The CCB General Meeting and Annual Conference Baltic 10, took place in Palanga, Lithuania, between 7-9 May.

On 10 May, following the CCB Meetings, a workshop on the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and its implementation was held in Palanga.

For further information about the CCB General Meeting and Annual Conference Baltic 10, as well as the workshop on the Marine Strategy Framwork Directive, please see below.

We now have the pleasure to invite you to Lithuania to the CCB Baltic 10 Conference and General Meeting!

This year the CCB Baltic Conference and General Meeting will be held in Palanga , Lithuania. The programme starts on Friday evening with registration and social event from 18.00 onwards and ends on Sunday afternoon with an excursion.

Biodiversity and the Baltic Sea – challenges for environmental NGOs

is the theme for this year’s Conference. During the conference we will discuss different aspects of biodiversity and the Baltic Sea and actions within CCB priority areas that can be taken to reduce Baltic biodiversity loss. The draft programme can be found below.

General Meeting

The CCB General Meeting will be held on Sunday morning before lunch.

Working Group Discussions on CCB Priority Areas

On Saturday afternoon there will be Working Groups about CCB priority sub-areas. These discussions will be the base for the CCB Work programme 2011.

Poster Presentations

All participants are welcome to present their work connected to the theme of the Conference on a poster. Also posters presenting other activities done within the CCB Member organisations connected to CCB Priority Areas are most welcome. If you plan to bring posters, please send in requests for exhibition space to the CCB Secretariat.

Language

The working language of the Conference will be English.

Excursions

On Sunday afternoon there will be an excursion, most probably to the Pajuris regional park between Palanga and Klaipeda . More information: http://pajuris.info/en

Conference Venue

The Conference will be held at Gabija Hotel in Palanga . Accommodation and meals are provided at the same location. Palanga is situated on the Baltic coast 25 km North of Klaipeda. Palanga has a small regional airport with regular flights to/from Copenhagen and Riga. It takes approximately four hours to travel from Vilnius to Palanga by bus.

Expenses

No admittance fee is charged for the conference. However if you cancel less than ten days in advance you have to pay your own costs for accommodation if no alternate is arranged.

For participants from CCB member organisations and associated partners, CCB will cover the costs for accommodation and meals.

Travel Costs and Reimbursement

We urge member organisations to cover the travel expenses for their participants.

Participants from Ukraine and Belarus : The travel expenses will be covered from Sida-funding. Reimbursement will only be paid for the most non-expensive and convenient way of travelling. We recommend participants from Ukraine and Belarus to travel buy train, bus or to rent a minibus if possible.

Participants from Russia : There will be funding available for a limited number of participants from Russia . We recommend participants from Russia to travel buy train, bus or to rent a minibus if possible.

Beyond that, there are very limited funds for reimbursement of travel costs for participants from Latvia , Lithuania , Estonia and Poland. Also participants from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland we recommend to travel by train, bus or to rent a minibus if possible.

All reimbursement claims from all countries must be confirmed by the CCB secretariat!

No travel reimbursements will be made without confirmation given in advance! The travel costs will be reimbursed after the conference when you submit to the CCB secretariat a reimbursement form and all your original receipts of your travels.

Please note that you have to state your requested total amount for travel reimbursement ( SEK /EURO), local transport and potential Visa cost included, in the application form. To keep the budget-line for the Baltic 10 conference, CCB can only guarantee that you will get the amount that you have stated in the application form.

When booking your travels please be aware of the CCB environmental travel policy that states that all journeys shorter than 400 km must be undertaken by bus or train. Air travel can only be considered if the distance is longer than 400km .

Application

Fill in the registration form and send it by fax or e-mail to Sara Nilsson at the CCB International Secretariat (secretariat@ccb.se).Latest date: 19th of April There will be no reimbursements granted after the last day of registration (due to administrative constraints) so for those of you that want to apply for reimbursement it is essential to meet the deadline. Indicate in the form if you apply for reimbursement or not.

Please note that we only have room for a limited number of participants. We will confirm to all applicants on their possible participation in the Conference, so do not book your ticket before you have your participation confirmed by the CCB International Secretariat!

Visa Application

For those of you who need Visa please contact Jurate Morkvenaite. Please send your passport data and home address, so that an invitation can be sent to you for Visa application. Usually, you will be best off with a “Schengen Visa”, which will normally take up to ten days to be granted.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the CCB secretariat or Jurate Morkvenaite!

CONTACT INFORMATION

Jurate Morkvenaite      E-mail: jurate@zvejone.lt
Environmental club      Phone/FAX: +370 5 2377134
”Zvejone”                        Mobile phone: +370 685 72505

CCB Secretariat        E-mail: secretariat@ccb.se
Östra Agatan 53       Phone: +46 18 711 155
SE-753 22 UPPSALA     Fax: +46 18 711 175
SWEDEN

We wish you a warm welcome to Lithuania!  
“Zvejone” and Coalition Clean Baltic

Presentations & related documents upon request.

Workshop on the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

On 10 May, a workshop on the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and its implementation will be organised in Palanga, Lithuania, following the CCB general meeting and annual conference. The meeting is aimed at NGOs engaged in environmental work in the Baltic Sea region. It is organised by the Fisheries Secretariat (FISH), Stowarzyszenie Ekologiczne Eko-Unia and Fundacja Nasza Ziemia. All CCB members and other NGOs in the region are very welcome to attend.

Draft programme upon request.