News for topic Green-governance

The project marks a new chapter in the EU’s Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030” by shifting from an initial phase of research and pilot projects to a second phase where focus is on upscaling solutions by supporting community-led initiatives and local transitions.

On 1–3 October 2025, over 70 urban leaders, climate experts, and changemakers gathered in Malmö, Sweden, for the annual Union of the Baltic Cities Sustainable Cities Commission meeting. Under the theme “Creating Climate-Proof and Nature-Positive Cities Together,” the event became a powerful platform for cities across the Baltic Sea Region to collaborate on urgent environmental challenges – and the solutions needed to meet them.

Our UBC Sustainable Cities Commission teamed up with the Turku University of Applied Sciences in organising a joint session, building on the research, piloting and data findings within the EMPEREST and NonHazCity3 projects. The objective of the panel was to explore how the harmful effects of hazardous substances on nature, people, and the circular economy can be minimized.

Dear colleagues, We are pleased to invite you to take part in the mid-term evaluation survey of the UBC Sustainability Action Programme 2030 (UBC SAP 2030).

We are happy to announce that the 2025 disclosure cycle of the CDP-ICLEI Track is opening tomorrow on June 18!

The webinar brought together experts and local authorities from across the Baltic Sea Region to explore integrated strategies for climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction. It was opened by Agnieszka Ilola, Head of Secretariat at the UBC Sustainable Cities, and Kaspars Vārpiņš, Chairman of the UBC Safe Cities, outlining the priorities for local authorities to increase climate resilience.

Throughout June 2025, UBC SCC organized a set of 3 training events to increase understanding of plastic pollution consequences and prevention methods for local authorities in the Baltic Sea Region. In these series, we have educated over 70 experts in sustainability, circular economy and climate!

"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

This spring, our Commission highlighted the Baltic Sea Region as the forerunner in innovative solutions to water pollution on the most prominent arenas! We organised a workshop at the EU Mission Ocean Arena in Sopot and launched the EMPEREST 4th workshop in Szczecin to share latest knowledge with the local authorities and operators.

The national award was given to the City of Greifswald recognising the city's outstanding progress in the area of resilient urban development, particularly in Schönwalde I and II districts. Within the framework of the urban development funding programs Greifswald has focused specifically on the sustainable improvement of infrastructure and the creation of climate-friendly living spaces.

Climate-4-CAST, launched in November 2023 and co-funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme, is led by a consortium of 10 partners from Denmark, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Poland, and Sweden, with support from 14 Associated Organisations.

The path to a climate-neutral, circular and toxic-free future just gained momentum with the launch of ChemClimCircle-2 project. Representatives from 22 partner organizations gathered in Riga on 19-21 March to kick off this three-year initiative.