"Our Common Baltic" course
1992 - ongoing
Our annual summer course establishes and develops contacts between young and engaged citizens in all the Baltic Sea countries.
The participants, through interactive lectures and projects, exchange their knowledge and experiences, and learn more about the problems and solutions for the Baltic Sea catchment.
HISTORY OF THE PROJECT
The first edition of the one week course "Our Common Baltic" was held back in the ´90, when the participants had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge on the Baltic Sea ecosystem spending few days on land at the Stensund Folk High School and then sailing on the ship Amalia (a 25 m long wodden ship 100-years old!) in the Swedish archipelago to study bottom sediments and marine life.
Over the years the format slightly changed and OCB has been hosted permanently at the
Hel Marine Station in Poland, with one
day trip on a boat and guide visits at the "House of the Harbour Porpoise" and the Seal Aquarium.
From 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we switched to the online mode and easily adapted the programme to offer an engaging experience even if not in the field anymore.
In the future, we aim to host OCB in different countries around the Baltic Sea, with the support of our Member Organizations.
>520
Participants
>63
Lecturers
32
Years
OCB IN A NUTSHELL
Why do we organize this course?
The aim is to establish and develop contacts between engaged citizens in all the Baltic Sea countries.
Through the course the participants can share experiences and knowledges and develop new project ideas.
How the course is implemented?
The course is structured with both (online and offline) lectures and concrete work through project proposals and interactive activities.
What are the impacts?
The expected impact of the course is to raise awareness, exchange knowledge and implement new projects that can create a positive change for the Baltic people and the environment.
PARTICIPANTS QUOTES
“I gained a lot of friends, had an amazing week and feel even more interested to learn about the Baltic Sea and do advocacy work.”
- August 2024
Nora Bougern, Sweden
“I was surprised by how much biodiversity we saw during the camp. I loved it!”
- August 2024
Martynas Balsys, Lithuania
“We had the opportunity to meet and listen to great professors!”
- August 2024
Nomeda Kniuraitė, Lithuania
“With the citizen science, I realised how important it is to make sure people get involved and contribute to research with data collection.”
- August 2024
Iri Rosón, Spain
2025 EDITION
The next Our Common Baltic Course will be in summer 2025, stay tuned!
LATEST EDITIONS
MATERIALS & MEDIA
For more information:
Catherine Evsukova, CCB Youth Working Group Coordinator: catherine.evsukova (at) ccb.se
"Our Common Baltic" course is co-funded by
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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We continue to act, do you want to know more?
Stay tuned for the next OCB course!
In the meanwhile, click the button below to discover how you can be engaged and help us to protect the Baltic Sea.