Board Meeting in Potsdam, Germany 20 September

Policy area transportation, implementing our Work Plan, and the possible sedative effect of culture in turbulent times, were all in focus during the Board Meeting.
 

The Board Meeting, held in breathtaking environments at the Potsdam University, was an efficient and fruitful meeting. A good overview of BSSSC work the last years on transportation was presented by Mr. Jon Halvard Eide from Agder County, Norway. Afterwards, a presentation was presented by Dr. Ulrike Assig, Lead Partner Scandria2Act, Joint Spatial Planning Department Berlin-Brandenburg.
Ms. Assig presented Scandria 2 Act; Connecting regions and innovative transport strategies; TEN-T: from missing links to consistent strategy. There will be a conference in the end of October 2017 where the results from the various work packages will be presented. Ms. Assig further emphasized how it would be interesting to include Southern parts of Europe such as Austrian and Italian partners, and how this would be useful for the cargo sector of transportation. 

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The Board Meeting also focused on different aspects of how the BSSSC work and communicate. The Secretary General of BSSSC,  Ms. Ann Irene Sæternes presented a work plan which could be used as a work tool to ensure that all aspects of the BSSSC Work Plan is followed up. The BSSSC rapporteurs will fill in the wrok plan on concrete projects and actions they plan to do within their respective areas. The Executive Secretary of BSSSC, Mr. Lars Godbolt, presented the new Communication Plan for the BSSSC. This will soon be posted on this website.

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The Board also discussed a proposed paper written by Secretary General Ms. Sæternes, on the principle of subsidiarity in Europe. In connection with the agenda-point "Tour the table" in several Board meetings over the past two years - the BSSSC members have shared information and concerns about the regional and local reforms and the political situation in their countries. The principle of subsidiarity is an important part of a well-functioning democracy by bringing the decision-makers closer to the people. The BSSSC Chairmanship therefore proposed to develop a common paper stressing our concern for the tendencies that are working against the principle of subsidiarity in the countries around the Baltic Sea. The Board agreed upon this and decided upon a working group that will follow up on this. 

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The Board Meeting also had interesting discussions on the importance of culture as a tool for understanding across borders in Europe. It was pointed out that in the European policies we cannot contend ourselves at only promoting growth. We should also need to look at the basis of growth. With this tide of nationalism across Europe, looking at cultural areas and personal stories becomes more important. We cannot only invest in businesses and growth, we need to invest more in cultural projects to include all people across Europe. We need to highlight this more. Mr. Stefan Musikolik of Schleswig-Holstein, wanted to draft a paper on this topic to be discussed for the next Board Meeting. 

 

The BSSSC Board and Secretariat would like to thank Ms. Kari Lie and Mr. Issakkii Kiemunki for their work in the Board as this was their last Board Meeting. At the same time we warmly welcome the recently elected two new Youth Board Members: Mr. Martin Rummelein from Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and Mr. Timo Nikolaisen from Buskerud Norway.

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Minutes from the Board Meeting will be posted at the end of October, 2017.

 

The next Board Meeting will be in Drammen, Buskerud County, Norway, December 11-12.

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