First draft submitted 3rd March 2006
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- Current Status of Programming 14 for New EU Facility
- New LHP Themes proposed by Baltic 21 Sectors / Joint Actions
- Other Possible New LHP Themes as derived from Gap Analysis
LHP DevelopmentUpgrading current projectsAs demonstrated above (see chapter 5.1) the current set of Baltic 21 LHPs shows that the impact of projects can be greatly enhanced by involving the Baltic 21 network with its link to transnational bodies and national authorities. As a whole it can be concluded that the current Baltic 21 LHPs are indeed at the forefront of projects with focus on sustainable development issues. There is, however, a set of recently approved projects, both with and without strong Baltic 21 member organisation participation, which could also be seen a beacons of sustainable development. The possible list of LHP Candidates could include: BUSTRIP – Sustainable Urban Transport Plans BEEN – Baltic Energy Efficiency Network SUSTAINMENT – Sustainable Management in Baltic Cities COMMIN – E-Portal / Information System for Spatial Planning / Regional development BR EAGLE – Education for Sustainable Development TRABANT – Transnational River Basin Management BalticMaster – Improving Maritime Safety on Local and Regional Level Current Status of Programming14 for New EU FacilityCurrently the preparation process for drafting the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 as the operational programme under the “European territorial cooperation” objectives has started. The Joint Programming Committee (JPC), comprising representatives of all partner states, is the main forum for finding agreement between the BSR countries on programming, guiding its process and approving the final draft of the operational programme. The JPC will be supported by two drafting teams with one involved in the strategic part and one in the implementation part. Additionally, the JPC will be assisted by a Partnership Dialogue Network, involving a large number of Pan-Baltic Organisations in the programming. Furthermore the new obligation on Structural Funds Programmes requires to carry out a strategic environmental assessment during the programming, which will be carried out together with an Ex-Ante Evaluation. Even though the European Neighbourhood Initiative (ENPI) is still seen as an external relations tools (in the capacity of DG Relex), it is foreseen that the cross-border ENPI will be operated under Structural fund rules. The most likely option will be that in addition to the 10% programme allocation to support partners outside the EU further ENPI funds would also be transferred to the programme as to create a single internal borders programme. The objectives, priorities and the amount of funding allocated to the successor of the current BSR INTERREG III B NP are still being negotiated. But it can already be said that according to the current draft regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European regional development Fund the transnational cooperation under the future European territorial cooperation will concentrate primarily on the following priorities: Innovation Environment Accessibility Sustainable Urban Development The JPC dialogue with Pan-Baltic Organisations has already started. It will find its peek during the major INTERREG conference organised in Malmö on 16th/17th May 2006 and will be finalised in June 2006 by a written procedure. It is expected that the new Operational Programme will be submitted by end 2006. In order to make concrete suggestions on behalf of Baltic 21 as to measures to be included under the above mentioned priorities, it is therefore important that new LHP Themes are decided upon not later than by May 2006. New LHP Themes proposed by Baltic 21 Sectors / Joint Actionsa) Bio-energy production from arable land and their use in agriculture in the BSR The idea for such a LHP Theme mainly evolved out of three project proposals submitted by the Baltic 21 agricultural and industry sector: “BELONA – Baltic Perspectives on Low Environmental Impact of Agriculture” submitted by the Coalition Clean Baltic aims towards the formulation of scenarios for rural and agricultural development based on local natural resources and preparation of recommendations for long-term agriculture and rural policy on transnational and national level. The project would cover sustainable, multi-functional agriculture, innovative and locally-integrated renewable energy, integrated, locally based water management and the use of specific environmental conditions and values. “Codes for sustainable energy management in agriculture” (focusing on renewable energy sources from biomass): This initiative is part of the overall agricultural sector action programme to develop codes of conduct for sustainable agriculture. The element on renewable energy sources from biomass could very well be linked into the overall arable Land project. “DOSAIB/DOSAIP: Development of sustainable agriculture and industry in the Baltic countries and Poland” were two projects among the 26 Swedish financed small scale Baltic 21 Industry projects. During their course Swedish businesses presented and demonstrated technology and knowledge to promote the transition into sustainable agriculture and industry in the Baltic countries and Poland. Major activities: courses, demonstration and field trials (in areas like manure handling, soil tillage, silage-, milk- and grain production and quality, small-scale wastewater treatment plants, biogas production), info meetings, information material. The idea is to build on the experience of DOSAIP/DOSAIB and to extend the geographic coverage to the whole of the BSR. At the same time the current report has shown that – while there have been almost no projects dealing with agricultural issues as such, the projects “Bioenergy Technology Transfer Network” (1st call), “EmissionTrading-Bioenergy” and “Baltic BiomassNetwork” (both 6th call) are directly related to the proposed new LHP theme. While these predecessor projects are a very good basis on which to build on (results, partner structures created, etc.), a possible LHP “Arable Land” could very well represent a new, integrated and cross-sectoral approach to develop best practice and policy recommendations within the field of bio-energy in terms of “best bio-energy production”, “impact on spatial planning of rural areas”, “best bio-energy technology in agriculture”, etc. Further gaps would need to be carefully analysed together with the project partners of those predecessor projects, which should become partners of a new project (ideally their lead partners and their respective network organisation). Overall it can be concluded that such a project could well fulfil the current LHP criteria, in that it is cross-sectoral, would apply new innovative approach and be based on a good partner structure with emphasis on E-BSR countries. It would close important “action” gaps especially in the agriculture and industry sector, while deepening current efforts of the energy sector. Furthermore it could potentially also revitalise the joint action 5 dealing with procurement of technologies. By focusing on rural development – a gap seen by many BSR countries - it could also act as a counter-balance to the urban development priority. Depending on the further elaboration of the new Operational Programme such a LHP could be placed within the “environment” and “innovation” priorities. b) Sustainable production and consumption This project theme, presented by the Baltic 21 education sector, cannot be brought into direct relation to any previous INTERREG projects as it does not correlate to any of its priorities/measures. Taking into account the major gap identified with regard to actions in the education, agriculture and industry sector and the joint action aimed towards increasing consumer awareness, it is an extremely interesting, highly cross-sectoral15 theme, which should receive the support of Baltic 21. The challenge in the coming months will be to translate such a theme into a much more focused set of objectives / activities, to identify the relevant target groups / project partners and most importantly to create a strong link between sustainable production / consumption and its relation to transnational co-operation in spatial planning and regional development (INTERREG). Whereas sustainable production (see also the following project proposal c) can obviously be well justified to support regional development and also falls under either “innovation” or “environment” – it is much more difficult to reflect sustainable consumption themes under INTERREG. At the same time it is a very interesting approach to cover both production as well as consumer side (i.e. consumer groups) within the same project. As such a project might create a bridge between these two groups by focusing on innovative business methods and/or technologies developed with help of consumer groups (“user-based innovation”). Another aspect to be tackled in such a project could be the “eco-labelling” of products. In addition to the linkage to the following LHP Theme, increased consumer awareness is also obviously directly related to education and information leading to a better willingness to accept, where necessary, the adoption of rules or incentives that promote “sustainable behaviour”. Thus it is closely interrelated with the new LHP Theme described in the following chapter “promoting Eco-Region Baltic Sea”. c) Innovation and Sustainable Development Innovation has already been the theme of some few previous INTERREG projects. BaltMetInno supports metropolitan areas to develop their innovation strategies, whereas the above described Innovation Circle project interprets the topic on a local level by fostering local actions and entrepreneurial projects. None of these projects have, however, explicitly linked Innovation with Sustainable development. Furthermore also VASAB calls for a future focus of transnational development zones to be developed as a tool for the elaboration of innovation strategies in a spatial context. As indicated above, innovation will be among the priorities of the new operational programme and has been brought to Baltic 21 by the Baltic 21 Industry Sector and BSSSC (of which members are currently implementing an INTERREGIIIA project around this theme in the Denmark/Sweden region). With its linkage to the EU Lisbon Agenda any project falling under this broad theme would obviously have good chances. By its very nature the theme is highly cross-sectoral and could well be designed as to lead to regional practice while also being globally visible. In order to be developed into a fully-fledged project it needs to be defined, what exactly Baltic 21 wants to understand under “innovation”. The theme would touch upon the major action gaps identified within the industry / education sectors and – depending on the emphasis of the project – the other “business” sectors (agriculture, forestry, energy, fishery, tourism). If defined as “Innovation for Sustainable Development” project objectives would certainly fall into the definition of innovation as will be given within the Operational Programme. The range of potential project activities would substantially increase if innovation would not be defined too narrowly; i.e. not only high-tech but in the sense of “new ideas”, “new methods”, “new services” or “new marketing”. Whereas the partner structure still needs to be defined according to the focus chosen, the Baltic 21 Institute for Sustainable Industry could in any case act as a potential lead or co-lead partner also with good links to the E-BSR. The institute is a network of research institutes, universities, companies and business associations with the aim for catalyzing sustainable development of the industrial sector in the BSR and bridging knowledge gaps between countries. d) Balanced Urban / Rural Sustainable Development This LHP theme has already been covered by a large variety of currently approved INTERREG projects as it is covered by many of its former funding measures (i.e. macro-regions, polycentric settlement structures, institution building). The Baltic 21 LHP “A.S.A.P.”, “Baltic Hinterland”, “SEBco”, “InnovationCircle”, “Seagull” and “Rural Development Connection” are only examples, which cover specific aspects of rural-urban development (i.e. administrational reform, transport, industry parks, education, business promotion, tourism, etc.). Any kind of new project would therefore need to be extremely carefully placed within a “gap” of current INTERREG projects. While urban development is one of the priority areas of the new operational programme, attention should generally be paid that rural development is not neglected in the future (also see gaps specified by VASAB under chapter 5.2.4.) Also many of the ESPON studies show that many BSR countries see great potential for transnational cooperation in this field. Other Possible New LHP Themes as derived from Gap Analysisa) BSR Data and Information Network The former gap analysis has shown that little progress has been made so far towards the establishment of a coherent indicator-based information and reporting framework for the BSR, which ensures the timely provision of data for sector and overall indicators on sustainable development and assessments thereof and consequently enable monitoring of Baltic 21 and other efforts. While there has so far not been an explicit call for such a project, the following three – independent – Baltic 21 initiatives could be used and probably be combined to the benefit of the development of such a network: Baltic Sea Region Sustainable Development Research Network The creation of a pool of experts, research institutes, university centres on which Baltic 21 could draw on as a think tank and support to Baltic 21 policy papers, strategies and other activities could be a basis for the data and information network mentioned above. While the permanent funding of such network cannot be ensured via a mechanism like INTERREG, the creation of a coherent indicator-based information and reporting framework can well be developed within a LHP. ESPON BSR-Specific Research The European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON) is a research and study programme financed by INTERREG III. Topics included thematic projects on important spatial developments (e.g. urban-rural relations, demographic trends, transport networks); policy impact studies (e.g. EU GAP, R&D, Structural Funds) as well as cross-sectoral issues. Whereas so far all studies covered the whole territory of the EU, it is currently considered that the new programme (2007-2013) will also facilitate research & studies for specific transnational areas. The development of an indicator-based data collection and dissemination framework can well be a theme for such a BSR focused ESPON study. The BSR based ESPON research centres (i.e. GTK, Nordregio, BBR, etc.) are also obvious partners to be inked into the above mentioned B21 Research Network. Also the VASAB Gdansk Declaration calls for a stronger involvement of the ESPON facility in providing relevant research input in order to provide for a more precise specification of the needs and means for connecting BSR potentials into synergic network systems. The future ESPON 2013 Programme could provide for a more focused research (e.g. identification of promising transnational clusters) on specific territorial characteristics of European macro regions such as the BSR. “Codes for Sustainable Management in Agriculture” (Agriculture Sector) The new Action Programme of the Agricultural Sector foresees to develop a set of rules, which must be fulfilled at minimum to secure sustainable development within the agricultural sector: (1) Codes for sustainable phosphorous management in agriculture (2) Codes for sustainable energy management in agriculture (focusing on renewable energy sources from biomass) (3) Codes for sustainable soil protection. (Sub-tasks: codes for prevention of heavy metal enrichment, codes against stealth loss of infiltration, etc.) Deliverables: recommendations to politicians, stakeholders and decision makers to achieve a minimum standard for sustainability in different fields. Even though “Codes of Conduct” are different from data management and indicator development, they are normally based on indicators. It therefore remains to be seen to what extend this activity could cross-feed the other two activities mentioned in relation to information on sustainable development. f) Promoting the Baltic Sea Region as an Eco-Region The current report has shown that there is a gap to be filled in bringing INTERREG based results for sustainable development in the BSR together with the aims of the Joint Action 3 on demonstration areas and pilot projects as well as the educational sector. While Lighthouse Projects are in general part of the strategy to promote the vision of an Eco-Region, the promotion, awareness raising and training activities as such can also be seen as a Lighthouse Project Theme. Such an activity would also contribute to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) and its regional strategy for Europe adopted by UNECE in Vilnius in March 2005. Given the difference in target groups such an initiative might be structured in one project with various “work packages” or would be divided in different projects also to be funded from different sources. Developing public understanding and awareness of sustainability: via the use of large-scale media campaigns; through social marketing to deliver some more simple behavioural change measures; comprehensive educational tools Providing training to the leaders of all sectors – including business, industry, higher education, governments, NGOs and community organisations. While larger corporations, especially manufacturers, are already reaping financial benefits from training measures introduced to address energy, water and waste management issues, new approaches to reach SMEs, which are providing for 75% of the employment, need to be developed. Promoting best practice cases: as early as 1996 the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) together EURONET had already developed an Internet based European wide guide to sustainable good practice, whose maintenance stopped, however, already three years later. While it goes beyond the scope of this report to assess the success and quality of this guide and the reasons for its current closure, this experience at least might serve as a basis for looking into ways on how to promote and disseminate best practice cases from the BSR to a wide target audience. Many other activities and areas are possible. The idea of this paragraph is to show the need to see dissemination and promotion efforts as a project in itself and not to keep the promotion / dissemination efforts locked in the hundreds of individual topical based projects. In other words: only if the raw project “data” is collected, reordered, reframed and visualised according to the needs to the various target groups will it become valuable information for them and as such enhance the promotion of the vision of an Eco-Region. Baltic 21 is an ideal place to lead such a process under its auspices. 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