Ideas for Baltic blue growth with green limits developed in
HELCOM Youth Forum

12 December 2012 (HELCOM Information Services) – Thirty students from nine countries of the Baltic Sea catchment area have gathered to discuss ideas on blue growth and green limits in the HELCOM Youth Forum 2012 in Rostock, Germany ending today. The potential decision-makers and top scientists of the future have the chance to interact with high-level professionals and today, a Resolution will be adapted. The 3-day event has been organized by the Baltic Sea Forum and the University of Rostock.

The postgraduate students who have been accepted to participate in the Youth Forum, conducted since 2004, exchange ideas on topics closely affiliated with HELCOM work. The future development of the region is addressed in structured group discussions on maritime policy and regulations, sustainability of the Baltic Sea ecosystem, and maritime technologies and innovation.

“The theme of this Forum is our major challenge – how to succeed with the blue growth and green limits in the Baltic Sea Region, how to find balance in fulfilling people’s economic hopes and social needs and avoiding excessive pressure on the Baltic Sea ecosystem?” stated Monika Stankiewicz, Executive Secretary of HELCOM, in her remarks yesterday in Rostock.

Other key note speakers in the Forum, moderated by the former president of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency Peter Ehlers, were the Chair of the Baltic Sea Forum and former Federal Minister Kurt Bodewig; Heike Imhoff from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety; Jan Lundin, Director General of the Council of the Baltic Sea States; and professors Heide Schulz-Vogt, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research and Mathias Paschen, University of Rostock. The Resolution of the Youth Forum will be a good contribution for the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting in October 2013, a high-level summit which reviews the progress so far in the recovery of the Baltic Sea and stipulates even better measures for the future.

The Forum was supported by German’s Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the Federal Environment Agency. The previously conducted HELCOM Youth Fora have always been a success and supporting the work of HELCOM with distinct innovation and care.

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Note for editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organization of all the nine Baltic Sea countries and the EU, working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution and to ensure safety of navigation.

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area", known as the Helsinki Convention.

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For further information, please contact:

Johanna Laurila

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 40 523 8988

Fax: +358 207 412 639

E-mail: johanna.laurila@helcom.fi

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