Brains Trust to put Baltic Sea Region on international map
Ene Ergma, speaker of the Estonian parliament, is one of several people to propose the creation of a common research space for the Baltic Sea countries, which could include a Baltic Sea Technology Institute dedicated to the study of information-, bio- and nanotechnology, for example. Ergma presented the idea to an international conference in Tallinn in early March, which focused on research, development and regional partnerships within the framework of the European Union’s Baltic Sea Strategy.
Brains Trust to put Baltic Sea Region on international map
- Photographer
- Johannes Jansson/norden.org
The conference, titled “Baltic Sea Strategy: A new opportunity for science-based regional and local management and integrated co-operation”, was designed to help transform the Baltic Sea Strategy into practical action.
“We’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve heard that Europe has to be brought closer to its people,” said the President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, in his opening address. “This strategy enables us to provide solutions to a number of problems: the worsening quality of sea water as a consequence of human activity; eutrophication; and the risk of environmental catastrophe from the almost ten-fold rise in the number of oil tankers on the Baltic Sea.”
The EU member states around the Baltic need to join forces to implement these objectives and avoid disappointing the public. Partnerships will make it possible to overcome obstacles to cross-border freedom of movement and to overcome the effects of national self-interest , both of which currently get in the way of economic development and have a negative impact on jobs . “Only closer partnerships will enable our region to compete with China, India and the United States on education and research,” President Ilves added.
The role of local and regional government in the Baltic Sea Strategy is not clearly defined. They are only directly involved in a small number of projects within the action plan. However, the conference agreed that this does not mean that they have little or no role to play in the implementation of the strategy. For example, Blekinge Region in Sweden wants the strategy to reflect ongoing projects including Baltic Master (maritime safety and sustainable development); Baltic-Link (transport and communication) and Euroregion Baltic (cross-border political co-operation).
In order to integrate these “Europrojects” into the Baltic Sea Strategy, the flow of information in the region needs to be better organised. The conference agreed that, for the projects to bear fruit, a common research area needs to be established, facilitating the “fifth freedom” that would incorporate research, teaching and industry.
In Oslo in 2007, Tthe Nordic and Baltic ministers of education and research set themselves a goal of working towards a common education and research space. Research institutions have already taken steps towards this objective – e.g. earlier this year, the Science Council of Lithuania contributed NOK 510,000 in its capacity as an equal partner in the LILIAN programme (Living Labs in the North).
In this sense, the Baltic Sea Region is anything but impoverished.
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