Third HELCOM Youth Forum: inspiring the next generation of environmental leaders in the Baltic

Helsinki, 14 August (HELCOM) – “Nine states – one identity” will be the theme of the Third HELCOM Youth Forum, which will be held on 15-17 August in Flensburg, Germany. Nearly 30 student delegates, representing several Baltic Sea coastal countries will meet to exchange views on how to enhance international co-operation in environmental protection and sustainable development of the Baltic Sea region, and to convey new creative ideas and policy recommendations to decision-makers.

The Third HELCOM Youth Forum is organised by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in co-operation with other partners, including the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, Landtag Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, as well as the Baltic Sea Forum, and logistically supported by Flensburg Tourismus und Stadtmarketing.

The HELCOM Youth Forum is considered as an excellent opportunity for the region’s leaders of tomorrow to interact with HELCOM representatives and decision-makers from the Baltic Sea countries, as well as to promote awareness on environmental and sustainable development issues. “HELCOM is convinced that increasing public awareness among the youth is of utmost importance for securing future generations’ interest in the Baltic,” says Heike Imhoff of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, who heads the German Delegation to HELCOM. “By regularly performing youth forums HELCOM has initiated a long-term strategy of raising youth’s attention to regional environmental and sustainable development issues and proactively involving students in the work of the Helsinki Commission.”

“The major aim of the Youth Forum is to encourage, promote interest and participation of young people in decision-making process associated with environmentally sustainable development of the Baltic Sea region,” says Anne Christine Brusendorff, Executive Secretary of HELCOM. “Inspiring the next generation of leaders to become actively involved in environmental issues will ensure an economically and environmentally sound future of our common Baltic.”

Several Workshops during the Forum will offer participants the opportunity to actively scrutinize/investigate particular views and defend personal evaluations on such issues as the role of the Helsinki Commission in protecting the Baltic Sea marine environment, joint international actions on key environmental issues affecting the Baltic Sea, as well as economic use and ecological needs of the Baltic Sea.

One of the top subjects of discussions will be the objectives of the new strategic Baltic Sea Action Plan, now being drafted by HELCOM to rescue the troubled Baltic marine environment. HELCOM has recently approved the key elements of the plan, which include a common vision of a healthy sea, and a set of Ecological Objectives to work towards so as to fulfil this vision. Presently, the Commission is identifying and detailing the kind of actions needed to achieve the agreed environmental objectives within a given time frame.

“We expect a lot of input and creative ideas from young people who represent a major stakeholder group in the region,” says Prof. Peter Ehlers, President of the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency and Chair of the HELCOM Youth Forum. “And I am sure our participants, being the young leaders of tomorrow, would want to contribute towards making the new HELCOM strategy even more relevant and robust.”

The Final Conclusions of the Youth Forum will be presented at the annual Helsinki Commission’s meeting in March 2007. Following this, students’ ideas will be incorporated into the Baltic Sea Action Plan, which is supposed to be adopted at the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting scheduled to take place on 15 November 2007 in Warsaw, Poland.

The HELCOM Youth Forums, which echo youth concerns and feed their personal visions into the future Baltic Sea policy, have been already hailed a success. The First Youth Forum was held on 1 March 2004 in Helsinki, Finland, in connection with the 30th Anniversary Jubilee Session of the Helsinki Commission. The Forum adopted a Youth Declaration, which was handed over to the President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen. The Second Youth Forum was held on 9-11 August 2005 in Rostock-Warnemünde, Germany, and resulted in a resolution “Our Baltic Sea of tomorrow”, which is compromised of the students’ visions and concrete demands directed at politicians and key players around the Baltic Sea region.  

Follow-up: HELCOM Youth Forum 2006 programme http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/news_helcom/en_GB/HELCOMYouthForum3/_files/75373669784027205_1155561162869/default/Call%20for%20Application.pdf;

Conclusions of the HELCOM Youth Forum 2005 http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/en_GB/HELCOM_YouthForum2005/

For more information, please contact:

Mr Nikolay Vlasov
Information Secretary

HELCOM
Tel: +358 (0)207 412 635
Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi