubc.net utilise experiences of the whole continent. European integration has many effects on cities, and cities must also have influence on its development. Tel. +358 2 230 2030 Fax. +358 2 253 8613 The co-operation of the UBC with the European Sustainable Cities and E-mail. [email protected] Campaign has been very beneficial so far, and I am happy that a ISSN 1455-0903 larger co-operation forum has been created this year for European networks on the initiative of the five networks currently co-ordinating the Campaign. * As our organisation is explicitly committed to advancing sustainable devel- PRINTING HOUSE opment by both its Strategy and Local Agenda 21 Action Program, and Newprint Ltd. more than 70% of our members are working on local Agenda 21, we have good reasons to be involved in developing the Campaign. Finland I wish all of you Bon Courage with your undertakings also for next year. Cover Picture: Many positive developments are taking place in our region. It is the duty and the pleasure of the UBC to be part of the development of the Baltic Sea Matti Valta, Turku Region - and to contribute to making it sustainable.

Dr. Eugenijus Gentvilas Printed on 100% recycled paper UBC Vice President, Mayor of Klaipeda C o n t e n t s

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Best City Practices Cleaning of River Dane 7 Project Old transformer house - new home for 17 little animals / Bützow Vital Vaasa Project European Platform for 8 Urban Sustainability Bicycle Pilots and Ambas- Local Authorities’ Self Baltic Roundtable on 12 sadors in Växjö 18 Assesment of Local Local Environmental Agenda Policy Bicycle Routes in Kaunas How to Make a BASE 21 First Fully Pan-European Successfull Environ- 9 13 Car Free Day mental Project? European Partner Search Sweden’s First Street Train Water Management in on Road 19 NEWS IN BRIEF 10 Gdansk Prepairing Lithuanian Environmental Confer- EVENT CALENDAR 14 Municipalities for EU 11 ence in Kaunas 20 Accession Public Opinions Sur- A Baltic Sea Centre for veyed in Sustainable Development Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC)...... is a network consisting of 99 cities from 10 differ- The UBC initiates and co-ordinates projects involv- ent countries in the Baltic Sea Region. The UBC was ing its members and promotes the exchange of founded in September 1991 to develop co-operation know-how and experiences amongst the cities by and exchange of experiences amongst its member cit- organizing courses, seminars and meetings, as well ies. The main goal of the Union is to contribute to as publishing newsletters. democratic, social, economic and environmentally friendly development in the Baltic Sea Region. The UBC is led by an Executive Board and the Sec- retariat is located in Gdansk, Poland. The actual The UBC is open to all cities willing to join it. Today work is carried out by nine commissions in the fol- the member cities range from charming small towns lowing fields: business co-operation, culture, edu- to big cities such as St Petersburg, Stockholm and Co- cation, environment, social affairs, sport, tourism, penhagen. In spite of the differences in size, language, transportation and urban planning. location, economy, etc., the interest towards local level co-operation unites each of them. Please contact us for further information! UBC Agenda 21 Action Program Proceeding U During the first year Several of the planned activities and European level. B projects of the program have been im- C (2000-2002) of imple- plemented or are currently going on. At the moment it seems very likely mentation, several ac- The LA21 and Gender Equality, and that the whole Action Program will A tivities, projects and SAIL projects were finalised, several be succesfully implemented during g MEAs have been completed, BCP and the planned three-year period. In ad- meetings have been SUFA projects have been started, Sus- dition to active cities, this is possible e carried out. Participa- tainable Harbour Policy, Sustainable thanks to our good partner organisa- n Demonstration Areas, and Life After tions, and also the co-funders of our d tion from member cit- 2021 projects have currently either activities, like the European Commis- a ies has been great, and been started or are very far in the plan- sion and Nordic Minister Council, ning phase. Together these projects and national ministries and institu- 2 several UBC bodies touch a large number of people and tions. The first part of this bulletin is 1 have contributed. The really have a considerable effect on dedicated to reporting the activities leading role of several sustainability in our region. of the Program. A c member cities, as During 2000, The UBC Local Agen- The UBC LA 21 Action Program t hosts and organisers da 21 Working Group has had two 2000-2002 was adopted by the Gen- i meetings, where app. 110 people par- eral Conference 1999. The UBC of meetings as well as ticipated. The UBC has also been ac- Board will update the Program next o project co-ordinators, tively involved in sustainable devel- time in its meeting in Cesis 17-18 n opment policies and co-operation - March, and the next LA21 Working has been invaluable. both in the Baltic Sea Region and on Group meeting will also be in March. P r o g r Latvian Cities for MEA Gender Equality in Local Agenda 21 a By Risto Veivo By Hjördis Höglund m After the pioneering cities , Pär- The EU-project, Gender The 3R method nu, Panevezys, Klaipeda, Marijampole, P Ignalina and Trakai, now also cities of Equality in Local Agenda We have used a special method, named r Liepaja and Jelgava have expressed their 3R, for our work. The R:s stand for Rep- interest to implement Municipal Environ- 21, is now finished and resentation, Resources and Realia. We o have started to analyse the decision-mak- c mental Auditing according to the UBC we are summarising our MEA Model. ing groups, both politicians, managers e results. In the three par- and officials. How many women and how The representatives of cities actively took many men? Who is the chairperson? A e ticipating cities, Lahti, d the matter up during the recent UBC LA woman or a man? Are the head manager, 21 Working Group Meeting in Bützow, Lübeck and Sundsvall, we the officials in the working -and steering i Germany. Also the Latvian city of Jeka- groups, and so on, women or men? It’s n bils has expressed its interest towards have studied how the questions about the first R, Representa- g conducting MEA. women, compared with tion. These new MEAs in Latvia are prelimi- The basis of our project work is, that narily planned to be started during 2001. the men, are influencing women and men are living different dai- The cities involved and the UBC Env- the local Agenda 21 ly lives, and have different experiences, Com are currently investigating funding needs and demands of the society. In their possibilities. One important success fac- work. We have tried to roles as politicians and experts they are tor in MEAs is also involvement of part- find out where it’s visible then taking decisions and making pro- ner cities which can offer external experts posals for solutions from their own per- for evaluation. All cities interested in such that women’s experiences sonal experiences of the society as wom- a role are most warmly welcomed to con- en and men. We have for many years dis- tact the UBC EnvCom. have changed the results, cussed the need of gender equal repre- The intention with MEA is to offer a fea- or could have changed sentation in the politics, but it is neces- sible tool for city management and envi- them, if gender analysis sary also to look at the persons making ronmental experts to analyse the current the practical work around, managers, of- state of local environment and the envi- had been done before the ficials, and other experts. They are also ronmental performance of the city, as decisions. women and men, making priorities from well as evaluate the environmental man- their personal experiences. agement. 4 BCB Environment 2/00 Analyse of the results disabled, whereas men handle other pub- marginal, women as well as men should lic transport matters, including traffic be represented in all groups. However, We have to analyse the results, how they planning. Women also use public trans- this is not enough if we do not have the are affecting the women and men in the port to a larger extent than men do. Men, relevant knowledge and understanding of society. It is the third R, Realia. We could on the other hand, make decisions and the different life conditions which men also say Reality, but with Realia we mean plans. Studies of travelling patterns show, and women still have. a bit more, we are also including values that women often travel several short dis- and norms shown in the work. tances connected in a chain, whereas men We mean that all proposals should in- U more often travel to only one single des- clude an analyses of how they affect B We have found, that the second R, Re- tination. conditions for women and men respec- C sources, are rather difficult to find out tively. when making the analyse afterwards. The The results of surveys of travelling pat- most effective way is to make this when A terns, in combination with the knowledge The Inner Harbour in g starting a project or other work. To no- of chain travelling from many studies, tice in the planning processes and deci- point to the fact that women’s needs for Sundsvall e sions, how the resources in form of mon- public transport are different from men’s In the case study on the Inner Harbour, n ey, space, and time, are allocated be- needs. It is rare, however, that the gen- we have gone through the planning dur- d tween women and men. der differences are visible in the results. ing the latest decade. In 1997, and even a 1999, the residents of Sundsvall Case studies , were given the opportunity to 2 In Sundsvall we have, within the express their opinions regard- project, made four case studies, fo- ing the harbour area. 1 cused on issues of current interest in the city: waste management, By looking at the statistics from A development of the Inner Har- a gender perspective it is pos- c bour, public transport, and the or- sible to see that women and men have the same preferences t ganisation of the labour market is- i sues. In this article you will find a in many issues, but that wom- short description of the two of en are more explicit and clear. o them. The women much more clear- n ly position themselves for or against. P In the next issue of the Environ- r mental bulletin you will read about In June 2000, a programme for studies also from the other two a detailed plan for the Inner o participating cities. harbour was presented. The in- g tention is to meet the demands r of the public opinion. Our a Public transport in project has found that the pro- Sundsvall gramme proposal has not con- m Our report describes how public sidered the wishes and requests transport is organised in Sunds- of the residents enough, above P vall, and how it’s regulated. We all, not the requests of the r have also analysed where the women and the 3R method, o Ms Hjördis Höglund representing Gender Equality up-date at the UBC women and men are acting in this that could have been a valua- c LA21 meeting 14 October in Bützow, Germany. ble tool in this analysis. work e Between 1995 and 1999 Sundsvall City The 3R analyses shows that the MOPS Throughout the years, we have studied e Council implemented a project called project was dominated by men, and that the whole 1990s, the planning of the In- d MOPS, Model Neighbourhood Project. little attention was paid to the fact that ner Harbour has been handled by groups i The objective of the project was to in- men’s and women’s travelling patterns are and committees dominated by men. Very n crease the travelling by public transport different. For the customers who are few women have been able to influence g among the citizens. The MOPS project mainly women, it can be observed that the work. All the consultants and the ar- was organised in three groups: a manage- their travelling needs are only partly re- chitects have been men. When all these ment, a reference and an executive group. flected in the planning of the activities. groups consist of almost only men there Together in these groups there were 21 is a risk that men’s values and standards men and 2 women. 18 consultants were The traffic diversion in 1996, which have the greatest impact. engaged in the work, 14 men and 4 wom- meant bus traffic at 10-minute intervals en. during rush hours, was planned with the travelling patterns of a full-time employ- Further information: In the same way we have looked at all ee. We know that about 40% of the wom- Ms. Hjördis Höglund the different groups working within this en on the labour market are working part Tel/fax: +46 60 122241 field. Women are consistently underrep- time! E-mail: resented. This could be due to the fact [email protected] that public transport is seen as a techni- The MOPS project is an example of how cal traffic issue. On the administrative results and conclusions are affected when level, there is a division of duties so that the gender perspective is not taken into women deal with matters related with consideration. To prevent women to be transportation services for the old and the

BCB Environment 2/00 5 UBC Agenda 21 Event in Bützow LA 21 Training in By Risto Veivo U Women’s Network has brought good re- B The UBC Agenda 21 SUFA Project sults, the Lifestyle 2021 Project co-ordi- C Event took place in Büt- nated by Gotland is proceeding, and the By Risto Veivo zow, Germany, 12-14 SUFA, BCP, and MEA projects co-ordi- After the Baltic Roundta- A nated by the EnvCom are going on well October. Altogether too. Currently, the UBC LA 21 Action ble on Local Environmen- g Program comprises seven active projects e about 50 people took and ten developed project and/or activi- tal Policy, the SUFA n part, representing member ty ideas. Project is now organising d a Training Course for a cities in almost every BSR As one outcome of the workshops, the Latvian cities of Jelgava and Liepaja an- Local Agenda 21 Co- country. The little city of nounced their willingness to conduct 2 Bützow (9000 inhabit- MEA in near future. A very interesting ordinators and experts 1 outcome was also the result from the ants) was an excellent Gender Equality workshop that evalua- from the Baltic States and A host and the event was tion of representation, allocation of re- Poland. The altogether c sponsibilities and resources, as well as very well organised. expected results of each new project 20 participants will meet t should be avaluated from the Gender each other in the first i The first part of the event was the Best point of view. The group also created a o City Practices (BCP) Workshop on very feasible brief set of questions for this training workshop in Kau- n Thursday the 12th. Twelve good prac- purpose, and this set was immediately put nas, Lithuania, 22-25 tices were presented and city couples to use in the BCP Project. In fact, all the P formed for benchmarking activities on six workshops made good results, and November, and after Kau- these good practices. This workshop was more information on these can be ob- r the first one in series of three workshops tained from the meeting memorandum, nas two more workshops o which will be organised within the BCP which is available for all interested from will follow in 2001. g Project 2000-2001 (read more in the sto- the UBC Commission on Environment In between the workshops, the partici- r ry on BCP). Secretariat. pants and the training course facilitator a Barbara Anton from the project partner The youth networking for sustainable m On Friday the 13th, the day was started ICLEI will be continuously in touch with by official opening and welcome by the development, carried out in practice by each other via www to share problems Vice Mayor of Bützow, Ms. Gabriele the Youth Concerning Sustainable Future and solutions. The intention is to plan P Behning, and this was followed by a pres- (YCSF) Network, was also one of the the training on the basis of the needs of r entation and an excursion of the Local topics at the event. It is also one of the the participants and their home cities, and o Agenda 21 activities of the city. The pres- activities mentioned in the UBC LA 21 this demands, in addition to continuous c entation was given and the excursion Action Program, and the activists of the communication, remarkable activity from planned by Dr. Mathias Alsleben, who YCSF have been very actively involved the participants. e also co-ordinated the whole event in the in the work on the action program. In e city. Among other things, the partici- Bützow, one of the workshops was spe- During 2001, also three publications on d pants got to know where bats live in Büt- cially devoted to this topic. Local Agenda 21 will be made by the i zow (former electricity transformer “ren- UBC. These will provide information on n ovated” for little animals) and how play- Saturday afternoon, 14th, part of the par- the Human Resources available for LA 21 ticipants left by bus back to their cities g grounds are planned by kids - the users. training and development in the target in the Baltic States, and the rest of the countries, as well as information on good During Friday afternoon and Saturday, group visited “Eurawasser” Waste Water practices and on the reasons that make the UBC Local Agenda 21 Working Treatment Plant in Rostock. The spirit them so good. A fair part of this infor- group had its meeting which concentrat- of the whole event was very good. The mation will be based on research made ed on the implementation and develop- Local Agenda 21 work of the UBC made within the project by Åbo Akademi Uni- ment of the UBC Local Agenda 21 Ac- good progress in Bützow, and it is also versity. tion Program 2000-2002. On-going quite likely that this active little city will projects of the program were presented continue to be a bright spot on the UBC The SUFA Project (Success Factors on and the development of these projects as map. Local Environmental Policy for Local well as brainstorming for new projects Agenda 21 Activities and EU Enlarge- and activities was carried out in six work- ment in the Baltic Sea Region) has re- shops. Further information: Mr Risto Veivo UBC /EnvCom ceived co-funding from the European Union and the Finnish Ministry of the The City of Lübeck has made good Tel:+358-2-230 2030 E-mail:[email protected] Environment. More information on the progress with the Sustainable Harbour project can be obtained from the UBC Policy Project, the Gender Equality and Commission on Environment Secretari- LA 21 Project so-ordinated by the UBC at, as well as from UBC website.

6 BCB Environment 2/00 vironmental Award 1999, were present- ed. In addition, the Air Quality Moni- toring assurance system of Turku was in- troduced. The city coupling started after Best City Practices Project the presentations. By Sanna Salminen it gives positive image of the city. Also Best City Practices (BCP) The presentations of the good practices U the new contacts and exchange of expe- were accompanied on Friday by the good B riences are valuable for the participants. Project is based on fifteen practice of the host city, Bützow. After C the presentation there was an excursion good practices that took The BCP-project is a two-year project, in the city, to show some of the sub- which is realised during the years 2000- A part in the Best Environ- projects of Bützow LA 21. The places 2001. It is co-funded by Nordic Council seen, were for example mud trap in river g mental Practice in Baltic of Ministers. This project is part of UBC Warnow, traffic lights installed of request e LA 21 Action Program and Baltic 21 JO4. Cities Award 1999. of local pupils, old transformer house, n The project is realised between chosen which was changed to the home of small UBC member cities and it is co-ordinat- d These practices were also animals, and also some historical sight- ed by UBC Commission on Environment a seeing of Bützow were along the way. presented in the first Secretariat. 2 workshop, in Bützow, Results of the workshop BCP’s first workshop 1 Germany, 12 October The first workshop was successful: all set On 12th October the first workshop in tasks were done and city coupling start- 2000. Cities started to the Best City Practices Project took place ed well. By 10th Nov there were several A in Bützow, Germany. The aims were to form couples for bench- citypairs applying for the project and the c introduce the good practices, to discuss cities will be chosen into the next stage t marking. Every couple on working methods, to get contacts and of the project as soon as possible. to start city coupling. i includes a guiding city, o with the good practice, n and a partner city, inter- P ested in the particular r practice. o g r By 10 November, city couples sent their plans for benchmarking to the UBC a Commission on Environment Secretari- m at. The city pairs will be chosen into the project according to the filled-in plan- P ning forms. The number of chosen pairs r will depend on the number and quality o of received plans. c In 2001 the city couples chosen to the e project will start to study how to imple- e ment (=feasibility study) the good prac- Participants of first BCP workshop visiting the mud trap in Bützow. d tice in the partner city. That includes a i study visit during the spring, and a com- There were 40 participants from , One additional result was achieved dur- n pletion of the whole feasibility study and Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Po- ing the LA 21 workshops on Friday. Gen- g report by the autumn. The results of the land and Sweden. Among participants der Equality and LA 21 –group suggest- study visits will be presented during the there were representatives of the cities, ed, that gender equality questions should second workshop, spring 2001. The fi- mainly from environmental departments be included in all UBC projects. All the nal feasibility report will be presented in and LA 21 projects, but also from city BCP –cites agreed unanimously, and it the third workshop,in autumn 2001. Af- council, business sector and ports. Also was decided to add questions of 3R (rep- ter that the EnvCom Secretariat will pub- Union of local and regional governments, resentation, resources, realia) into the lish a summary of the feasibility reports ECAT-Lithuania, University of Vilnius planning form for the benchmarking. by the end of 2001. and UBC Commission on Health and (Read more on page 7, Gender Equality Social Affairs, were presented. For participating cities the BCP project in Local Agenda 21 by H. Höglund). gives lots of knowledge on the chosen During the first half of the day the basic good practice topic. On the basis of this information of the project was given and new knowledge there are many possibil- working methods of the project were rep- Further information: ities for new projects. Well-done feasi- resented, and also the planning form for Ms. Sanna Salminen/UBC EnvCom bility study gives also a good basis to benchmarking was distributed for further Tel. +358 2 230 2202 apply further funding for implementation. studying. In the afternoon eleven of the Fax. +358 2 253 8613 In the point of view of the media, good good practices, that took part in the En- E-mail: [email protected] project is a piece of interesting news, and

BCB Environment 2/00 7 On the basis of these discussions, there seem to be several reasons for slight op- European Platform for Urban Sustainability timism. At the national level, effective By Risto Veivo policies for supporting local level sustain- The second meeting of ners to be involved. Also, proposals will ability work are either being implement- U be elaborated over the forthcoming time ed or under construction and discussion B the European Platform of on how such a structure could be put into in all of the countries on both sides of the Baltic Sea. There also seems to be a C networks working on practice in the daily work. There is agree- ment that the Open Platform idea will relatively wide consciousness that dia- logue and co-operation between the dif- A urban sustainability was provide much added value to the exist- ing “urban sustainability landscape” in ferent levels of administration and the g organised 10 October Europe. A co-operative structure of this different stakeholders of society is the key e 2000 in Brussels. The scale would be unique; it would repre- method to proceed. National commis- n sent the world-wide biggest initiative of sions and support groups for sustainable d intention with the Plat- its kind. development play an important role, as well as funding for pilot activities. a form is to create basis for Both the European Commission and the better co-operation be- European Parliament take great interest At the European level, the new policy 2 in this development, particularly as the developments, e.g., with regard to the 6th 1 tween European networks European Commission will provide finan- Environmental Action Program and the and possibly to help the cial support from 2001 through its en- Framework proposal for Sustainable Ur- visaged “Community Framework for co- ban Development, will most likely pro- A networks to reach com- vide good chances for progress. As some c operation to promote sustainable urban mon positions in Europe- development”. In connection with this of the roundtable presentations clearly re- t Community Framework proposal, the flected, work on sustainable development i an policy issues. UBC has been mentioned as one of the at the local level, e.g., on Local Agenda 21, contributes positively to the EU ac- o In the first two meetings, altogether 24 networks suitable for carrying out imple- cession process by improving the policy European organisations have participat- mentation projects. n processes and preparing ground for im- ed, including the European Commission plementation of EC Environmental Leg- DG Environment and representatives Further information: P islation. from the Environment Committee of the Mr. Risto Veivo r European Parliament. Tel:+358-2-230 2030 o E-mail:[email protected] At the local level, many municipalities are actively implementing good pilot projects g Since the Aalborg Conference 1994, a and developing the policy processes. central forum for European level co-op- r There are also a great number of nation- eration on local sustainable development a al and international networks that suc- has been the European Sustainable Cit- m cessfully support the municipalities by ies and Towns Campaign, and one of the Baltic Roundtable on Local providing possibilities for exchange, co- ideas with the platform is to provide in- operation and political support. P put for further development of the Cam- r paign. UBC has been closely co-operat- o ing with the Campaign since the Turku Environmental Policy c Conference 1998, and the UBC EnvCom By Risto Veivo and Local Agenda 21 Working Group e have been represented at the European 18-19 May 2000 in e Platform meetings by UBC Environmen- Turku, Finland, the UBC d tal Co-ordinator Risto Veivo. in co-operation with the i At least during the Baltic Roundtable on The first Platform meeting took place al- n Local Environmental Policy, the spirit of ready in June this year, following the Finnish Ministry of the g co-operation between different BSR announcement of the existing five part- Environment and other stakeholders was very good. It is this spir- ner organisations of the Campaign. The it, feeling and practice of partnership that June gathering concluded that there is partners organised the we need to keep up in order to proceed great interest amongst international mu- Baltic Roundtable on in tackling all those difficult problems. nicipal organisations to strengthen Euro- The Roundtable was part of the SUFA pean-wide co-operation on sustainable Local Environmental Poli- (Success Factors in Local Environmental development issues. As a result, a scenar- cy for forty representa- Policy for Local Agenda 21 Activities and io paper was elaborated that provided the EU Enlargement in the Baltic Sea Region) basis for discussions in October. This tives of environmental Project. The projects is co-funded by the paper advocates the establishment of the partners, European Commission DG En- Open Platform for Urban Sustainability ministries, European vironment and the Finnish Ministry of the (working title) and suggests how and Commission, and local Environment. Other partners of the where it could co-operate. authorities and their net- project, in addition to the UBC, are ICLEI and Åbo Akademi University. The round- The discussion on the paper now in Oc- works. The two-day event table report is available in print from the tober again confirmed the great interest UBC Commission on Environment Sec- in a broader co-operation. It asked for provided a set of very retariat, and downloadable in pdf-format further steps to clarify the scope of part- seminal discussions. from the UBC website.

8 BCB Environment 2/00 of developing their ideas on issues of en- been responsible for the project in each vironmental, social, educational nature as geographic area. The organisation is BASE 21 well as concerning local democracy, mu- spread across the wide area of municipal By Lars Wahlberg nicipal administration and municipal affairs, allowing it to reach a broad tar- technical affairs. In this project, project get group. The goal for Base 21 was ideas are emerging among the partici- pants, which clearly indicate that the aim Further information: to investigate and set up and goals of BASE 21 have been reached. Mr. Lars Wahlberg the basis for local envi- Tel. +46 498269924 A twin city project between Gotland and E-mail. [email protected] ronmental organisations Tukums is also underway. It will be fo- cused on nature- and environmental stud- to develop Agenda 21 ies with the assistance of Gotland’s Na- from a grassroots level. ture and Environment bus for students at the lower and middle elementary levels, The idea is that these for a start. The project is also aimed at organisations will build developing the greenflag concept in Tu- European Partner Search kums’ schools. By Peter Löffner networks on a national Are you looking for part- level and seek ways of ners for your projects on establishing international local sustainability? Or do co-operation. you want to find events to The project was expected to determine, if there are favourable conditions for an which you could contrib- international environmental co-operation ute? based on Agenda 21, at a local level with- The European Partner Search engine can in the area, which covers Estonia, Latvia, help you in both cases. It is located on Lithuania, eight northern provinces of Environmental bus is one way to spread the the webpage of the European Sustaina- Poland and three Russian regions (=SWE- information on nature to all age groups. ble Cities & Towns Campaign on http:// BALTCOP). Even though the pilot www.sustainable-cities.org/partner.html. project was limited to an operational area On this page, you can submit an outline of two towns (Pärnu in Estonia and Tu- During the BASE 21 pilot project plans of your project and your contact details kums in Latvia), it was expected to func- were laid to adapt the travelling exhibi- to an on-line database. Potential partners tion as a base for developing several net- tion ”Sweden 2021” to Estonian condi- from across Europe and beyond can view works within the rest of target area. Also tions and display it at six places in Esto- your proposal and get in touch with you. concrete suggestions about management nia over the period of a year, beginning Alternatively, you simply can search the of possible continuation of the project in Pärnu in May 2001.The exhibition will database for projects and events in which were expected. form the base for a lifestyle project “Life you would like to participate. after 2021”, aimed at spreading informa- In practice, following tasks were done: tion, stimulating discussions and devel- There are no restrictions to the use of Persons who are interested in working oping ideas about the sustainable society European Partner Search if you want to with environmental issues from a grass- from a grassroots perspective both local- be a partner in a joint project or event roots perspective according to Agenda 21 ly and globally. The of Tukums has for local sustainability . Whether you are were indentified. Inventory of local en- also indicated an interest in carrying out a local and regional authority, a network, vironmental problems was done and in- a similar project in Latvia. an NGO, research institution or compa- formation and experiences about how to ny. solve them was changed. Already-exist- Phase II ing networks were participating to en- More than 90 submissions have already courage a sustainable development of the The project operations have led to results been made to European Partner Search. society in the region. Information about exceeding expectations, and a plan for Amongst them there might be your existing environmental schemes were dis- continuing work with BASE 21 has been chance to network and co-operate with tributed. The importance of in early age set up. Taking inventory of local envi- other partners - to constitute EU funded acquired environmental awareness (pre- ronmental problems, exchanging infor- projects, find contributors to conferenc- school, elementary school) was empha- mation and experiences about them and es, come across sponsors, determine sized. The production of locally adapted finding possible solutions to them, have groups with similar interests, exchange information material in the environmen- produced material for developing and experiences, discover companies or or- tal field was assisted. following up BASE 21 in a Phase II. ganisations with the know-how on local The BASE 21project is intiaited and im- sustainability you need and much more. On going and coming plemented by the municipal of Gotland activiticies and has been managed by the Regional Further information: Development unit. The Eco-group of the A project aimed at developing the group Mr. Peter Löffner competence has begun between the mu- Regional Development unit has acted as the executive committee together with E-mail: [email protected] nicipality of Gotland and the town of Tel: +32 2 230 53 51 Pärnu. Through practical experience and those responsible for the project in Tu- http://www.sustainable-cities.org/ theory, the project participants will gain kums and Pärnu. Together with a project further insight into and an opportunity manager from Gotland, one person has partner.html

BCB Environment 2/00 9 to be allowed into the attractive shore adjacent area, causes permanent threat to Water Management in Gdansk shallow intakes under a layer of permea- ble sand. The intakes are surrounded with By Jadwiga Kopec/Dagmara Nagorka-Kmiecik a network of monitoring piezometers. This year the City of tion of our project. Today monitoring of the quality of the waters in the coastal In recent years we have observed the Gdansk can be twice as zone is sufficient. Tests are done contin- phenomenon of gradual rising of the proud of its activities in uously all year round at 14 sites along the ground water level. The areas, previous- seashore. The monitoring includes also ly waterlogged, are now observed to be water related topics. The the rivers and streams falling into the sea. flooded. If the test results are poor, they are ana- city has been presented lysed, and the causes are eliminated, but Water circulation model the “Swedish Baltic Sea in practice such instances are virtually non-existent. To facilitate arriving at decisions relat- Award” for the implemen- ing to water management, a water circu- tation of the project aim- On the basis of the size and quality of lation model has been developed. The the water flows monitored throughout model uses data on the amount of rain- ing at modernization of the year, the annual load of pollutants fall, the amount of water drawn from mu- nicipal and industrial intakes, the opera- water treatment plant discharged to the sea is calculated. In comparison to the late 80’ss, it has been tion of pumping stations in the meliora- “Wschod” – one of the reduced by over 50%. If the current load tion system, the river flows, the readouts increases in relation to the previous year of the piezometer network reflecting the hot spots on South Baltic the causes are analysed. level of underground and ground waters, and the degree of their pollution. The coast. model allows for simulating the situation The city received SEK 100 000, a diplo- Sustainable city development under various assumptions as to the ma and a crystal statue. The modernized Sustainable development of the city also changed conditions of the water cycle. sewage treatment plant (STP) is the big- implies improvement of the living con- gest one in Poland, thus having the ca- ditions in old, neglected districts. The All decisions related to water manage- pacity to provide services not just for the municipal water supply system in Gdansk ment should be taken on the base of stud- city’s own needs but also for the neigh- serves almost the entire population. The ies of all the phenomena concerning wa- boring communities. The second distinc- sanitary sewage collects 96.5 % of the ter circulation. We should also use all the tion was the Expo 2000 medal, which the waste water. Still, about 4.000 buildings experience we have, our knowledge about city received for the project “Integrated remain outside the system. The City runs the city needs, new technology and pos- Water Management in the City of records of those buildings and supervis- sibilities. Water is very important for all Gdansk”. This project was also one of the es their steady inclusion in the sewage beings – we are aware of that fact, but Expo 2000 Projects Around the World. system. The works are partially financed we also know that it is only one of the from ecological funds. components of the environment. We do Water and sewage management in not forget the importance of protecting Gdansk is developed and its system is Implementation of the LA 21 consists of the other ones. composed from the following elements : organising leisure spots close to inhabit- investments including development of ants living quarters, revitalisation of old the sanitary system in old districts and districts, and restoring their ancient, spe- Further information: modernization of the STP, control over cific character. Water plays an important Ms. Jadwiga Kopec the quality of coastal water and pollution role in the process. Rivers, streams, ponds Ms. Dagmara Nagorka-Kmiecik load discharged into the sea, protection and reservoirs determine places of recre- Tel/fax: +48-58-3026370 of drinking water intakes, flood protec- ation and public meetings spots. A pro- E-mail: [email protected] tion, and development of the recreation gramme aiming at organizing the green areas close to sources of water. spaces is also being implemented. The water flow is controlled by compu- ter system which helps to collect neces- Underground water protection sary data and information. The annual re- 75% of the water supplied to Gdansk is ports are helpful in the decision making obtained from deep-water intakes, 25% process. It is good to remember while comes from a surface intake, 13% of the reading this, that back in the 80’s Gdansk water provided from the deep intakes was considered as a region of ecological does not require any treatment. The in- disaster because of water pollution in the habitants definitely prefer the potable Gdansk Bay. water taken from underground sources. Most of the currently operated water in- Cleaning of coastal water takes lie within the so-called lower ter- race of the seashore zone. Those seashore The list of environment-related priorities intakes are located in urbanised areas ex- specified in 1993 was headed by the ob- tremely exposed to pollution. Around jective of cleaning the coastal waters to them protective green zones are estab- an extent which would allow it’s restora- lished. For the time being this protection tion for recreational use. A number of of the intakes proves to be sufficient. The tasks were successfully carried out, and pressure from traffic and investors, keen they have been presented in the descrip-

10 BCB Environment 2/00 Environmental Conference Public Opinions on Environmental Health in Kaunas surveyed in Kymenlaakso By Marija Stanikuniene By Liisa Repo Environmental Protection Department of Finnish Ministry of Social Kaunas City Municipality organised an international conference “Environmental Affairs and Health togeth- and Waste Management in Municipali- ties” on 9-10 June 2000, which was ded- er with the Ministry of the icated to the World’s Environmental Day Environment initiated a and the tenth anniversary of environmen- project of compiling a tal activities in municipalities of Lithua- jalankoski, , Kotka, , and nia, as these activities started only after National Environmental , and the municipalities of regaining the independence in 1990. Health Programme for Elimäki, Iitti, Miehikkälä, Pyhtää, Valkea- la, Vehkalahti, and ) were sent Today’s municipal environmetal policy Finland in 1995. Once an a survey in August. The results of the is based on Lithuanian Environmental study werepublished in November this Protection Strategy and Action Plan, Environmental Pro- year. The survey results are then used to which was approved by the Parliament gramme was completed ensure that the most important environ- in 1996. mental health problems in the area, not Environmental specialists, vice-mayors, on a National level, it was only from the authorities’, but also from chief executive officers and ecologists decided that each munici- the public’s point of view, are included from over 40 municipalities of Lithuania in the Environmental Health Programme. as well as experts from Denmark, Swe- pality should compile a den, Latvia, and Estonia participated in In Finland environmental healthcare tra- the conference which was mainly dedi- local Environmental ditionally emphasises on aspects like nu- cated to the waste management issues. Health Programme. These trition, along with water and air quality. In Kymenlaakso, however, other aspects National environmental strategy and the local programmes will of the local environment may be per- role of municipalities in it, waste man- also contribute towards ceived as more significant in terms of agement legislation and new tasks for environmental health, than in the rest of municipalities were discussed in the con- the local sustainable de- the country. ference. The participants also had an opportunity to see how several Kaunas velopment projects in Examples of such aspects include the rel- environmental protection programs had terms of environmental atively high incidence of indoor air ra- been implemented in practice. Kaunas don, pollution of the river Kymijoki and, automatic ambient air quality monitor- healthcare. especially in the coastal areas, the pollu- ing system (stationary posts and a mo- tion of the Finnish Bay. Water pollution bile laboratory), regional landfill site In the Kymenlaakso area, in the south- is typical to an area where paper and pulp (leachete treatment plant, compactor eastern part of Finland, the ground for processing have for a long time been the etc.), and used oils collection system from the local Environmental Health Pro- main industry. But also the newly expand- individual vehicles were presented. gramme was laid by conducting a mail ed ports of Kotka and Hamina, and the survey among the people in the area. The increased transportation and marine traf- main objective of the survey was to as- fic on the Finnish Bay, might be a cause Further information: sess public opinions and perceptions of of concern in the future. All of these are Ms. Marija Stanikuniene various factors of environmental health. also topics of the environmental health Tel.: +370 7 422467 2000 citizens of the area (towns of An- survey. Questions about the hygiene of E-mail: [email protected] the local foodstuff businesses, the state of the local water systems, and the qual- ity of both ambient and indoor air were also included in the survey.

Further information: Ms. Liisa Repo City of Kotka Tel. +358 5 234 4807 E-mail: [email protected]

Participants of “Environmental and Waste Management in Municipalities” 9-10 June in Kaunas, Lithuania.

BCB Environment 2/00 11 Kaunas City Municipality, as well as on the results of two public interrogations. Bicycle Pilots and Ambassadors in Växjö The aim was to develop an optimal scheme of bicycle routes network in Kau- By Johan Jareman nas City, co-ordinated with the solutions In April 1999, the Munic- we found along the way that there were of the new general plan. many details that could be improved. It ipality of Växjö signed was also meant to be a marketing tool There are about 150 thousand bicycles for bicycle use. A number of articles were in Kaunas, which means that every third contracts with 9 willing published in the local , and we citizen has an access to a bicycle. How- people and provided also paid for a number of advertisements. ever, cycling is not very popular. Some of the main reasons for that are: them with new bicycles And what were the environmental results - Complicated relief of land, big differ and other necessary from the campaign? Well, the evaluation ences of ground level (40 meters) stated that each of the pilots shifted from - Short warm season, prevailing cold and equipment. Five people driving to biking for a total of over 2000 rainy weather km of travelling in one year. The results - Undeveloped network of bicycle routes, were established as “bicy- from the work of the ambassadors were added to lack of equipped parking plac cle pilots” and the other more difficult to evaluate, but all togeth- es and bicycle storage er we made a rough estimation that the - Common opinion about cycling is ‘un four people as “bicycle campaign resulted in the following emis- prestigious kind of transport’ - more ambassadors”. This cam- sion reductions: suitable for teenagers - Unsafe conditions for biking. paign was part of a Fossil CO2 4,6 tonnes, HC 1,3 kg Fuel Free Växjö project CO 13 kg, NOx 4,6 kg The network joins new and old designed to stop the in- All the pilots also stated that they expe- The new developed bicycle routes rienced a significant improvement in their scheme is based on the solutions of the crease in car traffic. health status. The avoided car trips can new general plan. The main principle of also be translated into substantial eco- this plan is harmonization of three area The pilots and ambassadors had differ- nomic savings. types: active, compensative and stable. ent missions, but all had a common goal: The network of transport joins these ar- the conscious shift from driving cars to If funding is available, we are interested eas together. The very crucial part of the using bicycles on short trips in to Växjö. in launching a new campaign with 200 transport network is the system of the After reading our recruitment advertise- bicycle pilots. The potential result has bicycle routes. The general plan gives a ments in the local newspaper these 9 peo- been calculated to be a savings of approx- priority to the bicycle traffic in the sen- ple had applied and been selected for sitive areas, like the Old Town and the imately 80 tonnes of CO2. We believe their missions. that with the experiences from the cam- City Center, valuable natural areas, and paign we carried out, we have a good pedestrian and recreational zones. The For the pilots, the hardest part was chang- possibility of future success on a larger forecast is that the amount of short dis- ing accustomed travel patterns. All were scale. tance cycling will increase numerously. formerly routine car drivers but had rec- ognised the value of better health, saved Further information: The main aim of the strategy of the de- money, and an improved environment by Mr. Johan Jareman velopment of bicycle routes is to build shifting to biking. Becoming a “bicycle Tel:+46-470 41576 well-paved, equipped and lighted bicy- pilot” gave them the motivation they E-mail: cle tracks, resting places, and parking and needed to change their lifestyles. The am- [email protected] storage buildings. The main links of the bassadors, as one might guess, had the structure join the city center, the other objective of persuading other people to city areas and green areas. The total use bicycles instead of cars. All ambassa- length of the existing bicycle routes is dors had been avid bikers for many years. approximately 30 kilometers. The system of bicycle routes in Kaunas consists of Bicycle Routes in Kaunas three types of routes: The contract with the pilots demanded that they shift from cars to bikes for the By Jurga Sirtautaite - The main routes which join the City majority of their daily transportation. Center with the other parts of the city, Their incentive was (besides the benefits The Scheme of Kaunas as well as the most important parts to listed above) that they could buy the City Bicycle Routes was gether; equipment after one year for an 80% re- - The secondary routes, which join to duction in price. The ambassadors had a presented on European gether the other parts of the city, as similar incentive with the hopes that it Car Free Day, on 22nd well as the suburbs with the city area would encourage them to convince as - The recreational routes, which join the many people as possible to bike instead September 2000, in Kau- areas of the city with the main green of drive. The difference was that the re- areas. duction in price they received was direct- nas City Municipality. This scheme was prepared for Environ- Further information: ly related to the number of people they Ms. Marija Stanikuniene could “enlist”. mental Protection Department by the company “Kauno planas”. Their work was E-mail: [email protected] based on the solutions of the existing and Tel.: +370 7 422467 The campaign was planned as a learning Fax: +370 7 423724 project for those who managed it, and of the new, prepared general plans of

12 BCB Environment 2/00 First Fully Pan European Sweden’s First Street Train on the Road By Trevor Graham Car Free Day It would appear On Friday the 22nd Sep- that the future is tember the first genuinely electric in Au- pan-European Car Free gustenborg. Day was taking place. It ‘Kommunteknik’, was organised in some Malmö’s Direct 800 cities around and Works Depart- also outside Europe. ment, based in This was a great progress compared with Augustenborg’s last year’s pioneering project in France and Italy with total of 158 cities. This industrial estate, The street train can easily go through narrow lanes which helps progress achieved was made possible by now has Swe- for example elderly to make the journey to the city centre. the active involvement of the key part- ners in this European initiative, such as den’s largest from Augustenborg can get their per- national ministries and energy agencies, electric vehicle fleet, resi- scriptions delivered by train rather than networks of local authorities, NGOs and making the journey to the chemists them- the European Commission. dents have started up an selves.

By organising a Car Free Day, all partic- electric car pool, and the The trains capasity is 28 passengers in ipating cities enabled their citizens to world’s first electric street two carriages, they have a maximum benefit from a day without the conges- speed of 30 kmh and have rubberised tion, the pollution and the dangers caused trains glide quietly wheels. With their battery unit and by the presence and use of cars. Further- through the streets, pow- unique steering system the trains can be more, car free day provided the oppor- used flexibly without the need for infra- tunity to raise awareness and understand- ered by eco-labelled elec- structure such as cables or rails. The nar- ing of environmental action. It aimed to row gauge enables the trains to drive on draw the attention of the public and de- tricity. cycle tracks for short distances, provid- cision makers to the negative impact of All this is part of ‘Ekostaden’ Augusten- ing a better service to residents by get- the dominance of cars on the quality of borg, a major programme of ecological ting into the heart of the communities. life in our cities (80% of the European adaptation of an existing housing estate. population live in urban areas). The Green Line’s electric trains link a Additional service is now available to lo- number of peripheral housing areas in cal residents in the form of Sweden’s first It is estimated that around 30% of car Malmö and provide easy access for resi- electric car pool. Augustenborg has an journeys in the EU involve distances of dents to services such as bank, post-of- extremely low car ownership rate of ap- less than 3 kilometres. Car free day was fice, health centre and chemists that oth- proximately 17%, and whilst this is of therefore an opportunity to test alterna- erwise may be hard to reach within the great benefit from an environmental tive mobility concepts such as park & ride, earlier public transport system. Business- viewpoint, it is also important for resi- expanded “pedestrian zones” and cycle es along the route have sponsored the dents to have access to the same services friendly schemes amongst others. trains and see them as a way of keeping as the majority of Malmö’s population. and attracting new customers to small This kind of days help to raise the inter- shopping areas under pressure from out The first car is now in use on a trial basis est towards other related subjects as well. of town centres. by the local enthusiasts at the core of the It highlights our over-reliance on road car pool. The final plans are being put transport and our unsustainable depend- The two street trains currently in service into place for the arrival of two more ve- ence on one source of non-renewable were designed and manufactured by a hicles with a rapid charge station and two energy. It guides also to think larger pat- newly started local business with support other charging points in parking spaces terns around the subject as EU’s Environ- from Lund University’s Industrial Devel- at the heart of Augustenborg. Residents ment Commissioner Margot Wallström opment Centre. 15 new jobs have been will then be able to go into the local su- has commented: “ Car Free Days, as created in Street Train Sweden AB which permarket to pick up the car keys and awareness raising events with a high de- has now interest from a number of other borrow one of the vehicles at a low cost. gree of direct involvement of citizens, can local authorities, transport companies and The electric car pool is open for all resi- play a part in helping to achieve our ob- other organisations. dents living in MKB’s 1600 flats in Au- jectives on climate change, air quality, gustenborg, and is run by local people noise and quality of life in urban areas. It Electric train stops linked by broadband with a start-up support from the MKB is extremely encouraging, this year, to see to a GPS system will in the near future housing company, and a number of oth- so many people join forces across Europe offer real time travel information to trav- er partners. and beyond for a healthier urban envi- ellers at home or waiting for the trains. ronment.” Other plans for the future include deliv- Further information about Ekostaden is ering service so that elderly residents available from www.ekostaden.com

BCB Environment 2/00 13 Preparing Lithuanian Municipalities for EU Accession A Baltic Sea Centre for By Ruta Bubniene The role of Lithuanian Local authorities’ duties local authorities in the The basic legal acts regulating environ- Sustainable Development implementation of trans- mental protection in Lithuania are already in place. These acts were taken as a basis By Helena Erikkson posed EU environmental for defining the functions of local author- ities in the process of implementation of legislation was made by EU requirements. The review showed When the Agenda 21 for “Cities for Accession“, a that the main responsibilities of local au- the Baltic Sea Region, thorities are to manage, use and protect project performed by the natural resources and environmental ob- Baltic 21, was adopted in jects in accordance with conditions issued 1998, the already existing Center for Environmental and controlled by the Ministry of Envi- Policy. It included also ronment. Local authorities are responsi- idea of a centre for sus- ble also for drawing up, approval and im- tainable development for development of a national plementation of programmes, schemes strategy and action plan etc. the region got wind in its sails. The centre, referred for involving regional Municipal employees responsible for administrations and local solving environmental and EU integra- to as Optimanova, was tion problems should have appropriate authorities into implemen- skills such as ability to think strategical- lively discussed among tation of the EU require- ly, to identify key opportunities and to environmentalists, archi- take initiatives as well as good negotiat- ments ing, project management and foreign lan- tects and people at the Implementation of EU requirements guages skills and skills of collaboration Municipality of Gotland. should be a well designed process based and networking. on a clearly formulated environmental The establishment of an Agenda 21 sup- strategy providing for realistic and eco- Srategies port centre in the region could act as a nomically feasible objectives and targets. Municipalities should cultivate traditions clearing house for information on sustain- Environmental strategy should establish of strategic analysis, planning and man- able development, be a demonstration and define long- and short-term priori- agement of integrated economic, social site for best-practice projects and facili- ties, schedule for attainment of set tar- and urban issues related to urban devel- tate a pro-active dialogue between busi- gets, and criteria for evaluation of the opment. Environmental issues should not ness, politics and individual consumers. progress. It should also transmit the vi- be treated as separate problems. Look Furthermore, existing networks and or- sion of the environmental development Chapter 8 of the EU Fifth Environmen- ganisations could use Optimanova to dis- to the public and encourage public par- tal Action Programme. seminate and receive information from ticipation. local level actors, municipalities and The analysis of available and potential NGOs. So far, these efforts were concentrated financing sources show that they are suf- mainly on the national level, while most ficient for covering municipal environ- Since December 1999 seven persons have of the activities aimed at implementation mental investments. However, financing been involved in the production of a fea- of EU requirements will take place on the of investments is only a part of success- sibility study, funded by the Swedish re- municipal level, especially in areas requir- ful implementation of environmental re- gional development funds for Gotland ing major financial resources such as quirements. Repayment of loans and cov- County and European Structural Funds/ waste management, water supply and ering operation costs of the newly devel- Objective 5b. In February, at the Euro- wastewater treatment. oped infrastructure will place a substan- pean Conference for Sustainable Cities tial burden on municipal finances. and Towns in Hannover, the concept of The aim of ‘Cities for Accession’, made Optimanova was presented to the visi- 1999-2000, was to help Lithuanian mu- The local authorities should make care- tors. The next step is to investigate the nicipalities in development and imple- ful evaluation of investment projects pay- viability of the project and make up a mentation of cost-effective approxima- ing a special attention to the assessment business plan for Optimanova. Financial tion strategies on local and regional lev- of related costs and ability of the popu- aspects, identification of a physical site el in order to meet the requirements of lation to cover. It is obvious that certain for the centre, interfacing national, re- EU environmental legislation. The spe- municipalities will not be able to take ad- gional and European authorities, and for- cific objectives were to clarify the role of ditional loans and will face serious prob- mulate and launch the concept, are im- local authorities, to develop a national lems in the process of implementation of portant cornerstones in the ongoing strategy and action plan,and to prepare, environmental requirements. work. in co-operation with the Lithuanian As- sociation of Municipalities, guidelines for the design and implementation of munic- Further information: Further information: Ms. Helena Eriksson ipal/regional environmental policy in line Mr. Romas Lenkaitis Tel + 46 498 263806 with EU requirements. E-mail: [email protected] Tel.: +370-2-727-152/ 728-936, E-mail: [email protected] http://www.optimanova.org

14 BCB Environment 2/00 The aim of the network BEIDS - Information for Environmental Decisions The network is established for the mu- nicipalities to help each other implement- By Pekka Tenhonen ing Local Agenda 21 (LA21). The mu- Today the BEIDS project that is only half of what BEIDS is aiming nicipalities co-operate in pairs on con- at. The information is not only spread crete themes, and participate in the larg- has been working for one within countries but between the coun- er network to exchange experiences and year. It offers city plan- tries as well. The first international news- ideas, and to get inspiration for future letter in English will come out in the be- work ners useful and up-to-date ginning of November containing news environmental informa- from each of the countries. Besides the The municipalities in the Barents region six national web sites BEIDS runs an in- are in different stages in their work with tion from the Baltic Sea ternational site as well. LA21. Some have been active for several years and have achieved much, while oth- Region, but it is also The BEIDS teams in each country work ers are just starting. The differences are meant to be of help for independently, but the whole project is not only between the countries, but also co-ordinated by the City of , inside the countries. Local Agenda 21 the governmental sector, and is partly funded by the Interreg II C ranges over so many different topics that programme. everybody has something to learn from public administration, others. industry sector, educa- Further information: Mr. Pekka Tenhonen Today the municipalities are co-operat- tional sector and volun- Tel: +358-2-2514946 ing on issues concerning waste, manage- tary sector. Being free and E-mail:[email protected] ment of natural resources, increasing en- http://www.beids.de/ vironmental awareness among children open it will serve all citi- and young adult and improving quality zens in the member coun- of drinking water. During the meeting, new municipalities tries. agreed to start LA21 BEIDS stands for Baltic Environmental co-operation, while Information Dissemination System. The others discussed how project disseminates news of environmen- to continue their co- tal interest, and it concentrates above all operation. on energy, transportation and sustaina- ble development issues as their relevance Umba meeting to the region is likely to grow in the next The participants at the few years. meeting agreed to meet again next The members of BEIDS are Denmark, spring/summer. From Finland, Germany and Sweden of the EU Russian side it was said countries, and Lithuania and Poland with that the Barents Local other funding. At the moment work is Agenda 21 Network is done to broaden the area to cover the Kandalakska bay on the road to Umba important also because rest of the Baltic Sea region, and there- it is the only forum fore BEIDS is trying to find funding for where Russian municipalities can meet to , Estonia and Latvia. discuss issues on environment and sus- tainable development. Six countries and seven web Municipal Co-operation on sites The network is supported by among oth- ers the Norwegian Barents Fund, Finnish BEIDS maintains a web site in each coun- Ministry of the Environment and the try, and updates the site with environ- LA21 in the Barents Region Norwegian Ministry of the Environment. mental news of the issues mentioned By Bente Christiansen The Head of the Department of Environ- above. BEIDS also publishes newsletters, mental Affairs at the Finnmark County which can be subscribed for. The second meeting in Governor is currently leading the net- the Barents Local Agenda work, but all regional environmental au- Subscribers also receive notices of other thorities in the Barents Region back interesting issues, the BEIDS team reports 21 Network was held in the initiative. environmental disasters and sends news even on a daily basis. Subscribing for the Umba and Kandalaksha letter is done by surfing to the web site in Murmansk oblast 4-8 Further information: and asking the webmaster to put you on Bente Christiansen the mailing list. In Finland the newslet- September. Finnmark County Governor ter is published in Finnish and in Swed- Twenty municipalities were present at the Tel:+47 7895 0373 ish. meeting, together with representatives of E-mail: regional and national environment au- [email protected]. Each country runs its own web site and thorities, indigenous people, environ- http://barents-la21.net takes care of the national newsletter. But mental NGO’s and others.

BCB Environment 2/00 15 Assessment of Opportunities for Sustainable An Ecology Les- Development of Baltijsk son in Gdynia By Mikhail Durkin By Sylvia Strzalkowska The Municipality of Balti- • Municipality Management A festive closing of (administrative structure, de jsk, Russia, has under- cision-making, logistics, etc.) Polish edition of Cleaning • Public Sector (social security, public gone streamlined auditing health and education, NGOs, equity, up the World took place of its environmental per- etc.) in Gdynia, 9 September • Water Management (water balance, formance with overall waste water treatment, water-saving 2000. Every year thou- objective of assessing practices, etc.) sands of children, young- • Energy Management (sources, type of opportunities for sustaina- fuels, energy-saving measures, etc.) sters, and adults partici- • Waste Management (sources, catego pate in this big ecologic ble development in April ries and quantities of waste, waste uti 2000. lisation) campaign. The team of M.Sc. candidates (Environ- • Mobility Sector (public transportation, mental Management & Policy) from the transit transport, i.e. port activities, In this 7th edition of Cleaning up the International Institute for Industrial En- etc.) World, aimed at waste segregation, a vironmental Economics at Lund Univer- • Business Sector (business development record number of people took part: a sity (Sweden) performed this study in co- and prospects) whole 12 thousands! Young ecologists, operation with Russian students, post- • Tourism and use of natural resources equipped in bags and gloves, set in city graduates and environmental experts (development of tourism and utilisa areas, mainly Tri City Landscape Park, from Kaliningrad and Baltijsk. Each year tion of recreational capacities of the as well as municipal forests and parks. the Institute carries out such a municipal municipality). audit in one of the Eastern European This year Gdynia was chosen as the cen- countries and this time it has been initi- Summary of findings, benchmarking with tral ceremony place of the Polish edition ated upon request from Russian environ- Karlskrona and recommendations for of Cleaning up the World. In Gdynia, like mental authorities. The Baltijsk Audit improvements were provided for each of all over the country, cleaning of city are- became the first in the circle of similar these focus areas and compiled in Eng- as took place on Friday. Saturday, in turn, municipal audits to be financed by the lish and Russian. was a day of sports and recreation picnic Svenska Institutet in the Baltic countries which was organized in Kodciuszki and Kaliningrad for years 2000-2003. Baltijsk is an area of restricted access as it Square – the city centre. The picnic en- is the main home-base for the Russian titled The Run Race for the Earth was a The aim of the audit was to look at the Baltic Navy. Environmental situation is common undertaking of Ecobaltic Foun- vision of the municipality in relation to complicated by significant negative im- dation, as well as the City Hall of Gdy- its plan for sustainable development and pact of military activities, while no spe- nia. to try to fill the gap between the current cific polluting industry is located within situation and the visions, using Cleaner the municipality. Natural values of the During the picnic, ecological, art, and Production alternatives. At the same time, place and its unique location as a trans- sport competitions were organized. Each a closer look was taken at the environ- port hub provide very good start-up for competitor received a coupon, which mental problems that resulted from the environmentally sound development of entitled him or her to take part in a lot- operations of the municipality, and clean- the municipality along with diminishing tery. The prizes were very attractive. er production alternatives, that could help role of military as main employer of lo- Among the guests was Ms Mira Stanis- the municipality to reach the goal of sus- cal residents. lawska-Meysztowicz, an initiator of tainable development, were developed. Polish edition of Cleaning up the World. The Municipality of Baltijsk has started According to her the objective of the Russian experts proposed MEA manuals utilization of the audit results from im- whole undertaking is to shape attitude and procedure to be used for the audit, provement of municipal solid waste man- and behaviour which become our life- and they were utilised by the team to the agement practices and invites all inter- style. most possible extent. However, due to ested stakeholders to an open dialogue time-constraint, the real work was done on the matter and will be grateful for any in streamlined way, with much attention kind of contributions to this process. being paid to initial gathering of infor- mation before the actual on site audit be- Further information: Further information: gan. The audit team has performed ex- Mr. Mikhail Durkin Ms. Sylvia Strzalkowska tensive benchmarking with the twinning Tel: +7-0112-445343 Tel.: +48 58 661 71 75 municipality of Karlskrona in Sweden, E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: trying to understand how similar envi- [email protected] ronmental aspects are handled there. The audit team has approached following fo- cus areas, both in Sweden and Russia:

16 BCB Environment 2/00 were cleaned from large-scale junk. 1. The primary aim is to revitalize the Divers pulled out several tons of waste natural ecosystem, its tolerance and Cleaning of River Dane polymorphism, by increasing the in – old tyres, furniture, parts of cars, filtration, so as to delay rainwater in By Dalia Zukiene bottles, and metal. an urban city area.

The river Dane crosses Information about the event 2. A healthy and qualitative urban built the coastal region of Information about such a special environment can be provided, along project was widely distributed. Also a with its ecological rejuvenation, by re Lithuania, the City of video was made of the event. It’s goal using and purifying rainwater more ef Klaipeda, and falls into was to tell the public that polluting the ficiently. river is so easy, but it is more 3. The results and applications of the the Baltic sea. The 64 km complicated to clean it. A lot of work project will provide better urban in long river with the river still needs to done to make the waters door air quality and better urban storm basin of 595 km2 was of our only river in the city clear. But water control. This in turn will also the first steps towards that have already th lead to an improvement in the quali already known in the 13 been taken. ty of water in the Baltic Sea. century. The town of Further information: The revitalization of urban nature will be Klaipeda grew on its Ms. Dalia Zukiene created with the help of new technolo- Nature Protection Department gies (absorption, regulating the outflow banks. 2000 09 11 Klaipeda of main drains, underground basins for There are people who still remember its Lithuania purification, filters etc.), by providing and water, clean, full of fish and crabs. It is implementing new planning methods and a great pity, that for over three decades working practices. The co-operation the Dane has been heavily polluted. between the project partners and experts Bathing is forbidden, especially in the will provide new opportunities to use and low reaches of it. On the initiative of organize the working environments. Klaipeda City Nature Protection Vital Vaasa - Project The European Commission has granted Department and Action Plan for By Anne Uddfolk a financial support of FIM 2,27 million Reduction of Pollution in the river Dane for the project through the Life-Environ- was prepared. Vital Vaasa is a pilot ment Programme. The financial respon- framework and action sibility of the partners totals FIM 1,21 The Association of Swedish million from the total budget, and the Municipalities and Karlskrona City programme for the revi- City of Vaasa has responsibility to pro- Municipality assisted in the work. They talization of the water vide FIM 2,15 million. The overall budg- helped to prepare a special plan for the et of the Vital Vaasa Project is FIM 5,63 banks of the river, which will reduce cycle within the structure million. In addition, the University of pollution there. A lot of various waste of urban landscape of Abertay Dundee and Urban Water Tech- and junk had been thrown into the river. nology Centre in Scotland will be con- tacted through Vaasa Polytechnic. In summer 2000, four km of the river, Vaasa. It is a focused situated in the most beautiful landscape, project forming part of the Vaasa Vista general programme (1997). The City Planning Office of Vaasa has, in co-opera- Vital Vaasa tasks tion with the Technical 1. Digital terrain model; examination of the bedrock, soil and groundwater table Department, established 2. The revitalization plan for the littoral the programme and the valley 3. Restoration of the watercycle in two agenda for the Vital Vaa- urban catchment areas. sa project action plan. 4. Education of authorities, planners, con- structors, city councillors and inhabitants. Objectives and methods The main target of the Vital Vaasa Pilot Framework Project is to revitalize the Further information: urban water cycle. Natural rainwater re- Ms. Anne Uddfolk sources can be utilized more actively in Tel. +358 6 325 4269/ River Dane runs through cenrtal Klaipeda. order to strengthen the landscape struc- Thus it has great potential also for recreation of +358 40 522 7935 ture in an urban area and protect the vi- E-mail: [email protected] the inhabitants. tality of the nature found there.

BCB Environment 2/00 17 Local Authorities’ Self Assessment of Local Agenda How to Make a Successfull By Marko Joas The main objectives with are situated within 13 European Union Environmental Project? member countries, and 64 (28 per cent) Local Authorities Self- within 16 other European countries. By Sanna Salminen

Assessment of Local All in all, the regional division of partic- In Ota Eco’00 Man, Envi- Agenda (LASALA) project ipants is very satisfactory. Regionally the ronment and Technology most active LA21 region at least concern- are to examine and evalu- ing LASALA participation is the Baltic Sea –Congress in Helsinki ate eco-efficient urban Area – defined as the area where UBC 18.-20.10.2000 there member cities come from. A third of all management and new participating cities, i.e. 75 cities and mu- was, in many lectures, nicipalities come from this region. Med- models of urban govern- iterranean countries follow, however, discussion about condi- ance. very closely with 74 local or regional gov- tions of successful envi- ernment units participating. In particular the project registers progress ronmental projects. It made through Local Agenda 21 process- es in regional and local government. The Within the Baltic Area, Germany has may be useful to summa- evaluation is done with the help of a tele- most participating cities (23), followed guided concerted self-assessment meth- by Sweden (15) and Finland (9). Also rise some of them. odology utilising a web-based virtual Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have training centre. showed a rather high level of interest In general, realistic thoughts about own bearing in mind the size of these coun- wishes and capabilities as well as the right The LASALA project is co-funded by the tries. dimension of the project are essential. European Commission’s Research and is The project should make sense techni- co-ordinated by ICLEI. Åbo Akademi The country division of participants is cally, economically and ecologically in University is the responsible for the generally satisfactory, but some active long term, and the step-by-step approach project while there are seven other uni- LA21 countries could be better represent- is often the best way to reach the hoped versities as project partners. ed in the material, as for example the results. The commitments made for Netherlands and Denmark. However, project should be firm and from suffi- this is not to be considered problematic, ciently high level. When project is small, as the overall division of more and less it is wise to group your project with oth- Table: A Regional Division of LASALA active countries is sufficient. Participants er similar ones to ease the funding and N% practical matters. Also enough time and The LASALA project has by mid Octo- patience are important. Baltic Sea Region 75 32,9 ber entered into a phase where partici- CEE-countries 38 16,7 pating municipalities and cities are un- Mediterranian Region 74 32,5 Special financial as- dertaking their self-evaluations. The pects were also Atlantic Europe 41 18,0 training of self-assessment co-ordinators Total: 228 100,0 mentioned. It is im- has also been running since August when portant not to be the training modules were opened the afraid of private As the project is a contribution to the specific LASALA Distance Training and sector involve- European Sustainable Cities & Towns Project Page. ment, but to Campaign, the main source for possible choose right mix- local authorities to participate were cit- Further work in LASALA will include: ture of donor and ies that already had signed the Aalborg • Evaluation of the self assessments loan money. Loans Charter. Therefore, during Spring 2000, (mid December 2000-June 2001 should be an aug- more than 700 local authorities across • Identification and documentation of ment to the project funding, not a sub- Europe were initially invited to take part Best practices (March-August 2001) stitute of local financing. Adequate co- in LASALA. However, the project is not • Evaluation of the Self-Assessment financing from donors should be guar- limited to these cities and additional method and procedure (July-August anteed before bidding the loan money. sources of possible participants were also 2001) When bidding the loan money, the bid used, for example active UBC members. • Dissemination of results; conference in should be prepared in accordance with Information about LASALA was also de- (Autumn 2001) asked documents.The existence, condi- livered by international and national net- tions and the amount of all internal as works, local government central organi- well as external founds should be secured sations and other similar organisations. Further information: before implementing the project. After Mr. Marko Joas and Ms. Tove Måtar completion of the project, the customer Åbo Akademi University should be able to pay for the services – E-mail: [email protected] Interest in participation this assures the possibilities to pay the and [email protected] loan back. By mid October, LASALA has 228 par- http://iclei.org/europe/lasala/ ticipants from 29 countries, which is ful- Further information: ly in accordance with the project expec- http://www.dipoli.hut.fi/org/otaeco/ tations. Of these cities, 164 (72 per cent)

18 BCB Environment 2/00 News in Brief -News in Brief - News in Brief - News in Brief - News in Brief -News in Exhibition on Anti-fouling Willow as Energy Producer By Alicija Kostecka Paints Seeking for Partners In a year, 50- 70 m3 of timber mass from The Baltic Sea Center, Project Office, in one hectar of willow plantation can be Vordingborg, Denmark, is looking for produced which equals 10-15 tons of a partners to show a travelling exhibition dry matter. The energetic value of one on the initiatives to change the use of ton of dry timber matter equals 4.5 MWh, biocides and poisonous metals in anti- which is 1 ton of coal dust or 0.5 ton of fouling paint for small boats, yachts and fuel oil. The production cycle of willow merchants vessels. lasts for 4 years. Willow might not be used only as renewable energy source, but The theme of anti-fouling paint will be also for sewage sediment and liquid ma- dealt with in an exhibition arranged by nure management. It can be also used for the Baltic Sea Center (ØCV) in Vord- reclamation of polluted and industrial ingborg. A special target group will be areas, landfill sites, etc. authorities, organisations and individu- als working with Agenda 21 in harbour Wierzbinek, with a population of 8.3 areas and marinas. The exhibition is ex- thousand, is a rural gmina in the Konin pected to begin early summer 2001. Poviat. There is no industrial activity, Read about LEAP therefore the unemployment rate is high. The exhibition will come in a Danish In 1998 the Council decided to add wil- The Guide to Implementing Local Envi- version. Number of versions on other lan- low fairs called SALIX, into the agenda. ronmental Action Programs in Eastern guages depends on funding and number Apart from promotion of the willow plan- and Central Europe is a comprehensive of interested parties. Baltic Sea Center tation, products made out from willow, resource book, distilling over 8 years of will seek funding for translation, copy- hay, straw, wood, and souvenirs, were Institute for Sustainable Communities’ ing and transport to destinations in Po- exhibited in the first SALIX fairs in 1998. (ISC) local environmental action program land, the Russian Federation, Lithuania, The well-developed fairs resulted in wil- (LEAP) experience. It is designed to as- Estonia and Latvia. low seedlings cultivation managed by the sist municipal government officials, rep- Wierzbinek Municipal Enterprise. resentatives of non-governmental organ- izations (NGOs), citizens, and others to Further information: better manage local environmental prob- Further information: Mr. Søren Espersen lems while strengthening democratic Mr. Pawel Kurz, Mayor , Tel: +45-55 35 35 82 processes at the local level. E-mail: [email protected] Phone: +48 63 261 13 80 Fax + 48 63 261 13 81 The Guide is intended to serve as an in- troductory reference on basic planning methods and tools that have been used by some local governments and NGOs BLA21F Activities in Estonia in the region. It provides a clearly out- In August the national Baltic Local Agen- lined step-by-step approach in LEAP de- da 21 Forum (BLA21F) seminar was or- Baltic Meeting Point velopment and implementation, encour- ganised in Pärnu, Estonia. Estonian Min- aging readers to consider each commu- istry of the Environment, Association of Baltic Meeting Ppoint is a forum for the nity’s unique circumstances, needs, and Local Authorities and various actors of frequent discussion of sustainable com- priorities. It includes also numerous case communal level participated. Participants munity development in the BSR. Its aim studies from communities in the region. were committed to promote the Baltic 21 is to bring together the people who have at the local level by national BLA21F the knowledge and means to initiate new working group. National co-ordinator is management, technology and business To obtain a copy: Ms. Ille Alsaar from the Association of opportunities within the region, and to Ms. Agata Miazga Local Authorities another contact person help them keep regular contact with each Regional Environmental Center is Ms. Irja Alakivi from Tartu. other. for Central and Eastern Europe The meeting also decided to make a pro- Ph. +36 26 311 199 ext. 407 posal to form a local level sub-commis- On 6-9 May, 2001 there will be Forum E-mail: [email protected] sion for Estonian Sustainable Develop- on Sustainable Community Development ment Commission. The proposal was giv- in Uppsala, Sweden. More information on LEAP: en to the Prime Minister in September. UBC is one of the partners of the event. Mr. P. Markowitz or Ms. G. Hallsmith One workshop is going to be organised Institute for Sustainable Communities More information on BLA21F: by the UBC. The topic will most likely Tel:8022292900 Mr. Kari Porra to be related with co-operation between E-mail: Tel: +358 3 8165121 the cities and the universities. Also a short [email protected]; [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] working meeting of UBC EnvCom is or- Ms. Irja Alakivi ganised in the same occasion. Tel: +372 7 440157 E-mail: [email protected] Moreinformation: www.balticmeetingpoint.com

BCB Environment 2/00 19 We Would Like to Thank Our Partners and Readers for the Past Year and Wish You All the Best Season’s Greetings

UBC Commission on Environment Coming Events BLA21F Working Group SUFA and BCP Workshops Meeting will be held in January in Russia. The exact date is not will be organised for project participants in April. Exact dates known at the time of editing this bulletin. During the spring and locations will be decided in January. meetings will be held also in Sweden and in Norway. More information can be obtained from: Mr Kari Porra or Ms. Baltic Meeting Point (BMP) Päivi Hippeläinen. Tel:+358-3-816 5117. E-mail:[email protected] or The Baltic Meeting Point Conference will be organised in Upp- [email protected]. sala, 6-9 May. The UBC is involved in the planning of the event, and will most likely be responsible of one of the work- UBC Local Agenda 21 Working Group and shops. The exact topic is still under consideration, but the gen- eral theme will be connected to co-operation of cities and uni- Baltic 21 JO4 Meeting versities. These meeting are planned to be held 8-10 March in Liepaja On the occasion of the BMP, the UBC Commission on Envi- (to be confirmed). All interested are welcome to participate. ronment will also organise a working meeting (half a day). More information: Mr. Risto Veivo, Tel:+358-2-230 2030 More info from: E-mail: [email protected] www.balticmeetingpoint.com, and from the respective UBC Secretariats. UBC Board Open Meeting The meeting will be held 17-18 March 2001 in Cecis, Latvia. VI UBC General Conference On the agenda are up-date of UBC Agenda 21 Action Pro- will be organised in Rostock in October. All UBC commis- gram, and proposal of Gender Equality analysis of new UBC sions will meet on the occasion of the Conference, and also the activities by 3R method. All interested member cities are wel- Best Environmental Practice in Baltic Cities Award Ceremony come to participate. will take place - now for the second time. More information can be obtained from UBC Secretariat in For more information, see www.ubc.net. Gdansk. Tel: +48-583 019123 E-mail:[email protected]