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28.01.2008

Press release

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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
HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan Stakeholder Conference 2008

(updated 28.01.2008) 

 

Please note:
All Speakers/Panel Members have not yet confirmed their participation.

Time:   Tuesday, 4 March 2008 prior to the annual HELCOM Meeting
            (HELCOM 29/2008) starting at 09:30, until 17:00.
            Registration starts at 8:30

Place:  Marina Congress Center, Katajanokanlaituri 6, FI-00160 Helsinki, Finland

Aims:

1.     To, by visualisation and a participatory process, initiate a discussion with all relevant stakeholders on how broad-scale marine spatial planning can be used as a planning tool within HELCOM, and in particular:

-          How to balance conservation interest and different uses in the marine areas in a multi-sectoral way;

-          To start a discussion of the broad-scale marine spatial principles applicable in the Baltic Sea Area

2.      To involve the International Financial Institutions and the private sector in the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan and to get to know their requirements for providing financing support.

 

Programme

Chairman: Mr. Mieczysław S. Ostojski, Chairman of HELCOM

Opening and introduction (10 min)

 

Thematic sessions

Broad-scale Marine Spatial Planning

Session Moderator: Mr. Peter Ehlers, BSH, Germany

Introduction

-          Introduction to the issue (15 min): Mr. Nico Nolte, Germany

-          The EU Maritime Policy and spatial planning plans – promoting regional cooperation (15 min): Ms. Izolda Bulvinaite, European Commission, DG FISH

-          Cooperation with other international organisations (15 min):
Mr. Talis Linkaits, VASAB

Fictive case study

-          Presentation of the fictive case (10 min): Minna Pyhälä and
Hanna Paulomäki, HELCOM Secretariat

-          Formation of groups and appointment of group leaders (10 min)

-          Discussion in groups (60 minutes)

Reporting and discussion of outcome of group considerations 

-          Led by the Session Moderator, Mr. Peter Ehlers (45 min)

Lunch break

Financing the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan

Funding available for the financing of the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan

Session Moderator: Mr. Harro Pitkänen, NIB

-          Introduction (15 min): Mr. Magnus Rystedt, NEFCO

-          Spending under the EU Structural Funds, including the Cohesion Fund
(15 min): Mr. Alain Roggeri, European Commission, DG REGIO

-          Spending under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument - national approaches and cross-border cooperation for the benefit of the Baltic Sea (15 min): Mr. Martti Poutanen, Ministry of the Environment of Finland

-          Spending for the Sustainable Development of Fisheries Areas (15 min):
Ms. Veronika Veits, European Commission, DG FISH

-          Spending under a European Baltic Strategy (15 min): Mr. Kyösti Virrankoski, Member of the European Parliament

-          Spending by non-profit foundations (15 min): Mr. Björn Carlson,
Baltic Sea 2020

Coffee break (30 min)

How to prepare successful projects to ensure/increase the investments for marine environmental protection

Session Moderator: Mr. Jaakko Henttonen, NDEP/EBRD

-          NDEP concept and experience with lessons learnt and recommendations for preparation of successful project funding (15 min): Mr. Jaakko Henttonen, NDEP/EBRD

-          Prioritising the selection of projects for financing by using transparent parameters (15 min): Mr. Karl-Johan Lehtinen, NEFCO

Roundtable discussion (60 min)

Ensuring the successful implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan

- The audience is invited to actively contribute to the discussion.

Session Moderator: Mr. Mieczysław S. Ostojski, Chairman of HELCOM

Panel Members:

-          Ms. Ulla Kaarikivi-Laine, Ministry of the Environment of Finland

-          Mr. Harry Liiv, Ministry of the Environment of Estonia

-          Mr. Peter Gammeltoft, EC/DG ENV

-          Ms. Heike Imhoff, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany

-          Mr. Igor Maydanov, Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation

-          Mr. Magnus Rystedt, Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO)

-          Mr. Harro Pitkänen, Nordic Investment Bank (NIB)

-          Mr. Jaakko Henttonen, NDEP/EBRD

-          Mr. Lasse Gustavsson, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

-          Mr. Gunnar Norén, Coalition Clean Baltic (CCB)

Closing of the Conference

Mr. Mieczysław S. Ostojski, Chairman of HELCOM

 

   

  

 

 

 

 

 

Timing –
end of presentations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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


14:15

 

14:30

 

14:45

 

15:00

 

5:00 – 15:30

 

15:30 -


15:45

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

satu.tofferi-bishai@helcom.fi

Fax: +358 (0) 207 412 639