Baltic Sea Forum

Baltic Sea Forum is organised once a year in Turku, Finland, by Centrum Balticum in cooperation with the city of Turku. The Forum aims at bringing together Finnish Baltic Sea actors as comprehensively as possible, from public, private, and civil society sectors. The purpose of the Forum is to raise Baltic Sea region related issues to the public agenda, and to build a solid base for cooperation of the numerous and often scattered Baltic Sea actors.

Two successes in a row

1st Baltic Sea Forum, 15.-16.5.2008

The first Baltic Sea Forum brought together about 200 Baltic Sea actors. The themes of the Forum included the EU Baltic Sea Strategy, cooperation possibilities, sea politics, economical issues, protection of the environment, and the cooperation of areas and cities in the Baltic Sea region.

On the first day of the Forum, the participants were divided into six work shops at the Turku city hall. In the evening they attended the opening ceremony, which was held in the hall Sigyn, and after that the reception of the city of Turku at the ship Suomen Joutsen. The city mayor Mikko Pukkinen and the president of Finland Tarja Halonen gave speeches in the opening ceremony.

On the second day of the Forum Leif Fägernäs from the Confederation of Finnish Industries, chairman Ilkka Herlin from the Baltic Sea Action Group, director Pekka Sutela from the Bank of Finland, and director Esko Antola from Centrum Balticum gave addresses. The Forum had been a convincing and fruitful start for good discussions and cooperation within the Finnish Baltic Sea actors.

2nd Baltic Sea Forum, 14.-15.5.2009

The themes of the second Baltic Sea Forum were the EU Baltic Sea Strategy, economy, security, culture and environment within the Baltic Sea region.

The first day of the Forum consisted of current expert addresses: The city mayor Mikko Pukkinen gave the opening words, and professor MP Artis Pabriks from Vidzeme University College (Latvia), CEO Kari Jalas from the Finnish Central Chamber of Commerce, squadron admiral Veli-Pekka Pennala from the navy headquarters, MEP Henrik Lax from the European Parlament, and director Esko Antola from Centrum Balticum presented overviews about the economy and security of the Baltic Sea, and the Baltic Sea Strategy, to about 170 listeners. In the evening of the first day, the participants were invited to the reception of the city of Turku, at the ship Suomen Joutsen.

On the second day of the Forum, working with the themes was continued at the city hall work shops. In addition to the economical, security, and strategy point of views, the groups now also pondered about the cultural and environmental challenges of the area. About 120 people participated in the work shops. Some of the work shops had even reconveded between the two Forums in December 2008, which was a great display of interest and commitment to the development of the region.