"Cities can react swiftly when new challenges evolve, they have better skills to maneuver the change."
- Anna-Kaisa Ikonen, Minister of Local and Regional Government of Finland
The conference celebrated hundreds of achievements, from collaborative networks to citizen workshops to concrete urban area enhancements, made possible in the BSR cities with the project funding. Our UBC Sustainable Cities Commission actively participated in the discussions, as we cooperate across borders to support UBC member cities with tangible opportunities for green and climate-smart change.
Through active networking with the conference participants, we shared the progress and achievements from EMPEREST and SUMPs for BSR projects that are led by our team, and disseminated the opportunities for capacity building in projects BALTIPLAST and ClimaResponse, in which we have the transfer multiplication role.
Overall, when highlighting tangible impacts of Interreg-funded initiatives, the conference showcased 129 projects from the Baltic Sea Region. One of them – Climate-4-CAST offered a study visit during the conference, joined by ca. 50 participants.
During the 3-hour meeting, project partners introduced the Climate Action Decision Support (CADS) Tool with cities of Tampere, Riga, and Östersund sharing their experiences in utilizing this tool for climate budgeting and emissions modelling, emphasizing the importance of data-driven decision-making in achieving climate neutrality. The project provides a great example of how Interreg BSR facilitates the development and dissemination of tools that empower municipalities to implement effective climate actions.
The meeting ended with a standing invitation: on 1 October 2025, our Commission and the Climate-4-CAST project invite all local authorities to the Climate Budget Summit in Malmö! There, we will explore inspiring actions taken up by cities working towards reaching climate neutrality, and how to maximise the achievability of climate plans with the help of climate budgeting. Welcome!
On the photo: Mariia Andreeva (UBC SCC) inviting everyone to the Climate Budget Summit. Photo by Climate-4-CAST project.
Official start for the project platforms
The conference in Tampere has marked the official start for the Operations of Strategic Importance: 8 Interreg BSR platforms launched to act on synergies between various existing projects.
On the photo: First meeting of the project platforms organised by the Interreg BSR MA/JS. Photo by Mariia Andreeva.
Our Commission leads the BSR Urban Mobility platform that supports cities and regions in sustainable urban mobility and logistics planning by providing them concrete tools and lessons learned developed by different urban mobility projects, and helping especially BSR urban nodes to fulfill the objectives of the revised TEN-T regulation.
We lead capacity building activities in the HAZGONE platform connecting over 150 experts from ca. 15 projects to inform local and national governments about prevention measures to reduce hazardous substances, and support wastewater treatment sector in implementing the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. Platform partners gathered for an informal kick-off to map and plan upcoming activities already on 19 May in Helsinki.
Last but not least, we participate the EnTRA platform that aggregates wide range of various projects’ results to increase the uptake of the developed solutions and tools on energy transition for climate neutrality.
Platforms are an important tool to reach out and support further the local governments, and we look forward to transferring more innovative solutions across the Baltic Sea region! Transnational projects boost concrete change in cities, allowing smart and flexible testing of ambitious and daring solutions – for the better and safer future of our citizens.