Press release
Invitation to participate in the 3rd Stakeholder Conference
on the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan
4 March 2008, Helsinki, Finland
Dear Madam/Sir,
The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM) is pleased to invite stakeholders from all the Baltic Sea coastal countries and regional organisations to participate in the 3rd Stakeholder Conference on the Baltic Sea Action Plan, which will be held on 4 March 2008 in Helsinki, Finland.
The overall objective of this Conference is to report back to stakeholders on what credible plan HELCOM has developed to restore the health of the Baltic Sea and to get acceptance and commitments at local, national and regional levels as well as from the private sector to the implementation of this new environmental strategy.
The programme of the 3rd Stakeholder Conference will consist of two thematic sessions, which will be followed by a general roundtable discussion on the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan with the participation of senior government officials from the coastal countries, the European Community, international financial institutions and representatives of NGO’s.
The financial aspects of the plan’s implementation and the cost-efficiency of measures will be one of the top issues. Discussions will particularly focus on the sources of funding, involvement of the international financial institutions and the private sector in the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan and understanding their requirements for providing financing support, as well as how to prepare successful projects to ensure/increase the investments for marine environmental protection.
The Conference will also feature a participatory activity, which aims to initiate a discussion with all relevant stakeholders on how broad-scale marine spatial planning can be used as a planning tool within HELCOM. Broad-scale marine spatial planning was one of the new concepts adopted within the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan. Through visual tools, the exercise will illustrate to the participants of the Conference, although in a simplistic way, the problems attached to marine spatial planning when balancing conservation interests and other uses of the marine environment in a multi-sectoral way. The activity revolves around a fictive case, where information about various anthropogenic activities and natural values is given and participants have the task of proposing a division of the marine area for different uses. For this exercise the conference participants will be divided into smaller groups, each with a pre-selected group leader. The group leader will guide the discussion and take note of the main issues, conflicts and/or concerns as well as the group’s proposed solution. Finally, the group leader will represent their group in a discussion session that follows the one-hour long participatory exercise.
The outcome of the sessions of the Conference will serve as an input to the plan’s implementation. HELCOM considers this input very important and is committed to respond to any suggestion raised by major stakeholder groups in the region in order to ensure that the plan is relevant and can be effectively implemented in practice.
If you are interested, you are kindly requested to notify the HELCOM Secretariat of your participation in the Conference by filling in the attached registration form before 29 February 2008. A tentative programme for the Conference is provided below. The final version of the Conference programme will be prepared in the coming weeks. Please check the HELCOM web site for updates at http://www.helcom.fi/BSAP/3rd/en_GB/3rd_Stakeholder_Conf/.
We look forward to seeing you at the HELCOM Conference for discussions on how to make the Baltic Sea a more environmentally sound and healthier place.
Anne Christine Brusendorff
Executive Secretary
HELCOM
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Tentative Programme of the |
Timing –
09:30 - 09:40
09:55 10:10 10:25
10:35 10:45 11:45
12:30
12:30 – 13:30
13:30 -
13:45 14:00
14:30
14:45
15:00
5:00 – 15:30
15:30 -
16:00
16:00 – 17:00
- 17:00 |
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HELSINKI COMMISSION
Baltic Marine Protection Commission
REGISTRATION FORM
3rd Stakeholder Conference
on the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan
4 March 2008, Marina Congress Center, Helsinki
Please fill in your name and complete address, telephone and fax numbers as well as e-mail address (in block capitals, please)
Name:
Organization:
Address:
Telephone:
Fax:
E-mail:
Please, return the completed form latest by 29.02.08
HELCOM Secretariat:
Satu Tofferi-Bishai
Fax: +358 (0) 207 412 639