EUSBSR Annual Forum 2024 in Visby
The Annual Forum 2024 of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region welcomes the stakeholders to Visby on the island of Gotland, Sweden. The forum takes place over two days on 30-31 October, with an optional Engagement Day (side event) on 29 October. With the overall themes of Sustainability, Resilience, and Security, the forum aims to deepen our understanding and enhance collaborative efforts in these critical areas. This year’s forum is structured around four core elements: Engagement, Co-creation, Policy Dialogues, and the Networking Village.
Visit Visby in October for co-creation, policy dialogues and of course networking! Interactive workshops, panel discussions, and seminars invite participants to discuss challenges and to elaborate on solutions. Central to the forum, policy dialogues address the strategic objectives of the EUSBSR. These discussions range from large plenary sessions to focused panels, each tackling key aspects of the Strategy and exploring solutions to enhance the Baltic Sea Region’s development. The Networking Village serves as a social hub for informal exchanges and spontaneous connections. Located at the heart of the forum, it’s a place for participants to meet between sessions, start new conversations, and spark collaborations. The 14 Policy Areas, Pan-Baltic organisations, the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme, the Swedish Institute, and other financial programmes will be represented.
Don't miss the Engagement Day on 29 October!
The Engagement Day is an opportunity for not yet engaged stakeholders to get acquainted with the Strategy and learn how the Strategy can support their strategic objectives. The day is aimed at representatives from municipalities, regions, civil society, youth organisations, and the business sector. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss their cooperation ideas related to eight policy areas: bioeconomy, health, culture, nutri, security, tourism, education, and hazards. Ukrainian experts will also participate to discuss cooperation opportunities to strengthen ties between the Baltic Sea region and Ukraine.
Meet with UBC at the Forum
UBC stand in the Networking village
You can find representatives of UBC, including our Sustainable Cities Commission in the Networking village of the Annual Forum! We will be at the joint stand of the Union of the Baltic Cities.
Seminar: Let’s Talk About PFAS: Connecting PFAS Strategies in the BSR
Time: 30 October 2024, 14:30-16:00
PA Hazards, in cooperation with the Baltic Sea PFAS network, UBC Sustainable Cities Commission, and other key stakeholders is organising a seminar about PFAS. This seminar especially targets local authorities, so we warmly welcome UBC member cities to join us there!
PFAS pollution in the environment affects the everyday life of citizens all around the Baltic Sea Region and globally. Municipalities are often tasked with dealing with this challenge, but several countries in the BSR region lack a national strategy. Cooperation is key, and there are several interesting cooperation structures that are developing joint methodologies for municipalities, regions and other actors. A panel of experts, tackling the problem from different angles, will give their solutions to the problems.
In the second part of the seminar, participants are invited to share their ideas and pledges to support strategies to prevent and clean up PFAS in the Baltic Sea Region. Come have your say, pose questions to experts and learn more about PFAS, or discover what your own organisation can do!
During the session, UBC Sustainable Cities Commission will highlight the actions against PFAS from its project EMPEREST.