It has become a good tradition in the Baltic Sea Region to celebrate 22 March as the Baltic Sea Day in addition to the UN World Water Day. Traditionally, this day is celebrated on the date of signing of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area (Helsinki Convention) in 1974.

Since many years, the International Baltic Sea Days Environmental Forum was gathering Baltic Sea friends from all over the world in St.Petersburg. In 2018, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Kaliningrad Region has supported public initiative aimed at launching a round of environmental events that took place during 22-24 March 2018 also in Kaliningrad, Russia. These events comprised of:

• 22 March 2018: Regional Seminar devoted to the International Baltic Sea Day on “Roadmap for HELCOM Hot Spots Exclusion: Experience of the Baltic Sea Countries”, took place in the main building of the World Ocean Museum at Peter the Great emb. 1, Kaliningrad.

The organizers provided a platform for discussion of the experiences of other BSR countries on so-called ‘HELCOM Hot Spots“; new perspectives for integrated agricultural hot spots and touched upon developing the concept of the Green Funding for the Baltic Sea Region.

The event was attended by over 100 participants from Russia, Belarus, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania and Poland. The List of participants is available here.

In addition a training session on Maritime Spatial Planning for interested stakeholders was arranged by St.Petersburg Inter-regional Public Organization “Biologists for Nature Conservation” in the course of the main seminar (as a parallel session to the morning plenary)

Presentations from the event are available by the links below:

How to reach share of HELCOM nutrient reduction targets in Kaliningrad Region? Mikhail Durkin, Coalition Clean Baltic

Municipal hot spots – experience in elimination of “hot spots”- requirements for objects

Jacek Skarbek, Gdansk Water Management Company, GIWK, Poland

Kristina Bereišienė, Klaipeda Water Company, Klaipedos Vanduo, Lithuania

Tatiana Kuzmina, Vodokanal of St.Petersburg, Russia

Jyrki Laitinen, Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)

Industrial “hot spots”: industrial enterprises or landfills – opportunities for financing of infrastructure projects: Whose problems are “easier” to solve?

Situation with brownfields in Latvia, Aija Caune / Elita Kalnina, Environmental Protection Club of Latvia

Kosmodemyanskaya Landfill, Kaliningrad, Russia, Sergey Kondratenko and Denis Sokolov

Agricultural “hot spots”: how to balance the use of mineral or organic fertilizers?

Proposals for designation of areas critical to nutrient pollution, Aliaksandr Pahomau, Belarus

Nutrient accounting, Henrik Butze–Ruhnenstierne, Danish Nature Conservation Society

Voluntary vs: Mandatory Approach, Lennart Gladh, Sweden

BAT for Industrial Rearing of Poultry and Pigs, Aleksandr Bryukhanov, Institute of Agro-Environmental Problems, Russia (Russian BREF documents: Intensive Rearing of Pigs, Intensive Rearing of Poultry)

Joint Hot spots: is it necessary to coordinate actions to reduce pollution load in shared watershed?

Small-scale local solutions to reduce nutrient load into the Baltic Sea – NGO approaches in the Gulf of Finland basin, Elena Gretchina, Ecocentrum, St.Petersburg

Paludiculture as a tool to trap nutrients and restore biodiversity, Marina Abramchuck, Michael Succow Foundation, Germany

Green financing – prospects of cooperation for obtaining grants, loans, investments

Baltic Sea Conservation Foundation, Peter Torkler

Public participation in implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan and SDGs 2030

Climate Change as a common challenge for the BSR: need for regional adaptation strategy, Natalia Schagina, Baltic Institute of Ecology of Hydrosphere

Concrete actions to make nature amenities truly accessible for all, Svetlana Nigmatullina, Center for Development of Educational and Social Projects “AURA”

What is the opinion of the residents of Kaliningrad Region?, Yulia Aldushina, Kaliningrad State Technical University

• 23 March 2018: Field trips to the Kaliningrad region environmental facilities (for the guests of the 22 March international event).
• 24 March 2018:  Launch of the Environmental Initiative “Days of Action for Protection of the Baltic Sea” will be held at Witland Art Village.

The organizers of the 22-24 March 2018 events’ programme:

• IPO “Environmental Conservation Union” (contact person: Ekaterina Vorobyeva, mobile: + 7905 222 94 37, e-mail: evorobyeva@gmail.com),
• Ecomak LLC, practicalities and support in Kaliningrad (contact person: Kondratenko Sergey Valentinovich).
• The event on 24 March was coordinated by Filippenko Dmitry Pavlovich – project manager, tel. +79062347167.

Coalition Clean Baltic supported the event through funding provided by the Barents Baltic Nature and People Programme and the Baltic Sea Nature Conservation Foundation.

See below the picture gallery of the event:

Event Sponsors