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Baltic Sea foundations strengthen cooperation

In a meeting held on 23.9.2011, several important organizations from Finland and Sweden that are working to protect the Baltic Sea got together to discuss how they could cooperate more. Baltic Sea Action Group’s Chairman of the Board Ilkka Herlin and the Secretary General Mathias Bergman took part in the meeting, which was held in Marianham, Åland.
John Nurminen Foundation’s Juha Nurminen and Erik Båsk were present as well as Anders Wiklöf and Edgar Öberg from Östersjöfonden. BalticSea2020, which is based in Sweden, was represented by its founder Björn Carlson, together with Executive Director Conrad Stralka.
Carl Haglund, a Finnish member of the European Parliament, presented the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea region. Mr. Haglund was also co-convener for the meeting, together with Östersjöfonden’s founder Anders Wiklöf.
The participants decided to further tighten the cooperation between the organizations, as well as to bring in to table the resources of the EU Baltic Sea Strategy adopted in 2009.
“We have seen in the last few years how work for the Baltic Sea has efficiently started in the private sector. In the same time, also the political decision-makers have woken up to the critical status of the Baltic Sea. Bringing together these parties goes well hand-in-hand with the BSAG’s core idea,” said Mr. Bergman.
Mr. Haglund promised to work towards getting the EU sewage phosphorus regulations in line with Helcom recommendations. This means lowering permitted phosphorous levels from 1mg/liter down to 0.5 mg/liter.
For BSAG an immediate concrete outcome of the meeting was a possibility to start developing “animal manure as a raw material” ideas together with BalticSea2020. All participants also agreed to focus their actions towards the upcoming Baltic Sea Action Summit to be held in St. Petersburg in 2012.
An article about the meeting in Alands Tidningen.​

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