priority 2: Water-smart Societies

Objective 2.2
Blue economy

The Programme supports actions on sustainable use of fresh and sea waters as well as marine resources in innovative business development in the whole region in emerging and established sectors. These include aquaculture, blue biotechnology, shipping, fishery, and coastal and maritime tourism.

What is blue economy?

The Baltic Sea region has plentiful water resources and know-how for advancing a blue economy as well as environmental concerns for healthy ecosystems in the sea and inland water bodies.

Sustainable use of fresh & sea water

The Programme supports actions on sustainable use of fresh and sea waters as well as marine resources in innovative business development in the whole region in emerging and established sectors. These include aquaculture, blue biotechnology, shipping, fishery, and coastal and maritime tourism.

 

Joint use of water without conflicts

As different sectors may use the same resources, actions should help mitigate potential conflicts among users of the sea space and facilitate its joint use. Moreover, the Programme encourages actions for blue businesses that strengthen their resilience to and mitigate their impact on climate change.

What can I do in my project?

We believe our projects help implement several important strategies in our region, and, in particular, the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and its policy areas Innovation, Bioeconomy, Nutri, Ship, Safe, Secure, Transport, Spatial Planning, Tourism and Culture.

N

Develop value chains

Create new business opportunities by developing value chains for sustainable fresh water and marine-based products and services in line with smart specialisation strategies and marketing them;

N

Address climate change

Integrate climate change mitigation measures in blue economy development plans;

N

Improve management of sea and inland water traffic

Improve management of sea and inland water traffic and introduce solutions for remote navigational support, automation on ships and in ports, including digital solutions for certification and professional training for seafarers;

N

Test business models

Test business models for ecosystem services provided by blue businesses.

N

Faciliate joint use of water and land

Develop governance, communication and cooperation models among public authorities and industry to mitigate conflicts and promote the joint use of the sea and land space, through maritime spatial planning and land-sea interaction;

N

Promote clean shipping

Introduce common environmental standards and clean, digital, eco-efficient solutions on ships and in ports to reduce emissions, process and recycle waste and wastewater, prevent species from entering water bodies;

N

Diversify blue economy

Diversify coastal, maritime and inland water tourism products and connecting them to other sectors e.g. food, health, to combat seasonality;

Get inspired by the ongoing projects 

Baltic Sea2Land

Fostering integrated governance for the joint sustainable use of human and natural capital in the near shore zone
The project Baltic Sea2Land equips public authorities with the navigator tool that helps harmonise land and marine planning and balance initiatives that impact coastal development.
Read more about the project

BalMarGrav

Homogenized marine gravity maps of southern and eastern Baltic Sea for modern 3D applications in marine geodesy, geology and navigation
The project BalMarGrav harmonises data on the Earth’s gravity across the region to feed it into a new height reference system for safer navigation, offshore infrastructure and sea traffic management.
Read more about the project

BEACH-SOS

Climate Smart Baltic Beaches and Tourism
The BEACH-SOS project helps authorities, businesses, and local communities adapt to the changing climate to ensure thriving and sustainable beach recreation and tourism in the future.
Read more about the project

DESIRE

Development of Sustainable wetland management by Restoration and biomass utilisation of peatlands in the Neman river catchment to improve water quality of the Baltic Sea
Essential ecosystem services provided by the Baltic Sea, e.g. biodiversity, fisheries and tourism, are threatened by eutrophication caused by excess loads of nutrients to the sea. Discharge from rivers is one of the main pathways how nutrients get to the sea. One idea how to tackle the issue is to decrease the amount of nutrients leaking to the rivers by e.g. reactivation of already drained wetlands. The DESIRE project focuses on the numerous disturbed peatlands in the Neman river catchment and ways to restore some of them to act as wetland buffer zones.
Read more about the project
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Step 1 of 4

Four priorities & nine objectives

Four priorities for cooperation

Interreg Baltic Sea Region 2021-2027 creates opportunities for organisations to connect
as if there were no borders. With experience and EU funding, we help them cooperate and put their ideas into practice.

Jointly, we make the life of people around the Baltic Sea better.

The Programme is structured along with four priorities. They guide partners in achieving the most when cooperating across borders.

 
Priority 1

Innovative societies

1.1 Resilient economies and communities
1.2 Responsive public services

innovative-societies-resilient-economies-and-responsive-public-services
 
Priority 2

Water-smart societies

2.1 Sustainable waters
2.2 Blue economy

interreg-baltic-sea-region-sustainable-waters-blue-economy
Priority 3

Climate-neutral societies

3.1 Circular economy
3.2 Energy transition
3.3 Smart green mobility

interreg-baltic-sea-region-climate-neutral-societies-circular-economy-energy-transition-green-transport
 
Priority 4

Cooperation governance

4.1 Project platform
4.2 Macro-regional governance

interreg-baltic-sea-region-project-platforms-governance

Overview: all the Programme objectives

Resilient economies and communities

Objective 1.1
under Priority 1: Innovative societies

Sustainable waters

Objective 2.1
under Priority 2: Water-smart societies

Circular economy

Objective 3.1
under Priority 3: Climate-neutral societies

Project platforms

Objective 4.1
under Priority 4: Cooperation governance

Responsive public service

Objective 1.2
under Priority 1: Innovative societies

Blue economy

Objective 2.2
under Priority 2: Water-smart societies

Energy transition

Objective 3.2
under Priority 3: Climate-neutral societies

Macro-regional governance

Objective 4.2
under Priority 4: Cooperation governance

Smart green mobility

Objective 3.3
under Priority 3: Climate-neutral societies

Resilient economies and communities

Objective 1.1
under Priority 1: Innovative societies

Responsive public service

Objective 1.2
under Priority 1: Innovative societies

Sustainable waters

Objective 2.1
under Priority 2: Water-smart societies

Blue economy

Objective 2.2
under Priority 2: Water-smart societies

Climate-neutral societies

Objective 3.1
under Priority 3: Climate-neutral societies

Energy transition

Objective 3.2
under Priority 3: Climate-neutral societies

Smart green mobility

Objective 3.3
under Priority 3: Climate-neutral societies

Project platforms

Objective 4.1
under Priority 4: Cooperation governance

Macro-regional governance

Objective 4.2
under Priority 4: Cooperation governance

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A room full of people waving their green and orange cards, prominent panelists on stage, and a clear hero of the day: territorial cooperation, making the Baltic Sea region feel like home. The joint session during this year’s EU Week of Regions and Cities was filled with positive energy, commitment and hopes for the future. What stood out most?

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A perfect recipe for consolidating project solutions

A perfect recipe for consolidating project solutions

How to shape a project platform application that strategically consolidates results from several projects and funds for a higher impact? The workshop held in Riga on 7 October 2025 offered platform developers a recipe for success!

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