CBSS at the EUSBSR Annual Forum 2024 in Visby
The 15th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) “Sustainability, Resilience, and Security” will be held on 30-31 October 2024 in Visby, Sweden.
The 15th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) is set to take place on the picturesque island of Gotland, Sweden. Scheduled for October 30-31, 2024, this year’s forum brings together policymakers, key stakeholders, and partners from local, regional, national, and EU levels to collaborate on pressing issues within the Baltic Sea Region.
Since its inception in 2009, the Annual Forum has served as a vital platform for fostering collaboration and addressing common challenges in the region. This year’s event, themed around Sustainability, Resilience, and Security, promises to deepen understanding and enhance cooperative efforts in these crucial areas.
The Forum will be structured around four key elements: engagement, co-creation, policy dialogues, and networking. Participants can look forward to a variety of interactive workshops, panel discussions, and seminars designed to promote active participation and collaborative problem-solving. The networking village will offer a space for participants to connect and showcase ongoing projects and activities.
CBSS participation
As part of the Forum, the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) will organise and co-organise workshops focusing on several critical themes:
- Social Resilience: Through the BSR Cultural Pearls project, CBSS will explore ways to enhance social resilience across the region.
- Civil Security and a Safe and Secure Region: Involvement in the EUSBSR Policy Area (PA) Secure will address civil security, aiming to create a safer region. The CBSS, along with the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), co-coordinators of PA Secure, will organise a session that includes four Directors-General from the CBSS Civil Protection Network (CPN).
- Youth Engagement: Representatives of the Baltic Sea Region Youth Forum will focus on the issue of empowering and engaging the youth, and recognising their crucial role in shaping the future of the region.
The CBSS will also have a significant presence in the networking village, facilitating connections and discussions among participants about ongoing CBSS projects and activities within the Baltic Sea Region.
Workshops organised & co-organised by CBSS
Recipes for Resilience – Communities, Culture and Comprehensive Security
Parallel Session 3
Time: 16:30-18:00, 30 October 2024
Venue: Wisby (Auditorium)
Organiser: Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS)
Communities form the backbone of resilient societies. Cohesion, belonging, trust and the ability to cooperate are only some of the qualities that communities need to function effectively under stress and to overcome hardship together. Local authorities play a key role in coordinating, communicating and creating conditions for citizens to build the traits, skills and bonds needed to thrive in the face of challenges. Meanwhile, civil protection has become a top priority for all governments in the region in light of the Russian war. Rapid climate change and weather-related threats also increasingly pose a threat to local communities.
How can the narratives of civil protection and social resilience be united in practice? What formats for learning, development and exchange exist in the BSR? What can the experiences of Ukraine teach us about communities in crisis? And what role does culture, cohesion and identity play? What does the “whole-of-society” approach look like in practice? Join researchers, national agencies for civil protection, local authorities, and Ukrainian stakeholders in a conversation on how to integrate various resilience narratives into a regional understanding of comprehensive security.
High-Level Dialogue on Resilience Through Cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region
Parallel Session 4
Time: 11:00-12:30, 31 October 2024
Venue: Wisby (Auditorium)
Organisers: Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) and Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), co-coordinators of PA Secure
This panel discussion will focus on how the Baltic Sea states can work together to ensure a resilient, safe and secure region in the context of an increasingly challenging security landscape. Involving high-level decision-makers representing the national, regional and local levels, the panel will delve into how these efforts, including ones in the context of ongoing total/civil defence efforts, can ensure that the region remains an attractive area for people to live in.
The dialogue will focus on the vital role that civil society can play in further enhancing resilience nationally and across the entire region. Among other things, the panel will explore the essential role that individual citizens, voluntary organisations, municipalities and other actors have to play in contributing to a flexible, resilient system at regional level that is equipped to confront all kinds of risks ranging from the ordinary to the extraordinary. The panel will also discuss how we can better coordinate our efforts with civil society and what role macro-regional strategies can play in facilitating this coordination.
Programme
For a detailed programme of the EUSBSR Annual Forum 2024, participants are encouraged to visit the official forum website.
Registration
Registration for the 15th EUSBSR Annual Forum is now open. The deadline for registration is on 15 October 2024.
Interested participants are urged to register promptly due to limited availability: 600 slots for the Forum and 200 slots for the Engagement Day. Early registration is recommended, ideally before July 1, to take advantage of hotel discounts and secure flight arrangements.
Don’t miss the opportunity to be part of this significant event, shaping the future of the Baltic Sea Region through collaborative effort and innovative solutions. Register today and join the conversation in Visby this October!
The two hosts for the EUSBSR Annual Forum 2024 are the Swedish Government together with the Nordic Council of Ministers. The organisers are the Gotland County Administrative Board in close collaboration with the secretariat of the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Government Offices of Sweden, the Norden Association Sweden, the Swedish Institute, Region Gotland and the Baltic Sea Strategy Point. The event is co-funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme, the Swedish Government, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Swedish Institute and Region Gotland.