The Baltic 21 Eco Region Project

Closed

The EcoRegion project was developed in the years 2007/2008 and finally implemented between 2009- 2011 in order to contribute to the aim of Baltic 21 to turn the Baltic Sea Region into the world’s first EcoRegion, where economic growth goes hand in hand with environmental integrity and social justice. The transnational project – co-financed by the ERDF BSR Programme 2007-2013 - was based on the unique multi-stakeholder network of Baltic 21, which was established for the realisation of the “Agenda 21 for the Baltic Sea Region” and has by now been integrated into the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS) as the “CBSS Expert Group for Sustainable Development – Baltic 21”.The EcoRegion project was led by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany, which holds the chair of CBSS – Baltic 21 in 2011/2012. The project is a Baltic 21 Lighthouse project which means that it is considered a highvisibility project with the clear aim of developing and testing practical solutions for sustainability in the Baltic Sea Region. In addition, EcoRegion built on the Aalborg Commitments which had been developed in 2004 by local governments throughout the EU in order to reinforce their Local Agenda 21 processes. By signing them, authorities agree to define clear targets and implement concrete actions in 10 different fields relevant for sustainable development. All project activities and resulting outputs were based on the combined expertise matching different sectoral perspectives with practical experience from regional actors both from urban as well as rural areas covering both the Western as well as Eastern Baltic Sea Region. The cooperation process was fostered by a series of structured transnational workshops, study visits and focus groups, where EcoRegion partners engaged in various forms of collaboration in order to develop EcoRegion outputs such as: a) Sustainability measures at regional level b) Publication of EcoRegion Perspectives c) Collection of EcoRegion Good Practices d) Development of the Baltic 21 mandate and the CBSS Strategy on Sustainable Development 2010-2015 e) EcoRegion policy recommendations

Medium