Organisational Development and Capacity Building
CCB's main events & campaigns
In 2022 CCB continued offering the OCB course focusing on specific environmental issues, Ecosystem Based Management, as well as gender issues, Theory of Change, Results Based Management and monitoring and evaluation. Also, leading to increased competence in environmental protection, knowledge of basic project creation and management tools, awareness about Baltic Sea environmental characteristics and challenges, and stronger connection of partners in MOs, especially youth, consisting of:
- Online interactive course (May-July) with 5 thematic blocks on main CCB Working Areas.
- 5-day offline course in August at the picturesque Sho Lake.
The focus was on small-projects elaboration (10), interaction with nature and community building. In total, 15 young activists and 20 experts took part in the course.
In 2022 CCB River University, which is an interdisciplinary and educational training camp supporting official education system and taking into account the EU Open Life Science program, took place on 11-15 July in Estonia, focusing on flood risk management, upstream river basin management, Source-to-Sea approach, EU policies integration. This third edition was attended by 32 participants from 11 countries. The original timeline was shifted from spring to summer due to the war in Ukraine.
It has led to increased competence, knowledge, awareness, and connection of partners in MOs. River basin stakeholders applied new knowledge in daily work & strengthened network of contacts: this result is confirmed through feedback received and longterm contact with participants.
In 2022 CCB River University became one of the Founding Universities of the the global Nature Positive Universities network.
The Greener Agriculture for a Sustainable Sea (GRASS) in 2022 consisted of an Annual Conference and thematic workshops and conferences on different relevant topics.
You can read more under the Working Area Eutrophication.
In 2022 the campaign has address the demand for more information to the general public on climate change impacts to the Baltic Sea Region and consisted of an open communication on the results of COP26 and COP27, as well as the impacts of climate change in other WAs through concrete examples.
CCB carried out these activities throughout the year:
- Present the results of the previous water and climate project (2020-2021) on flood risk management in the Baltic Sea Region to the 2022 River University participants.
- Preparatory work for the report, which will be released in 2023, on examples of impacts and adaptation practices in river basins, cities and coastal areas.
- Attendance to the UN COP27. As a result, "The flood is coming: Water security issues at COP27" article was published on the CCB website.
- Organization of two webinars about latest outcomes of the UN climate change conferences and CCB´s activities and projects on climate and water for 2023.
Improve organizational structure
From 2022 onwards only four Working Areas (WA) were established within CCB: Biodiversity, Eutrophication, Hazardous Substances and Maritime Activities – matching the Work Packages of the EU Life funded Action Plan, as well as the main segments of HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan.
A new proposed organizational structure (further empowering the General Meeting, replacing the Board with a Council and establishing 2 Co-Chairs), as well as common values, priorities and directions of CCB’s work were considered and discussed at 2022 Annual Conference in Gdansk, Poland on 21 May 2022, leading to further process with its approval and implementation into practice in 2023.
With a view to promote gender equality awareness, CCB implemented the following activities in 2022:
- The CCB Secretariat continued the development of the CCB Gender Policy but prioritized creating practical guidelines on how to mainstream gender equality by developing gender checklists. Gender equality policy update will be discussed in 2023 (at the Annual Conference and throughout the year).
- 4 gender equality checklists have been developed. They focused on improving gender equality at workplace, in projects, during event planning, and while preparing information materials.
- Several MOs have participated in gender equality seminars in January and May 2022.
- The CCB Secretariat’s awareness about gender equality implementation was assessed during the capacity assessment in September 2022.