Baltic Green Belt

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The European Green Belt is an ecological backbone of Europe, running through much of the continent from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea and following the route the former iron curtain. The Green Belt initiative started as a grassroots movement when the former military blocks collapsed. The aim was to save the natural assets that had grown alongside the iron curtain. The Baltic Green Belt project aims at closing the longest "missing link" in this network: The southern and eastern Baltic coast. Here, regional Green Belt activities are still relatively scarce, if at all existent. This “Baltic Green Belt” is unique in that it marks a long seaside stretch in the otherwise predominantly continental Green Belt. The vision of the European Green Belt initiative is to create a global symbol for transboundary co-operation in nature conservation and sustainable development. Activities are usually rooted in the former border regions. People previously separated by the iron curtain now co-operate to form economically and ecologically sustainable landscapes. One key factor is the preservation of the green heritage of 40 years of the iron curtain. The Baltic Green Belt project adopts this approach and brings together a set of diverse partners engaged in sustainable economy and ecology development. The partnership consists of NGOs, scientific institutions, public authorities and economic stakeholders and thus excellently mirrors the Green Belt approach of successfully integrating a wide set of actors and supporters. Activities of the BELT project focus on improving the ecological situation of the coastal strip on both sides of the waterline, while promoting social and economical aspects of sustainability to secure economic prosperity. Thus, the project will also contribute to the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, the HELCOM Recommendation 15/1 “Protection of Coastal Strips” and the EU Recommendation “Implementation of integrated coastal zone management in Europe”. A significant part of the project work is dedicated to dissemination and related activities. One reason is the novelty of the Green Belt and it’s approach in the Baltic Region - the "product" and the idea have to be intensively communicated. Furthermore, sustainable coastal development is a relative complex issue that all related actions demand good and thorough justification. The other reason is the implementation into politics, policies and programmes is crucial for the Green Belt’s success. Therefore, an own work package with notable activity of almost all project partners has been dedicated to this task. The approach is backed through pilot projects addressing some typical Baltic Green Belt issues on an exemplary basis, again with a notable dissemination part to facilitate transferability.

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