SCONE project - sustainable development initiative

The first working meeting of Elbląg partners of the SCONE project is behind us. It was attended by: Piotr Kowal Vice President of the City of Elbląg, Hanna Mierzejewska - Director of the Complex of Technical Schools in Elbląg, Agnieszka Jurewicz - Director of the Second High School in Elbląg, and employees of the Association of Municipalities of the Republic of Poland Euroregion Baltic with its Director, Marcin Żuchowski. In the office of the Deputy Mayor, the most important elements of the project talking about the benefits for the involved educational institutions from Elblag were discussed, as well as formal issues related to the course of the project activities.

During today's meeting, plans for the next few months were discussed. The next working meeting of Polish partners is scheduled for September with the participation of all Polish partners, from Gdansk and Elblag.

The project's focus is on high school sustainability development and pro-environmental activities, working with teachers and students and strengthening non-formal learning. The project aims to fill this critical gap by developing and implementing innovative educational programs that equip youth with the knowledge and skills they need to take meaningful action in the face of the global climate crisis. In this project, we seek to inspire and equip the coming generations to be leaders in the fight against climate change.

The project will result in the creation of a network of organizations that will work closely together. These organizations will work together to promote sustainability using a holistic approach involving individual educational institutions. Teachers at secondary schools and teachers' colleges will have the opportunity to increase their ability to collaborate by focusing on education for sustainability as a teaching practice.

SCONE is a 3-year initiative that involves many South Baltic area stakeholders, including those from Elblag, but it is also not the only sustainability-themed initiative targeting the city. We are also including Elblag in the emerging USALL project on urban land conservation and development, an initiative co-created with residents.

Council of Baltic Sea States - call for proposals is open!

The Secretariat of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS/CBSS) has published information on the opening of the call for applications under theProject Support Facility for 2024 (PSF, https://cbss.org/psf/psf-2024/ ), open to eligible entities from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Sweden. The project must involve partners from at least three of the aforementioned countries, and the grant for the project can amount to a maximum of EUR 65,000 (see the documentation on the website for details).

Applications can be submitted until March 31, 2024, according to the guidelines and information posted on the PSF 2024 Call page. Only one call is planned, the amount to be distributed is about EUR 300 thousand.

The PSF was established by the CBSS member states in 2012 to co-finance projects developing and strengthening cooperation in the Baltic Sea region. Poland makes an annual contribution to the PSF for projects.

Projects in 2024 are to focus on strengthening resilience, security, cooperation and trust in the Baltic Sea region. In particular, innovative projects that foster understanding, cooperation and mutual trust-building for more resilient societies are encouraged. Submitted projects should relate to one of the three long-term priorities of the CBSS. Specific thematic areas under the Safe and Secure Region priority are also indicated.

PSF 2024 Thematic Priorities:

1. Safe and secure region, where the following three thematic areas were specifically identified:

  1. "Regional identity"
  2. "Sustainable and Prosperous Region"

If you have any questions about PSF 2024, please contact the CBSS Secretariat directly, where Ms. Katerina Popova, CBSS Project Support Facility Coordinator, is in charge of recruitment, +46 73 801 55 20, psf@cbss.org

The 1st call for applications for small projects in the Interreg South Baltic Program 2021-2027 is launched

In just a few days, the 1st call for applications for small-scale projects under the Interreg South Baltic Program 2021-2027 will be launched. Small-scale projects are a new type of projects supported by the Program, aimed primarily at encouraging new institutions and smaller organizations to take advantage of the Program's offer. The smaller financial scale of the projects (total combined budget - up to EUR 200,000), simplified partial settlements (lump sums) should serve as a "safe first step" in testing cross-border cooperation on smaller projects.

Application deadline: 22.02.2024 - 21.03.2024

The deadline for registration for this event is February 23.

Events organized by the Joint Secretariat will be held in English.

Detailed information and application forms are available on the Program website https://southbaltic.eu/-/1st-small-scale-projects-call-to-be-opened-soon-terms-of-reference-and-supporting-measures

WE ESPECIALLY ENCOURAGE NEW ENTITIES TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS COMPETITION AND GAIN INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN THE PARTNERSHIP OF BALTIC ENTITIES!

Green Up - Round Tables in Dzierzgoń - day 2

The presentation of the developed project fiches concluded the meeting in Dzierzgon today. We would like to thank young people from the Primary School in Bągart, the Wanda Chotomska Primary School in Bruk and the Thousand-Year-Old Polish State Primary School in Dzierzgon for active and fruitful participation in the project work. During the last two days we have jointly developed creative and substantively valuable materials and action plans, which have a good chance of being implemented in the near future and thus improving the life of the local community in terms of ecology, environmental protection and healthier living. The next Roundtables will take place in a fortnight' time, this time in Nowe Miasto Lubawskie.

Green Up - Round Tables in Dzierzgon

Today, the "Round Tables", a project task from GreenUp, were implemented in Dzierzgon. Representatives of the young generation from the Primary School in Bągart, the Wanda Chotomska Primary School in Bruk and the Thousand-Year-Old Polish State Primary School in Dzierzgon and officials gathered at the Regional Investment Association to prepare project fiches together. The young people wrote down all their ideas related to ecology in order to improve their surroundings. During the group work, problems, goals and possible actions were defined in order to implement potential projects, all under the guidance of the three key slogans reduce, reuse, recycle. And tomorrow, the next part of the meeting will present the results of today's work.

Baltic Home in Oslo. Active Creative Project - Day 3

We concluded our visit to Oslo by attending the opening of the Baltic Home exhibition, organised by the Media Dizajn Association and International Development Norway, which took place on Friday evening, 12 January at Tenthaus. In the intimate spaces of the Tenthaus Art Collective, representatives of cultural institutions, diplomatic missions and private individuals, interested in learning more about our local applied art, gathered. Our guests from the "Światowid" European Meeting Centre in Elbląg, the EL Gallery Art Centre and Dzierzgoń Cultural Centre also had the opportunity to make interesting contacts from the Norwegian cultural sector, which we are very pleased about.

The exhibition will be hosted in Oslo until 19 January this year.

The exhibition is part of the Active Creative project to stimulate the spirit of cultural and creative entrepreneurship. The initiative, co-financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway from the EEA Funds under the 'Active Citizens - Regional Fund' programme, aims to strengthen business, cultural and entrepreneurial competences among representatives of the creative sector from both Poland and Norway.