The Interreg project BalticRIM, also a Flagship of the EUSBSR under Policy Area Culture, integrates maritime cultural heritage of the Baltic Sea into maritime spatial plans to safeguard it for the future. Matthias Maluck from the State Archaeological Department of Schleswig-Holstein explains what maritime cultural heritage is and why and how it should be preserved. BalticRIM frames cultural heritage of individual countries in a transnational perspective and thus delivers territorial cohesion. The interview was conducted by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme.

SMART BLUE REGIONS project seeks to enhance blue growth opportunities based on increased capacity of Baltic Sea Regions to implement Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3). 

Representatives from EUSBSR met with Norwegian maritime actors to show strategic and financial possibilities as well as concrete projects for Norwegian actors that want to become involved in Baltic Sea Region cooperation. The future of shipping, its technologies and competences - were also discussed and presented.

EMMA is a Flagship of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region aiming to enhance freight mobility and logistics by strengthening inland waterway and river-sea transport and by promoting new international shipping services. The container barge pilots in Poland and Sweden are noticeable examples of its outcomes so far.

The BLASTIC project, an EUSBSR Flagship under Policy Area Hazards, aims to reduce plastic waste and, thereby, the inflow of hazardous substances into the Baltic Sea by mapping and monitoring the amounts of litter in the aquatic environment.

EUSBSR Flaghip project NutriTrade mixes activities to implement practical measures and to develop longer-term solutions to combat eutrophication. In particular, its digital crowdfunding platform Nutribute may prove to multiply the impact of the flagship over the time. Nutribute facilitates encountering of Baltic Sea savers and can be used as a fundraising tool for concrete measures to reduce eutrophication. In other words, Nutribute harnesses digital technology to contribute towards cleaning the Baltic Sea and thus contributes to the EUSBSR ‘Save the Sea’ objective.

On 8th November 2017, in the Maritime Culture Centre in Gdańsk, Poland, an international seminar entitled “How Can Maritime Business Benefit from the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region?” was held. It was organized as part of “Let’s Communicate!” and “Smart Blue Regions” projects by “Pomorskie in the EU” Association, PA Ship and PA Safe. During the seminar, experts and companies from the maritime industry met to discuss current and potential maritime projects (covering the fields of shipping industry cooperation, logistics, port industry, shipping and occupational safety, biotechnological innovations, etc.)

In October 2017, three new Flagships of Policy Area Secure were adopted by the EUSBSR National Coordinators. The actions of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region are implemented by means of Flagships. Flagships demonstrate the progress of the Strategy, and may serve as pilot examples for desired action in a given field.

We asked the newly approved Flagships what the status means to them.

ChemSAR project is an EUSBSR Flagship aiming to no less than save human lives. Human lives will be saved by improving the efficiency of the rescue operations at sea. The rescue operations will become more effective with the help of standard operational procedures which the project creates, especially to be used in hazardous and noxious substances incidents.

A digital Flagship of Policy Area Innovation, project DIGINNO (Digital Innovation Network), was launched on 5 September in Tallinn. DIGINNO’s objective is to advance the digital economy and to speed up the process of moving towards the Baltic Sea region single digital market. The project aims to increase the capacity of policymakers, industry associations and industrial SMEs to enable faster and more efficient uptake of digital solutions both in public and private sector.