Following the internal preparatory work, the series of stakeholder co-creation activities within the update of the VASAB Long-Term Perspective for the Territorial Development of the Baltic Sea Region have been launched this autumn.

The first external stakeholder workshop on the update of the VASAB Long-Term Perspective was held on 28^th September within the EUSBSR Annual Forum. Participants of this workshop discussed how the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) could look like in 2040 based on the four metaphors that were identified already in the first VASAB vision in 1994: Pearls, Strings, Patches and System. Please, find the outcomes of the workshop HERE.

Open stakeholder survey!

Share your views on how a desired future for the Baltic Sea Region would look like by 2040 and what should be different from today. The survey aims to collect inputs and reflections on four metaphors of the vision, i.e., the pearls, the strings, the patches and the system, each representing a different territorial element, to complement and improve the VASAB vision. Completing the survey will take about 10-15 minutes of your time. The survey will remain open until 1 November 2021.

Survey is available HERE.

Join co-creation workshops!

If you are virtually attending 19th European Week of Regions and Cities this year, do not miss the session where the update of the VASAB Long-Term Perspective will be discussed – the workshop “Baltic Sea Region vision and strategies for thriving regions and cities” on 12 October 2021 at 14:30-16:00 CEST. The workshop will discuss the prospects and benefits of macro-regional spatial planning for European regions and cities, and what can be transferred to other areas beyond the existing practice in the BSR.

Another stakeholder workshop, to be held on 20^th October at 8:45-11:30 CEST partly in Russian and English, is targeted to Russian stakeholders in order to discuss additional inputs from relevant policies, priorities, themes of the BSR neighbours and see which players and what actions could facilitate the implementation of VASAB Long-Term Perspective. Registration for the workshop via e-mail addressed to info@vasab.org.

Save the date for additional events later this autumn!

• 26^th November: co-creation online workshop to discuss the relevant territorial levels and potential roles for action and cooperation.
• 2^nd December: online workshop on visions for the Baltic Sea related to the maritime spatial planning.

After the co-creative drafting phase, draft updated VASAB Long-Term Perspective will be given to wider stakeholder consultations in spring 2022. Draft updated VASAB Long-Term Perspective is expected to be adopted by the end of 2022 / beginning of 2023.

More information about the update process of the VASAB Long-Term Perspective find here.