CBD

Distr. GENERAL

18 January 2018

ENGLISH ONLY REGIONAL WORKSHOP TO FACILITATE THE DESCRIPTION OF ECOLOGICALLY OR BIOLOGICALLY SIGNIFICANT MARINE AREAS (EBSAs) IN THE BALTIC SEA AND TRAINING SESSION ON EBSAs , , 19-24 February 2018

Information Note for Participants

QUICK LINKS (Control + click on icons for web page, click on page number to directly access text in document)

INFORMATION HIGHLIGHTS

Visa Information (page 4) 1. OPENING ...... 2

2. VENUE ...... 2

4. DOCUMENTS ...... 2

Meeting Documents (page 2) 5. GENERAL INFORMATION ON LOCATIONS IN HELSINKI ...... 2

6. ARRIVING IN HELSINKI, FINLAND ...... 2 ANNEX A – MAP TO VENUE ...... 6

Hotel Information (page 4) 7. VISA INFORMATION ...... 4

8. HOTEL INFORMATION ...... 4

10. WEATHER AND TIME ZONE

Weather Information (page 4) INFORMATION ...... 4

Currency Information (page 5)

1. Opening

The Regional Workshop to Facilitate the Description of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) in the Baltic Sea and Training Session on EBSAs will be held in Helsinki Finland from Monday, 19 February to Saturday, 24 February 2018. The workshop will start at 9:00 a.m. (EET) on Monday, 19 February, and registration will take place from 8:30 a.m. at the workshop venue.

2. Venue

The meeting will be held at:

Marina Congress Center Katajanokanlaituri 6 00160 Helsinki FINLAND Tel: +358-10-808-002 Website: http://www.marinacongresscenter.com/en

The HELCOM Secretariat offices are also located in the Marina Congress Center building. The venue is shown on Google Maps as well as in the annex to this document (page 5).

3. Working language of the workshop

The meeting will be held in English.

4. Documents

Participants are kindly reminded to bring their own copies of the documents for the workshop as there will be no extra copies made available on site during the workshop. Documents will be available on the workshop web page as they are ready:

https://www.cbd.int/meetings/EBSAWS-2018-01

5. General information on locations in Helsinki

A map with the location of the venue and the HELCOM Secretariat, transport points, hotels, restaurants and other points of interest can be found here. For more information on Helsinki please see the Visit Helsinki website.

6. Arriving in Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki is serviced by the Helsinki- Airport (19 km north of Helsinki city centre). To reach the city centre from the airport:

The Finnair City Bus operates between the airport and city centre (Elielinaukio) every 20 minutes and takes around 30 minutes. A single ticket costs 6.20€ when purchased online in advance or 6.30€ from the driver (Euros and Visa / MasterCard accepted). The last bus stop is at

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Elielinaukio, next to the Helsinki railway station, from where you can either walk to the venue/hotel (15-20 minutes—see map in annex A, page 5), take trams 4 or 5, or you can take a taxi (~11 euros).

The trains P and I between Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and the Helsinki city centre take about 30 minutes. Schedules, ticket prices and routes are available at the Helsinki Regional Transport (HSL) website. At the airport you can buy a train ticket at the following locations:

o HSL ticket machines (by the entrance of the train station; at the airport at baggage claim 2B) o Alepa Grocery Store (T2 Arrivals Hall 2B) o WH Smith (T1 Departure Hall) o WH Smith (T2 Departure Hall) o R-kioski (T2 Arrivals Hall 2A)+6 o Tourist information (T2 Arrivals Hall 2A) o HSL Mobile Ticket app

Please note that you must buy a ticket before boarding; it is not possible to buy a ticket onboard the train.

Buses 615 and 415 (at the airport from outside the terminals, and in the city centre (615 from Rautatientori, and 415 from Elielinaukio) are operated by HSL. You need to have a regional ticket, which can be purchased from HSL ticket machines, R-kiosks or HSL mobile application (5€) or directly from the driver with cash (5.50€). At night you can also take the 415N night bus from Elielinaukio. The bus stops for both arriving and departing buses are located in front of the airport terminals.

Please note that these buses are slower than the train or the Finnair City Bus, taking 50-60 minutes to/from the airport. Both bus and train depart to and from the airport every 10-20 minutes. More information on local transportation can be found at http://www.reittiopas.com. If you take the train or bus to the Helsinki railway station you can either walk to the venue (15-20 minutes—see map in annex, page 5), take trams 4 or 5, or you can take a taxi (~11 euros).

The regional ticket is valid on trains, buses and trams for 80 minutes from the time of purchase – so if you arrived from the airport to the city centre by train or bus you can continue by tram to the venue with the same ticket (as long as you switch within 80 minutes, you don’t need to finish the trip within that time). Please note that the Finnair City Bus ticket is not valid on other transport methods.

Taxis are available outside the arrivals hall at a cost of about 50€ directly to the venue (Marina Congress Center), and the journey takes about 35 minutes.

Trains from St. Petersburg, Russian Federation arrive at the Central Railway Station, from where it is possible to take a tram (trams 4 and 5) or a taxi to the venue.

Ferries from Stockholm, Sweden and Tallinn, Estonia arrive in one of the three ferry terminals in the city. Please see this map for more details.

A printable Helsinki map can be found here.

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7. Visa information

Participants requiring a visa for Finland (Schengen visa) are strongly advised to contact the nearest Finnish diplomatic or consular mission as soon as possible in order to secure the required entry visa in a timely manner, prior to departure.

A list of relevant Finnish diplomatic/consular missions abroad is available on the web site of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland here.

Information on application procedures for a Finnish visa can be found here.

To facilitate the issuance of visas, the Secretariat will issue, upon request, visa-assistance letters to be attached to the visa applications.

8. Hotel information

Participants are kindly reminded that they must make their own hotel reservations. It is advisable to reserve rooms as early as possible. Participants may make use of the HELCOM prices at Scandic Hotels (e.g., the Scandic Marina next to the venue), which provide a 7% discount on FLEX prices when you provide the customer number D627003494 when making an online booking.

Additional hotel options can be found here.

9. Official languages in Finland

The official languages in Finland are Finnish and Swedish.

10. Weather and time zone information

February is one of the coldest months of the year in Helsinki, with temperatures varying between 5°C (32°F) and -20°C (-4°F), and an average temperature of -5°C (23°F). Please bring warm clothing for cold temperatures. More information on the weather conditions can be found under “practical information” here.

The standard time zone in Finland is Eastern European Time (EET), GMT/UTC +2 hours.

11. Electricity

The electrical currents in Finland are 230 Volts, 50 Hertz, and the plugs are as shown in the illustration below.

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12. Currency

The currency in Finland is the Euro (€).

13. Disclaimer

The CBD Secretariat disclaims all responsibilities for medical, accident and travel insurances, for compensation for death or disability compensation, for loss of or damage to personal property and for any other losses that may be incurred during travel time or the period of participation. In this context, it is strongly recommended that participants will secure international medical, accident and travel insurances for the period of participation prior to departure.

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Annex A – Map to Venue

Arriving to the Helsinki city centre 1. Finnair City Bus stop (at the Elielinaukio square) 2. Taxi stand (at the corner of the railway station) 3. Train station (main doors of railway station) 4. Bus 614 / 615 stop (at the Rautatientori square) 5. Tram stop from railway station to the venue / HELCOM (Ylioppilastalo stop on Aleksanterinkatu Street - trams 4 / 4T / 5 to Katajanokka) 6. Tram stop nearest to the venue / HELCOM (Kauppiaankatu stop on Kruunuvuorenkatu Street)

4. 1. 3. 2.

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Walking directions from the city centre to the venue A. Helsinki Railway Station (follow the streets Kaivokatu – Keskuskatu – Pohjoisesplanadi – Katajanokanlaituri) B. Venue (Scandic Marina Congress Center / HELCOM). The distance is approximately 1,7 km (15-20 minutes’ walk).

Arriving to Helsinki city centre from the airport and the route from the Central Railway Station to the venue/hotel. Please see this map for more details.

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