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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

CASES BSR

Climate Adaptation Support for Enterprises in the Baltic Sea Region
Research show that four out of five small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) fear impact of climate change on their businesses. All regions in Europe are affected by climate change in some sense.

The project CASES BSR addresses the issue on how climate change affects SMEs and the increasing needs to adopt climate adaptation strategies for a long-term sustainability. The project raises the knowledge by research how various types of SMEs handle it today. The result by the research shall map the foremost needs of support among SMEs.

Read more about the project

BalticBlueMarinas

Remote Baltic Marinas as Drivers for Sustainable Coastal and Maritime Tourism Development
BalticBlueMarinas aims to capitalise the sustainable use of marinas as key actors of tourism destinations in the Baltic Sea region. Marinas are seen as separate entities in relation to other actors of the tourism sector, even if they are an essential part of the overall tourism package. The goal is to strengthen the cooperation between actors to foster growth, by integrating marinas into the regional tourism development and recreational boating with other tourism sectors.
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

BaltSusBoating 2030

Baltic Sustainable Boating 2030 - Making leisure boating in the Baltic Sea fit for the post-pandemic boating tourism market
The project BaltSusBoating 2030 creates a pan-Baltic cooperation platform to turn the Baltic Sea region into a sustainable and competitive leisure boating destination.
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

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

eRural resilience

Creating resilient rural communities in BSR based on the opportunities of digital bio businesses
The project eRural resilience enables local authorities and business support organisations in rural areas to help SMEs increase their digital literacy in e-marketing of bio products and thus seize new business opportunities.
Read more about the project

ALLIANCE+

Baltic Blue Biotechnology Alliance+
The Interreg project ALLIANCE+ scaled up the accelerator and mentoring programme and paved the way for strengthened innovation in biotechnology.
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

Age@Work

Age@Work - Building Capacity for Age Management in Human Resources
In times of ageing work force and of skills shortages, it is important for employers to retain qualified staff and enable and motivate them to perform well as they age. Yet few employers implement age management, i.e. a human resource policy that fosters age-adjusted work environments, life-long learning and knowledge transfer. Age@Work aims to familiarise human resource managers and executives with age management and to raise their ability to apply it by way of education, training, counselling and professional exchange.
Read more about the project

BSN_powerhouse

Baltic Science Network - A Science Powerhouse
The Interreg project BSN_powerhouse enabled researchers, research infrastructures, higher education institutions to improve transnational exchange and capitalise on research capacity.
Read more about the project

GoSmart BSR

Strengthening smart specialisation by fostering transnational cooperation
The Interreg project GoSmart BSR helped small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in seven countries to get the needed support, and successfully transformed smart specialisation strategies into practical joint actions of SMEs across the Baltic Sea region.
Read more about the project

TforFLM

Transformers for the future labour market
The employment landscape changes constantly and new occupations or specialties become much desirable whilst other disappear. The ability to anticipate and prepare for future skills requirements, job content and the aggregate effect on employment turns out to be critical for businesses. In order to develop the intellectual and social capital needed for the future, the project focuses on supporting the structure of “transformers”: a new occupation dedicated to helping young people develop necessary skills for the future labour market.
Read more about the project

Light in the Dark

Light in the Dark – Increasing resilience in rural and coastal tourism in the northern Baltic Sea Region by developing off-season experiences
The project Light in the Dark helps small and medium-sized enterprises in the tourism sector create an off-season nature-based offer to attract tourists to rural and coastal areas of the northern Baltic Sea region all year long.
Read more about the project

ResQU2

ResQU2
The Interreg platform ResQU2 improved the preparedness of rescue authorities, services, seaports and other authorities for large-scale incidents in the Baltic Sea.
Read more about the project

ENERPO

Energy production improvement based on dynamic mobile positioning data
Unused energy is still a major reason for the insufficient use of energy and thus waste of energy and resources. A more precise prediction of energy consumption would help to increase the efficient use of energy. ENERPO aims to elaborate tools and strategies to improve the prediction of energy consumption in three Baltic States. This could help to better match energy production and demand.
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

BSR DeepTech Launch

Deep Tech Entrepreneurship Launchpad - developing efficient model for fostering STEM entrepreneurship among students and young researchers, to increase deep tech innovation in economy
In the project BSR DeepTech Launch, business, research and education institutions empower talented students and young researchers to start up their deep tech businesses and speed up green and digital transition.
Read more about the project

NovelBaltic

Market driven authentic Non-Timber Forest Products from the Baltic region - focus on wild and semi cultivated species with business potential
NovelBaltic helps small and medium-sized enterprises to improve the market uptake of non-timber forest products from the Baltic Sea region.
Read more about the project

REVITALISE HERITAGE

Architectural & Landscape Heritage as a Driver for Economic, Cultural and Community Development in Peripheral Regions
Architectural and landscape heritage is an expression of history, and it helps us to understand the relevance of the past to contemporary life and cultural identities. Despite their potential, many heritage places remain underused – in particular in peripheral regions. REVITALISE HERITAGE aims at empowering peripheral communities across the Baltic Sea region to transform underused heritage sites into interventions for economic, cultural and community development – and promote these approaches to potential adopters and decision-makers through media, film and gaming.
Read more about the project

BSR HyAirport

BSR Hydrogen Air Transport - Preparation of Baltic Sea Region Airports for Green Hydrogen
With airports, service providers, industry and research organisations onboard, the BSR HyAirport prepares Baltic Sea region airports for handling hydrogen-powered aircraft, storing and delivering green hydrogen as a future energy source in aviation.
Read more about the project

FoodLoops

Local cooperation for circular biowaste in schools and beyond
The project FoodLoops establishes cooperation among schools, caterers (SMEs), farmers, and professionals in a circular economy to improve biowaste separation at source, prevent excessive food waste and reuse it as organic compost.
Read more about the project

Watertour

The integrated tourism offer on inland waterways
The international waterway E70 stretches from Antwerp via Berlin inland waterways node, northern Poland, the Kaliningrad region up to Klaipeda in Lithuania. The project aims to develop a harmonised inland tourism offer along the waterway and to team up business, local authorities, tourism associations and other involved actors to expand and better promote touristic services.
Read more about the project

BOWE2X

BOWE2X
The Baltic Sea has great potential to contribute to the EU’s renewable energy targets through offshore wind power production, however, this is hampered by intermittency and great distance to consumers. BOWE2X helps resolve these problems by researching options to apply power-to-X solutions to transform excess offshore wind electricity into energy carriers like hydrogen. These can subsequently be stored or moved to consumers before being used as fuel or converted back into electricity.
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

SmartUp Accelerator

SmartUp Accelerator - Innovation Ecosystem to foster consumer cleantech markets in the Baltic Sea Region
The Interreg project SmartUp Accelerator improved conditions for business ideas in consumer cleantech sector and supported start-ups, intermediaries and investors across the Baltic Sea region.
Read more about the project

GlassCircle

Exploring full cycle circular economy for glass fiber industry
The project GlassCircle helps glass fiber manufacturers reduce the environmental impacts of glass fiber waste by bringing it back into use.
Read more about the project

CM

Cross Motion
The Interreg project CM helped audio-visual and videogame industry boost their businesses and enter new markets by teaming them up with traditional sectors of education, tourism and healthcare, and innovating their products with audio-visual content.
Read more about the project

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

CommitClimate

Towards energy transition and climate neutrality in the BSR municipalities
In the project CommitClimate, cities develop, test and deploy a computer-based simulation model to create sustainable energy and climate action plans to reduce carbon footprint.
Read more about the project

TETRAS

Technology transfEr for Thriving Recirculating Aquaculture Systems in the Baltic Sea Region
In the project TETRAS, public authorities trigger fish and shrimp farming on land, which reuses water from industries related to energy production and geothermal resources.
Read more about the project

BEA-APP

Baltic Energy Areas – A Planning Perspective
The Interreg project BEA-APP compiled experience from eight countries around the Baltic Sea that helps regional planning authorities to accelerate the setup of windfarms, solar parks, biogas plants and the like.
Read more about the project

Circular PP

Using innovation procurement and capacity building to promote Circular Economy
The Interreg project Circular PP promoted a circular procurement approach engaging public authorities, procurers, suppliers, policymakers and stimulated the development of new business models.
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

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