Committee of Senior Representatives (CSR) Twenty third Meeting Berlin, 24-25 April 2014

Reference CSR 23/3/Info 1 EUSBSR newsletter featuring a NDPHS Secretariat article and an Title interview with the Director of the NDPHS Secretariat Submitted by Secretariat Summary / Note This issue of the EUSBSR newsletter includes an article by the NDPHS Secretariat, entitled “Innovative collaboration model to reduce hazardous alcohol and drug consumption,” as well as an interview with the Director of the NDPHS Secretariat (pages 4 and 5). Requested action For information

APRIL 2014

News

CONTENT Turku Days 5th Annual Forum of the EUSBSR In focus - Priority Area ‘Health’ EDITORIAL Growing together

The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea The soon 5 year old baby, EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, has Region (EUSBSR) is the first macro- grown, it walks and speaks now, and is finding its own will. But it still regional strategy in Europe. It aims at needs guidance and support. reinforcing cooperation within this large region in order to face common chal- lenges by working together as well as Improving leadership and governance of the EUSBSR has been a central promoting a more balanced development topic in our recent gatherings. Commissioner Johannes Hahn gave us as in the area. homework from : the Baltic Sea region has to become captain of its own ship. We should not expect the Commission to push us forward www.balticsea-region.eu endlessly.

The EUSBSR newsletter is coordinated The group of NCPs has discussed the issue and adopted a joint Non by INTERACT Point Turku with the paper. We see that the political leadership should lie on the EUSBSR support of the European Commission, Member States but the strategic coordination and monitoring should DG Regional Policy. INTERACT Point remain by the European Commission. We also want to make best use Turku is funded by INTERACT which is of existing cooperation. In the Baltic Sea region we have a long history co-financed by the European Regional of cooperation in many well established bodies. That is why we are Development Fund (ERDF). reluctant to new structures but underline coherence between EUSBSR and CBSS, Northern Dimension, HELCOM etc.

We also want to ensure the EU integrity of the EUSBSR and improve the link to EU institutions. The EUSBSR is not only a joint declaration of Member States around the Baltic Sea. It is an EU Strategy. Closer ties between relevant policy sectors of the EU and the EUSBSR priority areas are needed.

The discussion will continue in the 5th Annual Forum of the EUSBSR in The EUSBSR newsletter has been made Turku when the Commission has given its communication on govern- available for download in pdf format at ance of all macro-regional strategies. After that, Council Conclusions www.balticsea-region.eu on the issue will be prepared. I hope that what needs improvement Publisher: INTERACT Point Turku, on will be improved and the best solutions for each region found, using behalf of the INTERACT Programme. the resources we have, avoiding unrealistic expectations and encourag- ing stakeholders on all levels. Editorial team: Gabriel Alvarez, Baiba Liepa ‘Growing together – for a prosperous, inclusive and connected Baltic Sea region’ is the main theme of the 5th Annual Forum of the EUSBSR Contributors to this issue: Erja Tikka, and the 16th BDF Summit on 3-4 June in Turku. I look forward to lively Axel Rød, Shawnna Robert, Marek Maciejowski discussions, fruitful networking, showcases of concrete results so far and a lot of inspiration for us all. Welcome to Turku! Original layout template: Södra tornet kommunikation

Cover photo: City of Turku

Print: KMG Printworks | April 2014 Erja Tikka EUSBSR National Contact Point Contact: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, INTERACT Point Turku Box 236 | Itsenäisyydenaukio 2 20101 Turku, Finland On the front cover page During the first week of June 2014, Turku will host major mari- [email protected] time, business and cultural events including the 5th Annual Forum of the EUSBSR which will be held together with the 16th Baltic Development Forum Summit.

2 EUSBSR NEWS POLICY SIDE

During the first week of June 2014, Turku will be the venue of major maritime, business and cultural events related to the Baltic Sea region. Turku Baltic Sea Days welcome the 5th Annual Forum of the EUSBSR

The event, held together with the 16th Baltic Development Forum Summit, is entitled ‘Growing together - for a prosperous, inclusive and connected Baltic Sea region’

On 3 and 4 June, Turku will host the This year the event is to a large 5th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy Will the business community extent targeted at the private sec- for the Baltic Sea Region, organised grab the opportunities that tor. How can we together facilitate jointly with the joint 16th Summit of arise from the EUSBSR? Come strengthened growth in the Baltic Sea the Baltic Development Forum. to Turku on 3-4 June 2014 region? How does the private sector The event, part of a week dedi- and find out! see its role in delivering joint objec- cated to Baltic Sea region coopera- tives of the Strategy, when it comes tion in Turku, marks a milestone for to creating jobs, making shipping the EUSBSR. The Strategy, now in its on how to reach our common aims. cleaner and safer, improving agricul- fifth year, has until now been operat- And let’s be clear: good governance tural practices or commercialising ing with limited resources dedicated of a strategy is about making things research? through European Structural and happen so that the objectives may be Over the past year we have been Investment funds. 2014 marks the reached. In other words, everything informed by the scientific community start of a new funding period, and the we do in the name of the Strategy that the societal benefits from saving expectation is that the participating should contribute to the objectives, the Baltic Sea outweigh the costs. We countries will dedicate resources from directly or indirectly. This applies suggest that releasing this benefit to the European funds as well as mobiliz- to thematic relevance as well as to the wider region requires cooperation ing national, regional, local and pri- impact. and coordinated action between the vate sector resources toward reaching At the end of the day the Strategy countries in the Region. We further the shared objectives. is about making choices, some actions suggest that the willingness of public Furthermore, the event marks an are pursued at the expense of others. authorities to pursue joint strategic important milestone to the exten- We know that the choices needed to objectives will translate into commer- sive review process on the EUSBSR reach the objectives of the Strategy cial opportunities and growth ben- and macro-regional cooperation in are not easily made - and therefore eficial to the wider region. Will the general. The European Commission require the involvement of the ap- business community grab the opportu- will present its report on governance propriate policy-making structures in nities that arise from the EUSBSR? of macro-regional strategies, with the each participating country as well as Come to Turku on 3-4 June 2014 and aim to facilitate fruitful discussions at the level of the . find out! •

EUSBSR NEWS 3 SUCCESS STORIES Innovative collaboration model to reduce hazardous alcohol and drug consumption Two projects under Priority Area ‘Health’ strengthened local communities in their ability to develop and implement effective and sustainable prevention approaches among youngsters

Harmful use of alcohol and illicit drugs can lead to dependence disorders and ultimately have severe effects on public health. The early onset of alcohol and risky alcohol consumption during adolescence increases the risk- for alcohol related health problems in adulthood. Successful preventive work to reduce the effects of harmful use of alcohol and illicit substances must target the whole population, including youth. Recognising a need to spearhead regional collaboration in this field, the NDPHS established a Task Group on Alcohol and Drug Prevention among Youth (ADPY TG) with the mission to facilitate the development and implementation of regional projects addressing the above problems. Three years later, two projects that ran for The above graphic shows a model of collaboration between different sectors in solving prob- lems of alcohol use among young people. 12-14 months are now complete. One project focused on the Baltic Sea region and received co-financing These findings are helping to promote future. Further, the competences of from the European Union. The a more holistic approach to preven- municipal specialists were improved other project focused on tion by improving cooperation and through the development and imple- and and was financed by the developing a better understanding mentation of training workshops, and Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care among the different actors on their political support for alcohol and drug Services. The partnerships included roles and responsibilities. prevention amongst youth issues has 5 municipalities, 5 additional part- Many new contacts were estab- increased. ners, and were lead by the NDPHS lished and new knowledge gained both The outcome for the target group Secretariat and the Swedish Council within the municipalities and beyond (public health specialists, practition- for Information on Alcohol and Other them. Notably, cooperation between ers and policy-makers/politicians, Drugs (CAN) respectively. primary health care physicians and social pedagogues, school nurses) and Together, both projects aimed school public health specialists has beneficiaries (the participating local to contribute to reducing risky and improved, though there are still communities) is the strengthened abil- harmful alcohol and drug consumption opportunities for further improved ity to deal with the alcohol and drug among young people by strengthening cooperation. prevention issues at a local level. • local communities in their ability to Another outcome is the develop- develop and implement effective and ment and piloting of a cooperation The article on ‘Innovative collabo- sustainable prevention approaches. model. This model has been integrat- ration model to reduce hazardous The projects developed community ed in the practice of municipalities as alcohol and drug consumption’ readiness reports that reveal those a useful instrument for developing, has been written by Shawnna working in the prevention field are planning and organising coopera- Robert, project assistant at the knowledgeable about the subject yet tion of different sectors, institutions NDPHS Secretariat. Contact: often do not know about the activities and specialists at a local level and [email protected] of other actors in the municipality. will continue to be applied in the

4 EUSBSR NEWS IN FOCUS - PRIORITY AREA ‘HEALTH’ “We help stakeholders to join forces in their planned interventions” Marek Maciejowski is the coordinator for Priority Area ‘Health’, representing the Northern Dimension Public Health and Social Well-being (NDPHS) as the organisation in lead

How does the NDPHS act as priority area coordinator? “We are the lead partner of The NDPHS is an international part- a new EU funded project on nership that was established in 2003 HIV prevention among youth, to cooperate on public health and so- and hope it will be accepted cial well-being issues in the Baltic Sea soon as a flagship project” region. Its member countries include Marek Maciejowski, Priority Area ‘Health’. , Finland, Germany, , , Norway, , Russia and during the 2014-2020 programming and young people; (iii) choose the . period. The momentum of the confer- best practices for subsequent piloting As the director of the Secretariat ence continued in the weeks that in selected locations; (iv) develop a of the NDPHS I am the main contact followed as the participants worked to training programme for stakehold- point for the Priority Area, but it is prepare applications to receive up to ers, and, finally, (v) disseminate the the entire NDPHS network itself that €45,000 of NDPHS seed money provid- results and train professionals to im- is the Priority Area Coordinator. This ed by the German Ministry of Health. plement the best practices. We hope means that, depending on the nature Two state of play reports contribut- this project will soon be accepted as a of the decision, all of the bodies ing to projects discussed during the flagship project. of the organisation are involved in roundtable session were completed the development of Priority Area as a result of this incentive, and we How are regional strategies address- activities, including our Expert hope to see main project applications ing health and well-being challenges Groups and our Committee of Senior resulting from this work. coming closer together? Representatives. This also means that Besides supporting up-and-coming The NDPHS is currently working on representatives from all the NDPHS projects, the NDPHS Secretariat developing a new Strategy and Action countries are involved in the coordi- occasionally leads projects from a Plan covering up to 2020. This will nation of Priority Area Health. The en- management perspective to help be the first NDPHS Strategy and gagement of non-EU countries makes the other partners ensure the strict Action Plan since the launching of the process even stronger. requirements attached to EU-funding the EUSBSR. As the NDPHS works to are met and to allow them to focus on define how it could best add value to How is the NDPHS supporting flag- the expert-issues of the project. health and social well-being work in ship project development? In September 2013, the NDPHS the region, it will take into considera- In bringing interested stakeholders Secretariat launched, as the lead tion the aims and goals of the various together, we help them find ways partner, a new EU funded project on strategies in the Northern Dimension to join forces among their planned HIV prevention among youth. Already area, including the EUSBSR and interventions. For example, thanks to well underway, this project aims to: Russia’s Strategy of social and eco- EU funding, we were able to gather (i) develop a methodology for the nomic development of the North-West representatives from health and social assessment of needs of children and Federal District until 2020. The results well-being stakeholder organisations young people at high risk of getting of this work will inform any potential for a conference held on the side- HIV and AI; (ii) map best practices in update the description and prioritised lines of the 4th Annual Forum of the HIV prevention among children and actions under Priority Area ‘Health’. EUSBSR. Over 70 participants built young people experimenting with By the conclusion of this exercise, the partnerships and elaborated project drugs, children and young people in- existing strategies addressing health concepts with the intention of having volved or at high risk of being involved and social well-being topics should be project applications prepared in time into commercial sexual exploitation nicely in-line to support each other in for the first round of funding calls as well as among migrant children the coming years. •

EUSBSR NEWS 5 NEWS IN BRIEF

Poland hosts the EUSBSR Information Day

Europe Direct Szczecin, Poland in close cooperation with INTERACT Point Turku and Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission organised the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) Information Day. The event brought together more than 60 par- ticipants and aimed at providing initial knowledge and strengthening common understanding on the EUSBSR mat- ters to the stakeholders that have no knowledge or a little knowledge about the EUSBSR. • Over 60 participants joined the EUSBSR Information Day in Szczecin, Poland. | BAIBA LIEPA

Thematic call open under Report from the 4th Annual EUSBSR seed money facility Forum of the EUSBSR

The last call for projects to be funded A report from the 4th Annual Forum of from the EUSBSR seed money facil- the EUSBSR, presented in the form of ity is now open. The call is open for a journal, has been produced with the project preparation targeting the fol- aim to capture and register defining lowing priority areas of the EUSBSR: elements that were expressed at the Priority Area SMEs and Priority Area event. The journal is a collection of Internal Market. Deadlines: 25 April keywords, names, ideas, suggestions 2014 for submission of project appli- and links to the Annual Forum videos. cations to Priority Area Coordinators; The elements presented provide con- 23 May 2014 for submission of the crete information points and facts and electronic version of the applica- serve as expression of commitment to tion to the seed money secretariat. working together on a common mat- More information to be found at: ter. The document will be available at http://seed.eusbsr.eu • the EUSBSR website. • Journal of 4th Annual Forum of the EUSBSR.

Handbook for EUSBSR A Beginner’s Guide to the beginners, released Baltic Sea Region Strategy has been produced Tillvaxtverket, the Swedish Agency by Tillväxtverket, for Economic and Regional Growth, the Swedish Agency for has recently produced a handbook Economic and for EUSBSR beginners. The docu- Regional Growth. ment includes information on the common objectives that the region is striving to achieve and the differ- ent ways people can contribute and work on a project. This publication is available at the EUSBSR website: www.balticsea-region.eu •

6 EUSBSR NEWS EVENTS

2 April 2014 26-30 May 2014 The Baltic Sea Region Strategy and the Baltic Maritime Forum Danube Region Strategy via the lens of Svetlogorsk, Russian Federation Energy Cooperation The II International Forum “Baltic Maritime Forum” which , Sweden will be held in Svetlogorsk, the resort town on the Baltic The seminar organised by the Embassy of Hungary in seaside of the region. Issues to be discussed Stockholm in cooperation with the European Commission include economic growth of coastal regions and fishing Representation in Sweden will provide an opportunity to clusters, safety of Navigation and modern GIS technology exchange experiences of the implementation of EU macro- in the marine industry and shipbuilding and ship repair regional policies in the field of energy, discuss past and among others. potential challenges and hardships, and reflect upon the future priorities. 1-5 June 2014 Turku Baltic Sea Days 3 April 2014 Turku, Finland During the first week of June 2014, Turku will be the Get creative, go Baltic venue of major maritime, business and cultural events: Brussels, Belgium -10th Summit of the Prime Ministers of the Council of the The event will address culture and creative industries in -Baltic Sea States (CBSS). the Baltic Sea area as drivers for economic growth and -16th Baltic Development Forum Summit and 5th Annual regional cooperation. Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. -XII Baltic Sea NGO Forum. 9-10 April 2014 … and many other interesting events. 5th Working Meeting of the EUSBSR , Estonia 3-4 June 2014 The main topic addresses operational aspects in the im- 5th Annual Forum of the EUSBSR plementation of the Strategy. The first day of the Meeting Turku, Finland will be devoted to discuss how to enhance cooperation The 5th Annual Forum of the EUSBSR, entitled ‘Growing and coordination within the EUSBSR. The discussion will together - for a prosperous, inclusive and connected Baltic concentrate primarily on the Priority Areas and Horizontal Sea region’, will be held together with the 16th Baltic Actions. The second day will be dedicated to exchange Development Forum Summit. The event is part of the views on how to organise daily coordination between Turku Baltic Sea Days which will include an array of many Priority Area Coordinators, Horizontal Action Leaders and different events having the Baltic Sea region as a common bodies in charge of different funding instruments within denominator. A special website for the 5th Annual Forum the framework of the EUSBSR. of the EUSBSR is to be found under: http://www.bsr2014.eu/ 23 April 2014 This website includes specific information about the event Baltic Sea Region Urban Forum for Smart as well as a link for registrations. Cities , Latvia 4-6 June 2014 The Baltic Development Forum together with the UBC EU-RU Innovation Forum Board and the City of Turku have taken the initiative to Lappeenranta, Finland prepare a concept for a ‘Baltic Sea Region Urban Forum The EU-Russia Innovation Forum, now arranged for the for Smart Cities’. The presentation and evaluation of the fourth consecutive time, brings together leaders with draft Baltic Urban Forum concept will take place as side fresh perspectives, researchers with the latest knowledge, event to the Energy Cities Annual Rendezvous. and pioneering business enterprises.

More information about events can be found at the EUSBSR website. Presentations, agendas and pro- grammes, reports and pictures have been also made available for download. Please visit www.balticsea-region-strategy.eu/pages/events

EUSBSR NEWS 7 DASHBOARD

New website for the EUSBSR

The EUSBSR website was first created in March 2012 aiming to serve as the main communication platform for the EUSBSR stakeholders. Two years later, the website has been revamped in order to offer a better quality of information showed in a more attrac- tive way. The structure of the website remains the same even though the display of the content looks more modern, intuitive, user-friendly and accessible. The main goal of this restructuring was two-fold: on the one hand, there was a need to highlight the country participation, Priority Areas and Horizontal Actions; on the other hand, the website allows for more flexbility in the implementation of modern web trends. In this respect, new function- alities have been created as part of the new setting: responsive design, a slideshow, flipbooks for newsletters and interactive smart-art graphics for Member States, Priority Areas and Horizontal Actions. Other features released under this service include embedding of videos from YouTube, live web streaming, social media shar- ing buttons and a new email service. The two website domains used so far (www.balticsea-region.eu and www.balticsea-region-strategy.eu) will keep working as such even though promotional materials, publications and email communication to stake- holders will show the shorter one for ease of recognition and consistency purposes following that of the EU

Strategy for the Danube Region The EUSBSR website shows information about the governance system, stakeholder activities, (www.danube-region.eu). • latest news and funding sources among others.

8 EUSBSR NEWS www.balticsea-region.eu