Participants of the 1st Policy Forum on the Development of a macro-regional climate change adaptation strategy for the Baltic Sea Region will be high level policy makers and representatives from relevant national ministries, the European Commission, international and regional organizations and academic institutions in the field of climate change and adaptation from across the Baltic Sea Region. The 1st Policy Forum will be held in Berlin, Germany.

Background
The EUSBSR strategy calls for the development of a “regional adaptation strategy at the level of the Baltic Sea Region” which would provide a useful framework for strengthening co-operation and sharing information across the region on this issue.

The project BaltAdapt, funded by the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013, was developed as a response to this priority in the EUSBSR. Today, BaltAdapt partners and networks are on their way developing a Baltic Sea Region-wide climate change adaptation strategy. This truly transnational strategy will focus on the sea itself and its coastline.

The objective of the 1st Policy Forum is to kick-off the working process on the development of a proposal for a macro-regional climate change adaptation strategy as called for in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSBSR.

Relevant high level key note speakers will open the forum and present versatile and controversial insights to challenges due to climate change our societies are facing today but also solutions for the way ahead. Following the introductory plenum session there will be working sessions on the following questions:How should the strategy be shaped in order to fulfill the needs of the different target groups? (structure-wise and content-wise)

  • What transnational challenges does a macro-regional climate change adaptation strategy need to address?
  • Where can we link cooperation concerning adaptation to already existing processes and where do we need new process?
  • How can we improve transnational cooperation in a meaningful way?
  • How can we ensure coherent action across the region in the work on climate change and adaptation, avoiding overlaps of responsibilities while at the same time ensuring high level political commitment in the region-wide work on the issue from the transnational to the local level?
  • What do policy makers expect from a macro-regional adaptation strategy?

 Foto: Flickr - © WomEOS