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Innovative societies Water-smart societies Climate-neutral societies 

Interreg makes
a difference!

Explore how people in the Baltic Sea region have been benefitting
from our projects.

#MadeWithInterreg solutions for

Cleaner waters

Cleaner waters thanks to viable monitoring system, new methods for removing micropollutants from wastewater and sharing knowledge

What are we doing?

Coordinated actions are the key to cleaning Baltic Sea waters efficiently. Interreg projects that bring people together across sectors and countries stand behind many of them. Not only do they introduce new systemic methods to clean wastewater, but also ensure the spread of knowledge of those methods in the region. Trust in project recommendations directly translates into new policies and investments. In a long run, cooperation in projects exceeds original partnerships and builds grounds for new initiatives and actions to respond to arising challenges.

Examples of #MadeWithInterreg solutions:
  • a platform collecting best practices in smart water operations
  • a risk assessment system to monitor concentrations of micropollutants
  • novel methods to clean wastewater from micropollutants, e.g. pharmaceuticals
  • new technologies to reduce phosphorus losses
  • enhanced water treatment to improve water quality in lakes

 

What we’ve achieved so far? 

The Baltic Sea is one of the most heavily eutrophicated seas in the world. Interreg projects helped improve wastewater treatment, which is one of the factors influencing eutrophication. At the beginning of the 2000s, more than 20 cities collected best practices in water management and shared them with other city administrations around the Baltic Sea region. In 2009-2013, projects showcased that it was possible to reduce discharges of nutrients from wastewater treatment facilities to the level set in the Baltic Sea Action Plan of HELCOM. The HELCOM Action Plan targets were stricter than the EU requirement.

In 2016-2021, projects in cities and villages focused on improving the treatment of wastewater from residents and industries. Partners in projects tested new technologies that increased nutrient removal and reduced energy consumption in cities such as Daugavpils, Gdańsk, Tartu, Jūrmala, Kaunas, and Grevesmühlen. Rural municipalities benefitted from solutions like septic tanks and soil infiltration in Kolgaküla, Gennarby, Ainaži, and Leitgiriai. In other projects, partners tested the pre-treatment of wastewater at poultry, meat, and dairy factories in Leszno, Doruchów, Põltsamaa, and Jelgava. Following this joint work, the partners synthesised more than a hundred examples of smart water operations. Using this knowledge, they helped develop the new Baltic Sea Regional Nutrient Recycling Strategy of HELCOM, and revise the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan. These two strategic documents help achieve a healthy state of the Baltic Sea.

 

Ongoing projects

The ongoing projects explore new methods to clean wastewater more efficiently and better monitor concentrations of harmful substances and micropollutants in water environments. They address various stages of water management, starting from pollution prevention at its source, extending to robust monitoring and risk assessment practices, and culminating in the adoption of advanced wastewater treatment technologies. The projects aim to influence policy-making processes and implement practical measures for long-term improvements.

 

Supporting the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region 

Our projects play a vital role in achieving the ambitious goals of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) to save the Baltic Sea. In collaboration with the coordinators of the EUSBSR policy areas Nutri, Bioeconomy, Hazards, and Tourism, our projects make water and wastewater management more efficient and less resource-intensive in cities, rural areas, and tourist destinations. Together, our projects and the EUSBSR coordinators drive changes in water-related policies in our region, ensuring that the outcomes of our projects are integrated into legislation and continue to contribute to clearer, cleaner waters in the region.

 

Explore project solutions in more detail:

EMPEREST

Eliminating Micro-Pollutants from Effluents for REuse STrategies
The project EMPEREST tests advanced treatment technology that helps water utilities and companies better remove organic micropollutants such as PFAS or pharmaceuticals from wastewater.
Read more about the project

APRIORA

Improved risk assessment for strategic water management to reduce micro-pollutant emissions in the Baltic Sea Region
In the project APRIORA, environmental protection agencies and wastewater treatment plants get equipped with a GIS-based risk assessment system to monitor and model concentrations of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in order to improve water management and reduce emissions.
Read more about the project

BEACON

Application of biological effects methods in monitoring and assessment of contaminants in the Baltic Sea
In the project BEACON, public authorities and governmental organisations develop harmonised methods to assess contamination in the Baltic Sea waters, sediment and biota.
Read more about the project

AdvIQwater

Improving quality of BSR waters by advanced treatment processes
The project AdvIQwater tests photocatalysis, fungal treatment and biofilms methods to efficiently clean wastewaters from pharmaceuticals.
Read more about the project

NonHazCity 3

Reducing hazardous substances in construction to safeguard the aquatic environment, protect human health and achieve more sustainable buildings
The project NonHazCity 3 helps municipalities, entrepreneurs and individuals construct and renovate buildings with tox-free materials in order to protect health and the environment.
Read more about the project

TRUST ALUM

Building trust in target groups for ALUM treatment - an effective, yet misunderstood method for water quality improvement
The project TRUST ALUM helps public authorities in the Baltic countries make better use of ALUM water treatment and improve water quality in lakes.
Read more about the project

MUNIMAP

Baltic Sea Munitions Remediation Roadmap
The project MUNIMAP develops a legal and administrative framework for public authorities to initiate joint remediation of dumped munitions from the Baltic Sea and Skagerrak, which pose threats to the marine ecosystem and hinder the maritime economy.
Read more about the project

DIGINNO

Digital Innovation Network
Through faster and more efficient uptake of digital solutions in public and private sectors, the project DIGINNO helped to accelerate the Baltic Sea region’s transition to a single digital market.
Read more about the project

SNOwMan

Supporting Non-technological Innovation in Owner-managed Manufacturing SMEs through increased capacity of business intermediaries
In the Interreg project SNOwMan business intermediaries, owner-managers and universities jointly developed and applied innovative tools and methods for business counselling tailored for owner-managers of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Read more about the project

CCI4Change

Facilitation of citizens energy consumption behavioral change in BS cities and municipalities
In the CCI4Change, public authorities cooperate with entrepreneurs from the culture and creative industry (CCI) to better engage with citizens and encourage them to reduce energy consumption.
Read more about the project

CITYAM

CITYAM - Preparing cities for sustainable Urban Air Mobility
The project CITYAM equips cities with tools to improve airspace management in dealing with emerging urban air mobility and scaling drone operations.
Read more about the project

ORMOBASS

Operational R-Mode Baltic Sea System to support resilient navigation
To ensure safer navigation at the Baltic Sea, the project ORMOBASS introduces a terrestrial R-Mode system that replaces global navigation satellite systems in case of disruptions, and warns ships about increased navigational risks.
Read more about the project

TENTacle

TENTacle - Capitalising on TEN-T core network corridors for prosperity, growth and cohesion
The Interreg project TENTacle equipped public authorities and industry around the Baltic Sea with recommendations on how to benefit from the core transport network corridors in order to boost prosperity and growth around the Baltic Sea.
Read more about the project

AREA 21 + action

Baltic Smart City Actions for the 21st century
AREA21 + action practically demonstrated how CO2 emissions on a city level can be reduced through addressing the energy efficiency of the building stock.
Read more about the project

Distance LAB

Distance LAB – remote service hub for SME’s and public sector
The project Distance LAB equips public and private organisations with intercultural skills and business support to help them work remotely in an efficient way.
Read more about the project

CONTRA

Baltic Beach Wrack - Conversion of a Nuisance To a Resource and Asset
The CONTRA project helped local authorities and businesses in coastal destinations that rely on beach tourism identify viable solutions for managing and recycling beach wrack whilst protecting the Baltic Sea.
Read more about the project

BaltCityPrevention

Baltic Cities tackle lifestyle related diseases – The development of an innovative model for prevention interventions targeting public health authorities in the Baltic Sea Region
The Interreg project BaltCityPrevention helped public health authorities in the cities around the Baltic Sea to better promote healthy lifestyle, introduce eHealth technologies and strengthen cooperation between public health authorities and business.
Read more about the project

TEST-4-SME

TEST-4-SME
The Interreg project TEST-4-SME helped electronics small and medium-sized enterprises to better, faster and easier demonstrate the conformity of electronic products with international standards and speed up the product development.
Read more about the project

GoSmart&Excel BSR

Strengthening smart specialisation by fostering transnational cooperation and practical application of novel solutions for regions and SMEs
GoSmart&Excel BSR helped SMEs and other innovation actors to become more innovative and internalionalised.
Read more about the project

CAIDX

Clinical Artificial Intelligence-based Diagnostics
The project CAIDX establishes cooperation between artificial intelligence (AI) providers and healthcare institutions to help healthcare professionals integrate AI, and thus improve diagnostics and treatment.
Read more about the project

Energy Equilibrium

Carbon driven energy equilibrium at the municipal scale
The project Energy Equilibrium helps public authorities and energy suppliers secure uninterrupted energy supply by developing solutions to store renewable energy.
Read more about the project

POWER UP

Towards a more efficient organisation of the prosumer construct in energy communities
Citizens, or rather groups of private individuals, have a high potential to contribute to decentralising the production of energy - but their joint role as energy consumers and producers, or ‘prosumers’, is complex. The prosumer construct is under-researched and inefficient. This limits its full potential and requires additional support mechanisms and guidance. POWER UP attempts to offer an inclusive option for all consumers to have a direct stake in producing, consuming or sharing energy through efficient organization at a local level.
Read more about the project

Distance LAB

Distance LAB
The ongoing fourth industrial revolution has strong implications for companies, e.g. the need to have a global perspective and to remain able to attract workers with changing expectations and to manage talent flow within companies. Distance LAB wants to ensure that SMEs have tools that keep them well informed and well connected to make rational strategic decision that keep up their innovativeness. Distance LAB wants to provide to agents of innovation support a toolkit for distance interaction softskills to eliminate distance between SMEs, RDI organisations, researchers, test facilities, innovation support agencies, workers etc and end users.
Read more about the project

ERREC 2.0 prep

Environmental Responsibility and Resource Efficiency - Preparing ERREC 2.0 project
The project strives to strengthen cooperation between higher education institutions and industrial companies to better implement the circular economy approach in the industrial sector. By bringing together students, companies and university faculty members for research & development of topics relevant to the industry, the possibilities will be examined to improve the companies’ management of resources and environmental efficiency.
Read more about the project

NURSECOAST

NURSECOAST
NURSECOAST is a novel project that focuses on small-scale wastewater treatment (<2000 PE) as well as other measures and technologies that aim to recirculate or reduce nutrients, particularly in the touristic regions. It takes lessons from other projects and builds up an added value towards sustainable solutions dedicated to near-coast tourism. A tool about 2000 PE waste water treatment plant distribution, technology reviews, pilot selection criteria and risk assessment will be developed.
Read more about the project

Scandria®2Act

Sustainable and Multimodal Transport Actions in the Scandinavian-Adriatic Corridor
The project Scandria2Act successfully established a formal cooperation of regions at the Baltic Sea for modern transport along one of the nine European transport corridors, which will help those regions to contribute to shaping the corridor and to benefit from it economically in the long run.
Read more about the project

Helping spatial planners see the cultural heritage of the sea
Read more about the project

CW Pharma 2

Clear waters from pharmaceuticals extension stage
CWPharma2 conducted checks and run feasibility studies and pilots to test more effective methods for removing pharmaceuticals from wastewater.

Read more about the project

LowTEMP

LowTEMP
The Interreg project LowTEMP brought together 19 partners from nine countries and 30 associated organisations to improve strategic tools on planning, financing, installing and managing Low Temperature District Heating systems allowing to significantly decrease heat loss.
Read more about the project

DINNOCAP

Digital Innovation Capacity Building
The project helped SMEs, industry organisations and public authorities strengthen digital innovation capacity building.

Read more about the project

BSR Mental Health

Baltic Sea Mental Health Platform
The BSR Mental Health project platform outlines a modern healthcare system for the region, helping public authorities integrate non-clinical cultural, artistic, and physical activities to enhance mental and social well-being for people of all ages. BSR Mental Health consolidates outcomes from 13 EU projects.
Read more about the project

cities.multimodal

Cities.multimodal – urban transport system in transition towards low carbon mobility
The Interreg project cities.multimodal presented environmentally friendly alternatives to driving, enhanced sustainable urban mobility planning for multimodal transport in ten cities and introduced six mobility points and smartphone-based travel planning.
Read more about the project

BSUIN

Baltic Sea Underground Innovation Network
The Interreg project BSUIN tackled underutilisation of the underground laboratories serving as a business development and innovation platform for representatives of business, academia and regional development agencies across the Baltic Sea region.
Read more about the project

Energize Co2mmunity

Real-life implementation of renewable community energy projects
The project Energize Co2mmunity piloted six renewable community energy (CE) projects across the Baltic Sea region.

Read more about the project

CAROTS

Commercial Analytical Research Organisations Transnational Strategy
Thanks to a new type of intermediaries between industry and science, the project CAROTS helped enterprises benefit from advanced research and scientific expertise.
Read more about the project

BSR Go-abroad

BSR Go-abroad - building market and supply chain opportunities for micro SMEs within the Baltic Sea Region
The project BSR Go-abroad develops a blueprint for micro SMEs to help them expand business offers and enter new markets across the Baltic Sea region in order to keep their businesses thriving regardless of any disruptions to come.
Read more about the project

Smart Blue Regions

Smart Blue Regions: Smart Specialisation and Blue Growth in the BSR
The Interreg project Smart Blue Regions helped public authorities of coastal regions at the Baltic Sea review and improve their research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation to trigger sustainable blue growth in the marine and maritime sectors.
Read more about the project

Creative Ports

Creative Ports - Internationalisation of the Cultural and Creative Industries in the Baltic Sea Region
Creative ports facilitated internationalisation, joint value creation and peer learning in cultural and creative industries.
Read more about the project

MI-RAP

Music Industry Resilience Acceleration Programme
The project MI-RAP helps local authorities, sectoral agencies and business support organisations attract fresh talents to the music industry, while ensuring more cross-sectoral cooperation and integration of emerging technologies and green practices at the same time.
Read more about the project

OSIRIS

Supporting the Smart Specialization Approach in the Silver Economy to Increase Regional Innovation Capacity and Sustainable Growth
OSIRIS helped to accelerate the development and market uptake of innovative products and services for the elder people.
Read more about the project

Solutions stay with the people: listen to our #InterregVoices

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© UBC SCC/Mariia Andreeva

Thanks to Interreg (...), we created momentum for essential aspects of sustainable water management connected to climate change, for example improving the wastewater and storm water management, reducing water pollution, and increasing the application of circular economy principles. [IWAMA; BSR Water]

 

 

 

Agnieszka Ilola 

Head of Secretariat, Union of the Baltic Cities, Sustainable Cities Commission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© Dmitry Frank-Kamenetsky

I can name a large number of examples of project outputs directly integrated into the regional policy framework. The first one is the recommendation on sludge handling. It was largely based on the PURE project. What’s more, the technologies tested in the project PURE to treat wastewater are in regular use now.

 

 

 

Dmitry Frank-Kamenetsky

 Special Advisor to HELCOM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© City of Turku

Thanks to Interreg projects, we have improved our public services for our citizens. Our water treatment facility has been involved in benchmarking water management processes and our water management processes have continuously been improving. Now, we have even better water quality and managed to keep the price of our water services at a moderate level.

Minna Arve

Mayor of Turku, Finland

#MadeWithInterreg solutions by topic

Agriculture

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Attractive cities for people

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Cleaner waters

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Digitalisation

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Energy efficiency

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Fewer hazards

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Health &
well-being

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Healthy & sustainable
food

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