On 21-22 November 2019 kick-off meeting of Project Platform “Capacity4MSP: Strengthening the capacity of MSP stakeholders and decision makers” took place in Riga back-to-back with Baltic 3rd MSP Forum.

The second call for the Interreg BSR Seed Money is open from 5 November 2019. Interested applicants are welcome to submit their applications until 9 December 2019. Seed money is funding provided by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme to support the preparation of projects in line with the Action Plan of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR). With seed money support projects can be prepared for any funding source available in the region. The seed money application procedure consists of two steps.

The European Commission has launched a 'Review of the action plan of the macro-regional strategy for the Baltic sea Region (EUSBSR)' to make sure the EUSBSR responds to the challenges and opportunities of the coming years. The study is conducted by an external consultancy COWI.

During the last heatwave of the summer 2019 34 dedicated students from all over the BSR and beyond met up in Poznan, Poland to participate in the Baltic Sea Region young Planners` Contest “Liveable Places and spaces of Tomorrow”. Contest took place from 26-29 of August and was organized by VASAB in cooperation with Boverket and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan with financial support from the Swedish institute.

The VASAB Committee on Spatial Planning and Development of the Baltic Sea Region (VASAB CSPD/BSR) was chaired by Denmark from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020. Denmark held the chairmanship of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) during the same period.

'The European spirit in action' is the message of the latest Interreg BSR newsletter that addresses the success of Interreg projects. An article about the Baltic LINes project explains how transnational cooperation created a common understanding and aligned methods between countries around the Baltic Sea to jointly tackle maritime spatial planning challenges. …