Dear UBC colleagues,
Now in October we have important events coming up for us. The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is organizing the Annual Forum and a series on workshop virtually. These are important and relevant for us, as we are right now in the phase of planning and deciding on our actions and cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region up until 2030!
Some messages and results have already come. The EUSBSR workshop on "Unlocking the nutrient recycling potential in the Baltic Sea Region" (30 September 2020) highlighted the importance of cross-sectoral cooperation and circular economy principles. To protect the state of the Baltic Sea, which is emphasized in the UBC Sustainability Action Programme, we need to manage nutrients more efficiency to stop the eutrophication – and 97% of the Baltic Sea is still affected by it, according to HELCOM. At the same time, we cannot afford to waste the nutrients – they are in the list of the finite resources, requiring closing the loop and turning to the sustainable use of water resources. Nutrients need to be managed more efficiency and there needs to be effort in protecting from leakages via stormwater streams and sludge handling. We will hear more results on the Annual Forum day!
Another EUSBSR workshop we are looking forward to is about "Reducing security risks related to the climate change and mainstreaming climate agenda in EUSBSR after 2020". It will be organized on 12 October 11.00–13.40 CET, register to join us and contribute to our discussion on how to strengthen regional cooperation on this topic.
And warm welcome to the main day of the 11th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region! The virtual event looking Towards a Decade of Innovation and Sustainability takes place on 20 October 2020 and the registration is still open.
During the Forum, we will take a look at the work done in the region in regards to innovations and sustainability, and will have a chance to hear more results from the workshops that were held prior to the main event. The UBC Sustainable Cities Commission has been involved in the co-organization of the two abovementioned workshops.
The role of the cooperation in these challenging times is unprecedented, but with these virtual meetings we can all participate in the different events!
We are facing the big challenges of the pandemic and the climate change, and to solve them we need to cooperate on knowledge sharing, latest research, and newest solutions to common challenges.
Björn Grönholm,
Head of Secretariat
Union of the Baltic Cities – Sustainable Cities Commission