Ongoing Projects

Priority: Regional Identity, Sustainable & Prosperous Region, Safe & Secure Region
Project leader: ARS BALTICA / Nordkolleg
Participating countries: Germany (LP), Poland, Latvia

The Culture Connect project fosters security, resilience, and social cohesion through capacity building activities and community engagement particularly in smaller cities in LT/LV/EE and FI on the border lines. Building on the findings of the BSR Cultural Pearls project, this initiative strengthens the human need for connection—security is not only about physical protection but also about being seen, heard, and understood. Culture Connect aims to support building societies where individuals feel a sense of belonging, as capacity building activities bridge divides, nurture mutual understanding, and strengthen relationships. A strong sense of belonging protects against misinformation and polarisation, fostering resilience, critical thinking, and social trust. Target beneficiaries are local professionals in public authorities, NGOs, civic organisations, and cultural institutions in cities on the borderline. These professionals will enhance their skills and act as multipliers, spreading knowledge and cultural dialogue within their communities. Culture Connect is a two-year project featuring eight ABCD workshops and two conferences. The workshops will use the ARS BALTICA Creative Dialogue (formerly PSF funded) methodology, focusing on participatory, cross-sector approaches. A key deliverable will be a Resilience-toolkit for sustainable community engagement. Culture Connect will expand the BSR Cultural Pearls network, strengthening ties and fostering resilient, inclusive societies.

Priority: Safe & Secure Region
Project leader: HELCOM – Helsinki Commission
Participating countries: Finland (LP), Denmark, Latvia, Ukraine

The goal of the SAFE-BS2BKS project is to transfer and implement the most effective and safe techniques used in the Baltic Sea for managing underwater munitions in the Black Sea region, with a strong focus on environmental security and the sustainability of marine ecosystems, especially in protected areas.

The project leader H9 (the EU and the Contracting Parties to HELCOM that are also Member States of the EU) will leverage its macro-regional network to foster discussions and organize key stakeholder dialogue and workshops. This will provide a substantial input for HELCOM BSAP action S34 while ensuring cross-sectoral multidisciplinary outreach and knowledge transfer to the Black Sea region and Ukraine in particular. Activities will apply proven Baltic methods for assessing and mitigating hazards from submerged munitions, integrating them into marine monitoring and climate adaptation strategies.

Special care will be taken in environmentally protected and sensitive marine areas where sea-dumped munitions can harm biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. Black Sea stakeholders will gain essential expertise through this exchange of knowledge and training. The project will develop an Action Plan with recommendations and an outline of future actions for the safe management of unexploded ordnances in the Black Sea, ensuring structured and coordinated marine environmental protection and risk management.

Priority: Safe & Secure Region
Project leader: Latvian Transatlantic Organisation
Participating countries: Latvia (LP), Estonia, Poland

The #JournalismForSecurity project aims to strengthen the capacity of local journalists in Latvia, Estonia, and Poland to counter disinformation and enhance community resilience. Led by the Latvian Transatlantic Organisation, the project addresses challenges faced by regional journalists, including limited resources, digital literacy gaps, language barriers, and lack of collaboration.

By providing intensive training on digital media literacy, crisis communication, and ethical reporting, the project equips journalists to identify, analyse, and counter disinformation. Practical workshops, simulation exercises, and hands-on learning ensure that journalists gain real-world skills. The project also fosters cross-border collaboration, building sustainable networks among media professionals from Latvia, Estonia, and Poland.

The primary beneficiaries are local journalists from small regional outlets who gain enhanced skills and access to professional networks. Media organisations benefit through improved reporting standards, while communities receive more accurate information, boosting public trust. By promoting regional cooperation and aligning with the Council of the Baltic Sea States goals of fostering free and independent media, the project contributes to a resilient and informed Baltic Sea Region. It ensures that journalists become proactive actors in countering disinformation, fostering media integrity, and strengthening social cohesion.

Priority: Regional Identity
Project leader: NGO Mondo
Participating countries: Estonia (LP), Latvia, Lithuania

The Baltic Model United Nations (BalticMUN) project aims to strengthen regional identity and societal resilience in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) by engaging young people from UNESCO’s Associated Schools Network (ASPnet) in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. ASPnet connects nearly 10,000 schools across 181 national networks, operating at international and national levels to promote education for sustainable development, global citizenship, and intercultural learning. In the Baltic countries ASPnet connects 115 educational institutions: 65 from Estonia, 35 from Latvia, and 15 from Lithuania.

The project, implemented from January 2026 to June 2027, will include national prevents in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, culminating in a four-day youth conference in spring 2027 in Latvia. It directly supports the CBSS Regional Identity priority, fostering a shared sense of belonging through culture, education, and policy dialogue. BalticMUN will offer young people a platform to address regional challenges. In addition, UNESCO ASPnet teacher workshops will help educators support youth engagement and regional awareness. Target groups include 15–19-year-old students from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, including Ukrainian refugees from all three Baltic countries, and educators involved in global and civic education. Beneficiaries of the project—students, teachers, youth organizations, and cultural institutions—will gain valuable skills, networks, and insights into the shared identity of the region.

Priority: Regional Identity
Project leader: Nodibinajums “ILGTSPEJAS FONDS” / Media Hub Riga
Participating countries: Latvia (LP), Finland, Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark

The aim of the project is to encourage youth journalists and journalism students in the Baltic Sea Countries on an innovative, intercultural basis to develop ideas for addressing the challenges related to the use of AI technologies in media, as well as ideas for strengthening reliable information in media.

The digital revolution has created a media landscape where AI-generated content without critical journalistic quality is spreading, and where many young people prefer their information from social media with a high risk of dis- and misinformation, propaganda and hate speech – and all with a lack of moderation. This development weakens the public’s trust in the media, and it undermines the role of journalism as the “fourth power”. To restore trust, improve journalism education programs so they offer the skills to navigate the media landscape of the future, we will organise a four-day innovation lab for Baltic journalism students, youth journalists and educators. They will have the opportunity to develop and present ideas that can strengthen the next generation of journalists, their attractiveness across other industries and their role in democracy. The project will take the students on a learning safari across disciplines in collaboration with editors, media actors, AI experts and lecturers. They will explore global challenges, develop innovative solutions and present their ideas in a final pitch to experts and decision makers in media policy.

Priority: Sustainable & Prosperous Region
Project leader: Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation
Participating countries: Estonia (LP), Poland, Finland, Ukraine

The project aligns with the BSR priority “Sustainable and Prosperous Region” by focusing on climate change mitigation, cultural heritage preservation and biodiversity protection in coastal communities—both maritime and large lake regions – in Poland, Estonia, Norway, Finland, but also Ukraine. The project target mainly communities from Ustka and Espoo (Baltic Sea cost municipalities in Poland and Finland), Mustvee (Lake Peipsi coast, Estonia), Odesa (Ukraine, Black Sea port city).

The key topics and activity areas are: a)Climate action and cultural heritage – We develop community action plans to protect both natural and cultural assets, ensuring that climate adaptation measures support local identity, traditional knowledge and biodiversity conservation; b) Empowerment of local communities and civil society -through community labs, study tours and pilot actions; contributing to the wider goal of resilient societies; c) Cross-border cooperation and peer learning between Baltic Sea Region communities and with Ukraine; to transfer community-driven solutions and models. Through interactive workshops, study visits, and co-creation sessions, the project aims to empower communities with practical tools to adapt to climate change while strengthening grassroots democracy. Additionally, it should facilitate small-scale local actions (e.g. heritage gardens, flood-proofing traditional buildings), and provide financial support for community-led projects).

Priority: Safe & Secure Region
Project leader: Visuomeninė organizacija “Gelbėkit vaikus”
Participating countries: Lithuania (LP), Estonia, Latvia, Finland

The Child participation Initiative for Child Protection Systems project (CHIPS) strengthens child participation in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland and uses it practically to improve Integrated Child Protection Systems (ICPS) in the countries. The project consists of transnational and national events where children, helped by CHIPS partners, identify the issues that ICPS should address and develop actionable, practical proposals to authorities to improve them. We plan one transnational event in Tallinn with child representatives, staff of CHIPS members, authorities, academia, CSOs, and experts from Save the Children Sweden’s youth organization as external advisors, to experiment with child participation methods and discuss ICPS issues (WP1). We later conduct one workshop with children per country, using methods defined in Tallinn, to discuss how each country’s ICPS can be improved (WP2). We then turn children’s ideas into actionable advocacy points for national authorities and disseminate them among other CSOs (WP3).

WP1 involves 8 children, 8 caregivers, 10 staff from CHIPS partners, 2 from SC Sweden’s youth organization, and 16 experts from authorities, universities and other CSOs. WP2 gathers at least 10 children and 10 caregivers per country. For WP3, partners reach at least 20 CSOs per country and three EU-wide networks for dissemination; for advocacy, they engage with two relevant institutions per country, to secure a commitment on at least two action points.

Priority: Safe & Secure Region
Project leader: Zatoka Foundation
Participating countries: Poland (LP), Germany, Estonia, Sweden

Building on the success of YoPeNET and YoPeNET 02 projects (2020–2022, 2022-2024, CBSS PSF), which promoted youth engagement and regional cooperation, YoPeNET-FUTURES aims to strengthen resilience, sustainability, and democratic engagement in the Baltic Sea Region. It integrates strategic foresight with capacity building for young researchers and leaders, equipping them to anticipate and address future challenges. The project has two phases:

Foresight research: A Delphi study with regional experts to explore governance, economic transitions, and sustainability. Baltic Futures Summer School: A seven-day training for Master’s students, PhDs, and young professionals combining expert input, scenario-building workshops and participatory foresight to co-develop policy recommendations. YoPeNET-FUTURES bridges youth and policymakers, fostering cross-border collaboration and empowering young people (future policy implementers) to shape democratic futures and navigate uncertainties, disinformation, and socio-ecological transformations.

Target groups:

Core Group: Youth (20–35) with academic backgrounds in political science, sociology, economics, and related fields.

Partner Group: Policymakers, NGOs, academia, and civil society organizations. Outcomes will support policymaking, academic research, civil society engagement, and economic development through foresight tools and inclusive dialogue.

Priority: Safe & Secure Region
Project leader: World Childhood Foundation Germany
Participating countries: Germany, Sweden, Finland

The project “Development of instructions for long-term quality assurance systems in national Barnahus networks” is a joint approach of Barnafrid (Sweden), THL (Finland), and World Childhood Foundation (Germany) as national network coordinators to enable the development of national auditing systems for Barnahus services.

The first step is to analyze the current status quo in each of the three countries how the implementation of the Barnahus standards in local services is reported and supervised and how national network coordination is involved in local quality assurance in Barnahus services. Secondly, these experiences should be compared from a transnational perspective by the project partners, and a definition of common core principles should be developed for what an auditing or accreditation system must address and achieve in each country. Experiences from existing auditing/ accreditation systems such as the National Children’s Alliance accreditation system should also be taken into consideration. Engaging expert services for the development of auditing/ accreditation systems, a recommendation manual will be developed to be used in future pilots.

Priority: Safe & Secure Region
Project leader: ROSA
Participating countries: Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland

Priority: Regional Identity
Project leader: Kunsthalle Rostock gGmbH
Participating countries: Germany, Denmark, Latvia

The project is an international platform and European cooperation project aimed at strengthening democracy in the Baltic Sea region. Participants of this innovative project are young people aged 13 – 18 in the Baltic Sea area, especially those who have had limited access to international art and exchange formats. Adolescents experience to use art as a means of expressing their own themes and concerns and discover their creativity. In the project art serves the youth as a method and means to experience genuine participation and engage with youth from across the Baltic Sea region. In the introductory workshop, participating students develop a shared Baltic Sea identity, which is strengthened throughout the project. Through creative engagement with their own themes and visions of life by the sea at their doorstep, they discover the Baltic Sea region as a formative space that they can actively shape. The experience of self-efficacy, intercultural understanding, and overcoming challenges in creative group work significantly empowers the young people involved. The project’s outcomes are presented in free exhibitions in the Baltic Sea region, serving as multipliers to enhance visibility and expand the dialogue. Students from 8 countries in the Baltic Sea region participate in the project. Transnational collaboration includes cooperations between schools, museums and local administrations. The commitment of all teachers on-site makes the implementation of this project successful.

Priority: Regional Identity, Sustainable & Prosperous Region, Safe & Secure Region
Project leader: Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, MSB
Participating countries: Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Lithuania

The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, MSB has a strong engagement in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) and since many years back the member of the CBSS Civil Protection Network (CPN). In addition to that from 2013, based on the Swedish government decision, MSB coordinates the Policy Area Secure (PA Secure) within the EU:s Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. The crisis communication is one of the CPN and PA Secure prioritised cooperation area. This project will be implemented in a close partnership with the civil protection authorities in the BSR and will give the opportunity to intensify and increase our common efforts to make the BSR a safe region to live in.

Communication before and during crisis is one of the most important tools to build preparedness for and handle crisis – regardless if the current crisis is due to the consequences of a war in a nearby country or caused by climate change. People who are prepared and know how to act when the crisis comes are more safe and secure.

Communication to the public also contributes to regional identity and in the long run to sustainability since people get the tools to make the right decisions – before and during crisis.

Priority: Sustainable & Prosperous Region, Safe & Secure Region
Project leader: University of Latvia
Participating countries: Latvia, Finland, Germany