Dear UBC colleagues,
The start of the year has been extremely challenging and sorrowful in our region, and once again we recognise the importance of cooperation, solidarity and mutual support in one of the most severe crises so far. Over 30 years we have been building together trust and partnerships that are essential for changing our region and cities to more inclusive, attractive, and sustainable. Despite turbulences we still strongly believe in those values and accelerate our efforts in connecting the cities in our Baltic Sea Region.
At the Commission meeting in Greifswald, we finally had a pleasure of real-life networking and exchange, a chance to collect your ideas and needs, to act on them in the coming year. During the meeting, we also received the wonderful news about the cities selected for the EU Mission: 100 climate-neutral and smart cities – we are proud to note that 12 of them are UBC members. As the process of reaching carbon neutrality by 2030 intensifies, we will be supporting cities participating in the Mission and following this process to ensure our regional expertise and successes are recognized globally.
One of the cooperation formats scaling up the development and uptake of innovative solutions traditionally are our joint projects. With the European Commission adopting Interreg Baltic Sea Region and Central Baltic Programmes 2021–2027 covering most of our cities, we are eagerly awaiting the results of several submitted applications in different sustainability subjects and look forward to new ideas. We plan to address further local challenges through the coming calls, and already now invite you to save the date (24 August, more information below) for the project development workshop on biodiversity. Let’s discuss your cities’ plans and measures, and together enable nature positive future!
As we explore different opportunities for developing and revitalising urban areas, we also invite you to apply for the funding in developing your energy management plan! The European City Facility has launched the 4th and the last call last week, and we invite cities to apply for the financial support in developing investment concepts to accelerate investments in sustainable energy.
Last but not least, we warmly invite you to explore and take into active use our newly launched website! It demonstrates more prominently the member cities’ achievements, news and events, and highlights participation in joint projects and initiatives. We hope you will enjoy using the new website as our joint communication tool and source of inspiration. The member city pages are largely based on the content we receive from you, so don’t hesitate to reach us anytime with your most interesting updates!
Sunny summer greetings,
Agnieszka Ilola
Acting Head of Secretariat
Union of the Baltic Cities Sustainable Cities Commission