Project manager: Maira Jēgere, phone +371 67215068



Climate change, with its complex structure, is one of the biggest global challenges we currently face and will continue to face in the future. Society is grappling with how to deal with climate change - not as an unsolvable problem, but as a manageable situation.

Until now measures dealing with climate change have been mainly of political nature dealing with national inventories and larger industries. Guidelines for the general direction of action developed on the international or national level are a first step, but do not equal practical implementation.

Dealing with climate change issues means looking at both mitigation and adaptation at the local and regional level. Activities on these levels provide good opportunities as the territory and its elements are of graspable size, stakeholders know each other and decisions taken can lead faster to actions, as they are made closer to the implementation level.

However, the local and regional level lack support, resources, knowledge and experience on how to deal with climate change both in everyday practice and long-term development. Climate change, as a key cross-sectoral issue for sustainable development, requires an integrative approach and involving of a wide range of local and regional decision makers and those who prepare decisions including the super-ordinate level.

Cooperation between urban and the rural areas or neighbouring municipalities in development areas, zones or corridors is required and can bring about even more stable outcomes and effects with highly transferable results.

Additionally, few have taken it a step further to pro-actively respond to the climate change phenomenon in a way that looks at the opportunities and suitable actions taken might also bring benefit for the long term development of the economies, environment and social sector.

Main OBJECTIVES and envisaged RESULTS

“Climate change: from global challenge to local chances and actions”
BalticClimate will target mainly small and medium sized cities and rural areas in all BSR countries to support their development. Within these, decision makers (politicians, stakeholders including business sector) and those who prepare decisions (authorities, development agencies, etc.) on local and regional level will be specifically addressed.

The project aims to identify how the climate change phenomenon will also present opportunities and chances and not only obstacles for the development of municipalities and regions when they are accounting for climate change information in their long term strategies and planning. The process of doing so will increase the competitiveness of small and medium sized cities and rural areas and their surrounding regions. BalticClimate’s main outputs will be made transferable and disseminated to the local and regional level in all BSR countries to multiply the achieved results in the whole BSR. This will also improve the sustainable development perspectives on the national, Baltic Sea Region, European, and global levels.

Thus the following Main Objectives of BalticClimate can be identified:

• To enable BSR municipalities, regions and local actors to deal with the climate change issue in a cooperative, integrated and sustainable way.
• To make the climate change phenomenon understood as challenge, as well as a chance for local and regional overall and sustainable development.
• To make BSR municipalities and regions more competitive for future challenges to maintain and enhance the common existing BSR identity.

Within the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013, BalticClimate focuses on
Priority 4 “Promoting attractive and competitive regions”.

The priority specific envisaged Results of BalticClimate are:

“Improved capability and cooperation of BSR cities and rural areas for commonly (esp. urban-rural) dealing with climate change in an integrated way in every day-practice and in short- as well as long-term decisions, leading to an enhanced sustainable urban and regional development.”

“Upgraded understanding (by decision makers and those preparing decisions in BSR cities and rural areas) of the climate change phenomenon as a chance for economic activities while protecting the natural and cultural heritage of the BSR.”

“Enlarged set of transferable tools, experiences and examples on how to deal pro-actively with the climate change phenomenon on the local and regional level, as well as to support the development of national and pan-Baltic strategies.”