The From Priorities to Action seminar gathered 130 interested participants to Tallinn on March 9 to hear about the possibilities offered by the Central Baltic INTERREG IV A Programme. The programme's three priorities were introduced by specialists from the programme area and examples of the already running projects were presented. Many participants brought their own project ideas forward in the Project idea fair and new contacts were made.

Click below to read more and to download the presentations of the day.

PRIORITY 1: SAFE AND HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

Ulla Kaarikivi-Laine from the Finnish Ministry for Environment introduced the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) and the priority areas of the strategy relating to environmental issues. She pointed out that EU funding programmes - including the Central Baltic INTERREG IV A Programme - have an important role when implementing the strategy. The environmental themes covered by the EUSBSR are well reflected in the priorities of the Central Baltic programme, and potential applicants were encouraged to look into the guidance provided by both the programme and the EUSBSR when preparing the applications.
 

Tapio Salo from the project Active Wetlands pointed out the following important issues to consider while preparing one's application:
- Ensure communication with the Joint Technical Secretariat.
- Get to know your partners.
- Make sure that everyone contributes to writing the application.
- Do not leave too many things to be done in the last days of the call.
 Download presentation (535 kB)

The project EnSaCo Oilspill emphasised the following in the presentation by Kenneth Kumenius:
- Have an agreement within the partnership stating who does what.
- In case you have many organisations from one country it would be good to assign one organisation to coordinate activities in between these organisations.
 Download presentation (452 kB)

PRIORITY 2: ECONOMICALLY COMPETITIVE AND INNOVATIVE REGION

Jānis Stabulnieks from the Latvian Technological Centre spoke about innovations. European Commission announced the year 2009 to be the year of creativity and innovation. Stabulnieks stressed that for innovative Europe the talented people in all levels are needed and the education system has to support the knowledge-driven society. More collaboration and partnerships are needed between the academia-business-government (triple-helix) on local and international level. Spending money on research and development transforms money into knowledge and cutting it in this economic situation is like eating seed potatoes.
 Download presentation (1 MB)

Külle Tärnov from the project SMEDGE suggested the following to the future applicants:
- Organisations should only take part in projects which are directly linked with the organisation's own aims and functions, otherwise the project might turn into a burden.
- Choose the partners carefully and choose only really committed partners.
 Download presentation (562 kB)

Sebastian Willman and Heikki Bauert from the project GEOISLANDS pointed out the following tips:
- The applicant has to prepare well for the financial paperwork and make sure they know what is eligible and what is not.
- The applicants should use the services of the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Central Baltic INTERREG IV A Programme as it is a good way to get issues solved in a fast and efficient way.
 Download presentation (4.33 MB) 

PRIORITY 3: ATTRACTIVE AND DYNAMIC SOCIETIES

Marek Maciejowski introduced the Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-being (NDHPS) and mentioned useful tools it offers to stakeholders developing project ideas in the area of health and social well-being. Among these are the NDPHS website, the NDPHS database, the NDPHS Project Pipeline and thematic reports. While introducing the new NDPHS Strategy and the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR), he informed that the NDPHS can provide a so-called letter of recommendation to project proposals dealing with health and social issues applying for programmes in the Central Baltic region (only to those proposals, which are consistent with the EUSBSR). Marek Meciejowski also presented several concrete project ideas that the NDPHS would like to see developed and advised to look in the action plan of the strategy when developing a project.
 Download presentation (part 1) (1011 kB)
 Download presentation (part 2) (1.09 MB)

Tips for future applicants from the project FLEX, voiced by Sami Tantarimäki:
- Keep things practical and simple.
- Prepare your application well to avoid having to apply several times.
- Follow the manuals.
 Download presentation (3.01 MB)

From the IIep project Mattias Wevelsiep was recommending the following do's and don'ts:
- Don't be afraid of the big questions.
- Don't get stuck (for too long) with conceptual discussions.
- Get clarity on what you can plan and what you need to leave open.
- Get the budget right.
 Download presentation (2.18 MB)

Other presentations of the day:
 The current status of the Programme / Philipp Schwartz (1.6 MB)
 The Central Baltic INTERREG IV A Programme in a nutshell / Linda Talve (587 kB)

Thank you to all the participants for many good new contacts and fruitful discussions!

More photos of the event can be found here.