| |  BSSSC Annual Conference 2008 in Kaunas, Lithuania
The 16 Annual Conference of BSSSC took place from Wednesday 17 till Friday 19 September 2008 (youth part from 16.09) in City of Kaunas, Lithuania. Kaunas County Governors Administration hosted the conference with more than 450 participants. The conference was carried out in close cooperation with the Committee of the Regions (CoR), the European Commission DG Regional Policy and the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013.
The main topic of the conference was “Shaping the future Baltic Sea Region - Sub-regional contribution to the EU Baltic Sea Strategy”. A Round table “How to make the Baltic Sea Region an Accessible and Attractive place” was an important part of the conference. The conference consisted of plenary sessions, parallel sessions/round tables, panel debate and a partner search forum (project idea café) for new projects within the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007 – 2013. Before the conference there was a youth seminar with 70 participants.
Forming Sub-regional contributions to the EU Baltic Sea Strategy was the objective of our Annual Conference, and based on the results a paper will be developed and forwarded to the EU Commission – as input to the strategy work. Regional and local authorities are important actors for stimulating concrete activities and initiatives. Local and regional authorities are important also for the involvement of private actors and for implementation of the EU Strategy in the Baltic Sea Region. The youth perspective on shaping the future Baltic Sea Region was given by youth participants from sub-regions around the whole Baltic Sea.
Please find the speeches and presentations from the 2008 BSSSC Annual Conference as well as the BSSSC Board’s Resolution from the Conference below.
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| | Session 1 - Welcoming speeches
BSSSC - Chairman Mr Arne Ören
Kaunas region - Governor Mr Romualdas Morkevicius
Committee of the Regions (CoR) – on behalf of President Mr Luc Van den Brande, Mr Uno Aldegren, Vice President
National authorities of Lithuania - State Secretary Mr Deividas Matulionis, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) - Ambassador Mr Karsten Petersen, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark
Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007 - 2013 – Minister of Interior of Lithuania, Mr Regimantas Èiupaila
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| | Session 2 - A sustainable and economically properous Baltic Sea Region
A sustainable and economically prosperous Baltic Sea Region – the need to promote deeper integration and competitiveness for the future
Baltic Sea Region from the EU perspective - European Commission DG Regional Policy, Deputy Director Mr Pasca-Raymondo
An EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region – State Secretary Mr Leif Zetterberg, Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communication, Sweden
Regions as important actors on the European arena, Vice President of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) Committee 1, Mr Håkan Sandgren, Sweden
Paradigm region: The Baltic Sea. Transformationprocesses and the importance of civil society structures, Prof. Bernd Henningsen, Humboldt University/Director of Department for
Northern European Studies and Head of Baltic Sea School
Youth voice – young people in the BSR expectations and visions for the future by Ms Alexandra Ehlers, youth members of BSSSC Board |
| | Session 3 – How to develop a strong sustainable and competitive BSR
2 parallel sessions and a round table with political debates and action oriented discussions - shaping subregional input/contributions to the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.
A Partner search café for BSR projects. |
| | Stimulating innovation
Stimulating innovation by using diversity and cooperation cross boarders as building blocks.
Chaired by: Professor habil. dr. Vytautas OSTASEVICIUS High-Technologies Development Institute/Kaunas Technical University
Ms Susanne Justesen, Copenhagen Business School
Mr Esa Kokkonen, Director, Baltic Institute of Finland
Mr Alf Johansen, Baltic Innovation Group
Ms Alevtina Zyuban, First pro-rector on scientific and innovative activity of St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation |
| | Maritime Policy
BSR as a maritime best practise region by 2015 (incl. Helcom action plan)
Chaired by Mr. Stefan Musiolik, Chairman of the BSSSC WG on Maritime Policy
Mr Pierre Schellekens, EU Commission DG Maritime affairs
Mr Uwe Döring, Vice-President of the Interregional Group ‘Baltic Sea Regions’ in the Committee of the Regions (CoR), Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Ms Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM
Ms Saima Kalev, CoR rapporteur on Maritime affairs, Estonia |
| | ROUNDTABLE - THE EU STRATEGY FOR THE BALTIC SEA REGION
THE EU STRATEGY FOR THE BALTIC SEA REGION ROUNDTABLE
"HOW TO MAKE THE BALTIC SEA REGION AN ACCESSIBLE AND ATTRACTIVE PLACE" |
| | Introductory session
Moderator: Mr Udo Biss, Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), Kiel, Germany
Mr Deividas Matulionis, State Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lithuania
Mr Knud Andersen, BSSSC Board member, Denmark
Mr Colin Wolfe, Head of Territorial Cooperation Unit, DG Regional Policy, European Commission
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| | Energy
Chairman: Mr Flemming Nielsen, Head of Department in the Energy Agency of the Ministry of Climate and Energy, Denmark
Short speeches:
Mr Jean-Arnold Vinois, Head of Energy policy & Security of supply Unit, DG Energy and Transport, European Commission
Prof. Wladyslaw Mielczarski , Coordinator for the TEN-E priority project ''Northern European Powerlink'', DG Energy and Transport, European Commission
Mr Jonas Kazlauskas, Energy Agency, Ministry for Economy, Lithuania
Mr Mart Jüssi, MP Estonia, Chairman of the BSPC WG on Sustainable Energy and Climate
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| |  Transport and logistics
Chairman: Mr Udo Biss, NDR, Germany Short speeches:
Mr Milosz Momot, Policy Officer, International Transport Relations & Trans-European Network Policy, DG Energy and Transport, European Commission
Mr Leif Zetterberg, State Secretary, Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications, Sweden
Mr Alminas Maciulis, State Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Lithuania
Ms. Annika Annerby-Jansson, BSSSC, Sweden |
| | Information society
Chairman: Mr Colin Wolfe, EU Commission, DG Regional Policy
Short speeches:
Mr Gordon Lennox, International Relations Officer, DG Information Society
Mr Aurimas Matulis, Information Society Development Committee under the Government of Republic of Lithuania (tbc)
Mr Ivar Petter Grötte, Western Norway Research Centre |
| | Quality of life
Quality of life – making the BSR an attractive place to live, work and visit (incl. sustainable communities, education, health, tourism)
Chairman: Mr Udo Aldegren, CoR/Board member BSSSC
Short speeches:
Mr Jean Peyrony, Urban Development and Territorial Cohesion Unit, DG Regional Policy, European Commission
Health and social wellbeing as important factor for quality of life and attractiveness of the BSR region, by Ms Toril Roscher-Nielsen, NDPHS
Sustainable cities and regions by Mr Björn Grönholm, Head of Secretariat, UBC Environmental WG, Finland
The Baltic Sea Region in the Global tourist market by Mr Vygintas Grinis, Baltic Sea Tourism Commission
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| |  Project idea café
Project idea café - partner search event Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007 – 2013, laying ground for concrete cooperation - contributing to a future prosperous Baltic Sea Region! Idea owners can present and discuss their project ideas in round table debates. |
| |  Session 4 -Towards a European Baltic Sea Strategy
Towards a European Baltic Sea Strategy – sub-regional contribution
Moderator: Mr Udo Biss, Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), Kiel, Germany
Contribution to shaping the future Baltic Sea Region – State Secretary Mr Carsten-Ludwig Lüdemann, City of Hamburg – incoming Chairman of BSSSC (2009 – 2010)
The Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being - a tool to help improve quality of life and public health in our region, Ms Toril Roscher-Nielsen, Chair of
CSR/NDPHS
A moderated panel debate incl. contribution from the audience – formulating input to the EU strategy for the BSR (based on the discussion from the parallel sessions and the Roundtable).
Moderator Mr Udo Biss, NDR
List of panel participants:
• Mr Pierre Schellekens, Head of Maritime Policy Baltic and North Sea Unit, European
Commission DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission
• Mr Colin Wolfe, Head of Territorial Cooperation Unit, DG Regional Policy, European Commission
• Ms Anne Christine Brusendorff, Secretary General HELCOM
• Mr Hans Brask, Director Baltic Development Forum (BDF)
• Mr Uno Aldegren, Chairman of the intergroup Baltic in CoR and member of BSSSC Board
• Prof. Bernd Henningsen, Humboldt University/Director of Department for Northern European Studies and Head of Baltic Sea School
• Ms Evgenia Demina, BSSSC Youth Network |
| |  Session 5 – End session
Closing speeches:
Mr Arne Ören, Eastern Norway County Network - BSSSC outgoing Chairman
Mr Gediminas Pavirzis, Member of Vilnius City Municipality Council, Head of the Lithuanian delegation to CoR
Mr Romualdas Morkevicius, Governor of Kaunas Region
Mr Peter Madsen, Zeeland Region, Denmark - Invitation to the BSSSC AC 2009 |
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