How territorial cooperation builds us a home: Baltic Sea region example

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?

Practice what you preach

‘We believe in territorial cooperation’ was more than a slogan. The session itself was an outcome of cooperation – co-created by Interreg Baltic Sea Region, the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR), Danish Cultural Institute, ‘Pomorskie in the European Union’ Association and the Council of the Baltic Sea States Secretariat/Baltic Sea Region Youth Forum. With such a mix of expertise, experience and perspectives, territorial cooperation truly came to life: from shaping policy frameworks, through Interreg funding, to the hands-on work of projects like Creative Circular Cities and We Make Transition! as well as youth perspectives.

During the session moderated by Elena Kolosova, Senior Advisor for External Cooperation from Interreg Baltic Sea Region, we explored together what makes people stay in our region, feel at home, and co-create their future.

Home, sweet home

The region we all call home can be characterised by many notions, such as democracy, resilience, sustainability and economic vitality. These elements ultimately make the region attractive. But is that enough for people to feel truly rooted here? Most session participants leaned towards adding the social dimension to this mix: the importance of community and family.

But how to build a strong community other than through cooperation, interaction and engagement?

Listen attentively!

As Silva Laure, Vice-Chair of the Committee of Youth Representatives of the Baltic Sea Region Youth Forum, pointed out, young generations are eager to engage in processes at local, regional or national levels as long as their voice is not left in a void. In other words, young people want to see tangible results from their participation. Opportunities for education, employment, or housing are attractive to them, but these can also be found in other regions. The sense of belonging and purpose: not necessarily.

At the same time, it is important to keep expectations for youth engagement on a realistic level, considering the high pace of life and multiple commitments.

Make it meaningful!

This applies not only to youth but to all societal groups across the region. Martyna Błaszczyk from Pomeranian Science and Technology Park Gdynia Design Centre and partner in Interreg projects Creative Circular Cities and We Make Transition!, highlighted another crucial point: identifying the real problems citizens face is key to finding solutions that truly work and to avoiding the invention of new problems. This begins with meaningful engagement. Equally important is demonstrating that people’s voices matter — ignoring them is the shortest route to losing trust.

Bring it into perspective!

Many challenges in our region cannot be simply solved by one country alone and require a more comprehensive approach; this is where the macro-regional dimension comes in handy — guiding through policy frameworks and across governance levels.

Tom Schumacher from the EUSBSR Baltic Strategy Point believes that policy co-creation with citizens is within arm’s reach as long as the topics tackled are relevant to them and make a real difference to people. The macro-regional context can also provide valuable directions for EU-funded projects on how to reach decision-makers and bring project results into use.

Should I stay or should I go?

Looking through the lenses of Interreg, a macro-regional strategy and youth perspectives – and listening to session participants – we clearly saw that every discussion circled back to people and places: the very essence of territorial cooperation.

It is about citizens who want to use their rights to shape their region and decide who’s in power. It is about the citizens who want to seize career opportunities and bring to life projects that truly matter to them. And it is also about inclusive community building, where people find others who share their values and aspirations.

Open the gallery to check pictures from the session 

Thank you!

Special thanks to Anja Karppinen, Viktoriia Hladii and Juhani Ailio, Leino Johanna, Indra Levite, Andra Jakoviča, Urszula Sokolowska, Rafal Rolka and Aline Mayr for great cooperation and making this session possible.

Grateful appreciation to our panelists Martyna Błaszczyk, Silva Laure and Tom Schumacher for commitment, engaging talks and true inspiration.

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