The Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007–2013 (''alias'' INTERREG IV B programme for the Baltic Sea region) is a support programme part-financed by the :European Union and Norway. It is one of the mainstream Structural Funds programmes under the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

's territorial co-operation objective. The Programme will support transnational projects working together for balanced and sustainable development of the European territory.

Co-operation area

The eligible co-operation area includes EU member states Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and northern parts of Germany, as well as the neighbouring countries of Norway, north-west regions of Russia and Belarus.

Objectives

Strategic objective of the programme is to make the Baltic Sea region an attractive place to invest, work and live in. Project partners (public or public-like institutions) form partnerships to look for joint solutions to common problems & challenges. The projects will contribute to the following priorities: * Fostering

innovations Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entit ...

* Internal and external

accessibility Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

as a common resource * Attractive and competitive cities and regions

BalticClimate

BalticClimate is the acronym for the project "Baltic Challenges and Chances for local and regional development generated by Climate Change". It was approved in October 2008 in the first Call of the "Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007–2013", a programme financed from the

European Regional Development Fund The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds allocated by the European Union. Its purpose is to transfer money from richer regions (not countries), and invest it in the infrastructure and se ...

(ERDF), the

European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument Global Europe, officially the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), is the financial arm of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, which provides funding for the European Neighbourhood ...

(ENPI), the Norwegian national funding as well as by own contributions (co-financing) by the project partner institutions. The lead partner of BalticClimate is the Academy for Spatial Research and Planning (ARL)/ Germany. Within the project lifetime of November 2008 until April 2012 BalticClimate was implemented by twenty-three official project partner institutions and sixteen associated organisations from eight countries (

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

). The project focused on supporting regions, municipalities as well as cities in the Baltic Sea Region to pro-actively deal with the issue of climate change.

BSR Innoship

BSR InnoShip is a project that seeks to increase cooperation among the countries of the Baltic Sea Region to reduce ship and port emissions, and increase competitiveness in the marine industry. It is an environmentalist project led by the

Baltic Institute of Finland Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

. The project's aims are in line with the

International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO, French: ''Organisation maritime internationale'') is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating shipping. The IMO was established following agreement at a UN conference ...

's recommendations to reduce

sulphur oxide Sulfur oxide refers to many types of sulfur and oxygen containing compounds such as SO, SO2, SO3, S7O2, S6O2, S2O2, etc. Sulfur oxide (SO''x'') refers to one or more of the following: * Lower sulfur oxides (S''n''O, S7O2 and S6O2) * Sulfur mono ...

(SOx) and

nitrogen oxide Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds: Charge-neutral *Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide *Nitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(IV) oxide * Nitrogen trioxide (), or n ...

(NOx) emissions from ships in the Baltic Sea progressively by 2015. These two oxides are the main cause of eutrophication, which is an environmental effect that limits water nutrients and endangers sea life. The new Tier III for NOx emission standard's goal is 80% lower in comparison with Tier I, whereas marine fuel cannot exceed SOx level of 0.1% which should be enough to revert the current situation of the Baltic Sea Region by 2040. BSR InnoShip is financed by

Interreg Interreg is a series of programmes to stimulate cooperation between regions in and out of the European Union (EU), funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The first Interreg started in 1989. Interreg IV covered the period 2007–2013. I ...

's Baltic Sea Region Programme.Working Paper on the implementation of the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region Programme
.

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

. Accessed 2013-05-11.

References

External links