The Programme targets public authorities at local, regional and national levels, business support organisations, specialised agencies, and infrastructure and service providers as the main forces responsible for the structural transition into a more resilient and innovative region. The Programme emphasises citizen involvement through NGOs. Wherever appropriate, e.g. for the purposes of practical testing of the solution, the Programme supports directly involving enterprises. Higher education and research institutions as well as education and training centres may join transnational cooperation actions to support the main target groups with additional expertise and competence. This particularly concerns building structures to strengthen the innovative potential of the Baltic Sea region. Furthermore, the Programme supports linking competences across different sectors.
Interreg Baltic Sea Region covers nine countries, eight of them EU Member States (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden) and one third country Norway. The Programme covers an area of around 2.9 million km² with a population of 80 million inhabitants. It stretches from central parts of Europe up to its northern most periphery, comprising European metropolitan areas, while major parts of the programme area are counted as rural.
Four priorities including nine Programme objectives best reflect the needs for transnational cooperation identified by the Programme countries for the next seven years.
Priority 1: Innovative societies
Smarter Europe (a more competitive and smarter Europe by promoting innovative and smart economic transformation and regional ICT connectivity)
Specific objective RSO1.4 Skills for smart specialisation
1.1: Resilient economies and communities
Building sustainable, fair, innovative and resilient economies and communities
across the Baltic Sea region
Specific objective RSO1.1 Enhancing research and innovation
1.2: Responsive public services
Experimenting with new ways of delivering public services using innovative, data-driven and participatory methods to improve the lives of citizens
Priority 2: Water-smart societies
Greener Europe (a greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe by promoting clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investment, the circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation and risk prevention and management, and sustainable urban mobility)
Specific objective RSO2.5 Sustainable water Programme objective
2.1: Sustainable waters Intensifying implementation of good practices by public authorities, industries and local communities to make the Baltic Sea and regional water resources cleaner and adapted to the impacts of climate change
Priority 3: Climate-neutral societies
Greener Europe (a greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe by promoting clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investment, the circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation and risk prevention and management, and sustainable urban mobility)
RSO2.6 Circular economy
3.1: Circular economy
Moving towards circular economy through strengthening the role of the cities and regions and rethinking contribution of business
3.2: Energy transition
Moving towards decarbonisation of energy systems through increasing energy efficiency and investing in renewable energy in urban and rural areas
RSO2.8 Sustainable urban mobility
3.3: Smart green mobility
Moving towards more efficient, intelligent and low-carbon transport and mobility systems
Priority 4: Cooperation governance
Interreg-specific objective `Cooperation Governance´
Interreg specific objective ISO6.6 Other actions to support better cooperation governance 4.1: Project platforms
Connecting results from different EU funding programmes and making them work
Interreg specific objective ISO6.1 Institutional capacity of public authorities
4.2: Macro-regional governance
Strengthening coordination and communication of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea region
Information taken from the programming process , available at website.
