Seeking new local actors and good practices to protect the Baltic Sea

Helsinki, 15 March (HELCOM Information Service) – Key local actors that play a crucial role in protecting the Baltic marine environment will convene on 16 March in Tallinn to discuss good local practices gained from various water protection programmes in Baltic Sea region.

The conference entitled “Local actors as forerunners – concrete achievements and links to international covenants in Baltic Sea protection” is arranged by the Cities for a Healthier Sea project, the Project on Urban Reduction of Eutrophication (PURE) and the Baltic Sea Challenge Initiative in coordination with the City of Helsinki Environment Centre, Tallinn City Environmental Department, Union of Baltic Cities and the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM).

The aim of the conference is to promote and disseminate the knowledge on local achievements in protecting the Baltic Sea including the examples from Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Germany and Estonia. It also aims to encourage local actors to make voluntary actions according to the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan to restore the good ecological status of the marine environment by 2021 besides their statutory activities. Encountered problems with the implementation of such actions and possible solutions to them will be discussed, pertaining to, among other things, adequacy of financing, decision-making possibilities and setting priorities.

“This event will provide a platform for an exchange of experience and best available local practices in protecting the Baltic marine environment from pollution,” says Anne Christine Brusendorff, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary. “We are seeking new actors from Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Belarus for this purpose. Today, the region’s local actors are challenged to review the impact of their actions on the Baltic Sea and to commence programmes that will drastically reduce pollution loads to the sea. Municipalities, cities and water companies have a central role in protecting the Baltic Sea. In addition to their own obligations, voluntary commitments and initiatives to improve the state of the sea, they are also implementing locally the actions that have been set at national and international levels.”

Over 130 local actors are expected to participate, which include water company managers and specialists, representatives of international financial institutions, as well as politicians and civil servants from the municipalities, cities’ networks and ministries of the Baltic Sea region.

Kajsa Rosqvist from the Cities for a Healthier Sea project stresses that in order to improve the state of the Baltic Sea, vast participation of different local actors and stakeholders is required in all coastal states. “The role and potential of local actors in the protection of the Baltic Sea is highly important,” says Rosqvist. “The conference will promote an exchange of practical experiences in problem solving, for example, in wastewater treatment, and provide inspiration and ideas for further work. Cities, municipalities and water utilities are central players in the pursuit of a healthy marine environment. With the political will, the municipalities have the possibility to do various, even voluntary, water protection actions.”

For Editors:

The PURE and Cities for a Healthier Sea are international projects funded by the EU (the BSRP and Central Baltic INTERREG IV A programmes) whose partners include, among others, cities and water treatment plants in the coastal states of the Baltic Sea.

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission or HELCOM, is based on the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area and is an intergovernmental organisation of all the nine Baltic Sea coastal states and the European Union working for the protection of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution and to ensure the safety of navigation in the region.

The Cities for a Healthier Sea project is also a part of the Baltic Sea Challenge campaign launched by the cities of Helsinki and Turku. With the help of the Baltic Sea Challenge, over 170 municipalities, companies and other organisations interested in protecting the Baltic Sea have been gathered to form a network mainly in Finland during last four years. The challenge encourages actors to such Baltic Sea protective measures that surpass the minimum statutory level.

For additional information, please contact:

Kajsa Rosqvist, Project Manager, Cities for a Healthier Sea project
Tel. +358 40 334 1632, firstname.lastname@hel.fi

Lotta Ruokanen, Project Manager, HELCOM,
Tel. +358 40 162 2054, firstname.lastname@helcom.fi

Päivi Kippo-Edlund, Director of Environmental Protection and Research,
City of Helsinki Environment Centre, firstname.lastname@hel.fi
Tel. +358 50 345 4154

Seminar programme:

Local Actors as Forerunners – Concrete Achievements and Links to International Covenants in Baltic Sea Protection

Links to the websites of the organisers:

Cities for a Healthier Sea www.citiesforahealthiersea.net
Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM) www.helcom.fi
Project on Urban Reduction of Eutrophication www.purebalticsea.eu
Baltic Sea Challenge www.balticseachallenge.net, www.itamerihaaste.net