REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE
UNION OF THE BALTIC CITIES

24-25 September 1999 (Stockholm) - 12-13 October 2001 (Rostock)

Introduction

Since the V General Conference of the Union of the Baltic Cities, held in Stockholm on 24-25 September 1999, the Union has grown up. The number of Union's members has reached the figure 100.

The new members are:

Kronshtadt, Lomonosov, Peterhof, Jelgava, Linköping, Tukums, Võru, Marijampolė, Międzyzdroje, Paldiski, Berlin.

During mentioned period the Union has accepted new members, strengthened its own network, lunched a number of challenging projects and initiatives. The Union developed existing and established new contacts with other Baltic and European organisations and institutions i.e. European Commission, Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, Council of the Baltic Sea States, Parliamentary Conference on Cooperation in the Baltic Sea Area, Baltic Sea States Subregional Cooperation, CPMR Baltic Sea Commission, Eurocities, Helsinki Commission, Baltic 21, VASAB 2010, Barents Euro-Arctic Region, Baltic Sea Chambers of Commerce Association, Lake Victoria Region Local Authorities Cooperation, Conference of Atlantic Arc Cities, International Association Cities & Ports and others.

UBC Executives during this two-year period

Mr Anders Engström, President (Kalmar)

Mr Armas Lahoniitty, Vice-President (Turku)

Mr Eugenijus Gentvilas, Vice-President (Klaipėda)

Mr Paweł Żaboklicki, Secretary General (Gdańsk)

Executive Board during this two-year period

Aalborg  Denmark

Bergen  Norway

Gdańsk  Poland

Liepāja  Latvia

Pori  Finland

Rostock  Germany

Šiauliai  Lithuania

St. Petersburg Russia

Stockholm  Sweden

Tartu  Estonia

Executive Board Meetings

Seven Executive Board Meetings took place during the reporting period between Stockholm and Rostock General Conferences:

26^th Executive Board meeting, Šiauliai, 27 November 1999

27^th Executive Board meeting, Kemi, 1 April 2000

28^th Executive Board meeting, St.Petersburg, 16 June 2000

29^th Executive Board meeting, Kolding, 4 November 2000

30^th Executive Board meeting, Cēsis, 16-17 March 2001

31^st Executive Board meeting, Malbork, 16 June 2001

32^nd Executive Board meeting, Rostock, 11 October 2001

The Executive Board played significant role in the progress of UBC activities. The Board considered and approved a number of projects, actions and initiatives submitted by the Presidium, Commissions, Networks and Member Cities. The projects, activities, events and other actions carried out by the Union during the described period are outlined in this report.

Board of Audit during this two-year period

Mr Bartłomiej Sochański, City Councillor, Szczecin

Ms Silvia Löbner, Head of Auditing Department, Wismar

Mr Kim Roessel, Head of International Affairs Department, Copenhagen

UBC Secretariat

The Union of the Baltic Cities Secretariat since UBC creation has been located in and financed by the City of Gdańsk. The Union has been highly satisfied with the work of the Secretariat. The Secretariat provides daily service to the Union and its Members. All financial matters have been handled properly. The Union would like to officially thank the City of Gdańsk for its remarkable contribution to the UBC work over the past years.

UBC EU-Coordinator

The UBC EU-Coordinator, Mr Juhan Janusson, has his office in Copenhagen. His main duties has been to carry out activities connected to the enlargement of the European Union in the Baltic Sea Region and to support the UBC President in political issues. In 2001 he was engaged as project leader in UBC-LVRLAC cooperation project on consultation basis, which has resulted in some extra income for UBC. The Union would like to officially thank the UBC EU-Coordinator for his remarkable contribution to the UBC work over the past years.

UBC Commissions

In the described period the UBC Commissions have been led by the following Cities:

Commission: Lead Cities:

Commission on Business Cooperation - Kolding, Liepāja

Commission on Culture - Szczecin, Espoo, Bergen, Tartu, Visby

Commission on Education - Kardla, Norrtälje

Commission on Environment - Turku, Aarhus

Commission on Health & Social Affairs - Rostock, Lübeck

Commission on Sport - Gdynia, Karlskrona

Commission on Tourism - Kalmar, Palanga, Kaunas, Riga

Commission on Transportation - Pruszcz Gdański, Göteborg

Commission on Urban Planning - Helsinki, Malmo, Umeå, Riga

The Commissions oversee Union activities in each of the respective areas. Examples of projects, activities and events carried out by the Commissions within the reporting period are briefly described below.

I.  Commission on Business Cooperation

During the reporting period the Commission was chaired by Mr Erling Winther, Kolding (in 2000) and Mr Gunnars Ansins, Liepāja (in 2001). The Commission has an annual rotation principle.

The Commission arranges one meeting per year. The third annual meeting was held by the city of Kolding, Denmark in 2000. 25 participants from 20 member cities attended the conference. The main topics of the conference were:

• Cooperation with other organisations (experience of Triangle Region, Denmark)
• Enterpreneurship and Innovation Centre (two workshops of ideas exchange on how to create jobs within the industries of tomorrow)
• Financing collaboration projects/ especially through EU funds
• Attracting foreign investments

The fourth annual two-days conference took place in Liepāja, Latvia in April 2001. 32 participants representing 15 member cities participated in the meeting.

Following the proposals from involved municipalities, the below topics were discussed in Liepāja:

• IT development - project e-city
• Public-private partnership in investment attraction
• Municipal support to Enterpreneurship development

Workshop / exchange of ideas was organised in three working groups: PPP, IT, and Municipal support to business development. The conference was evaluated as very useful due to the attractive subjects important at the moment in all UBC countries. The biggest response and wish to cooperate was linked to the subject of IT development and municipal support to Enterpreneurship development. The Liepāja conference gave the platform to the further development of these subjects by analysing skills, knowledge and know-how of the municipalities. During the conference participants submitted presentations on best practices in the mentioned above fields.

II.  Commission on Culture

The Commission is chaired by Mr Sławomir Szafrański, Szczecin and Mr Riitta Hurme, Espoo.

Secretariat

The Secretariat of the Commission on Culture is located in Szczecin, Poland.

N.E.W.S. - the contemporary art exhibition

Organised under the auspices of the Commission on Culture was shown in Szczecin in October 1999, in Riga in May 2000, and then in Visby on Gotland in July 2000. 25 artists representing 10 Baltic countries had been invited to the NEWS exhibition which presents the important phenomena in the visual arts of the 90-ties. NEWS was accompanied by the course of theoretical seminars organised in Visby September 1999, Szczecin October 1999, Riga May 2000 and Bornholm June 2000.

II International Choir Festival organised under UBC patronage was held in Szczecin in June 2000. Szczecin hosted choirs from Germany, Russia, Finland and Poland. The 2nd edition of the Festival was a huge music event which gathered over 500 participants. The music performances were accompanied by a forum of choir conductors and presentations of choir ensembles in Internet.

IV working Session of the Commission on Culture, Szczecin, June 2000

The session was attended by 30 participants representing 22 UBC member cities from Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. During the session the Chairmen of the Commission presented the major Commission activities since its establishment in 1993. The Commission elected 5 cities to the Board of the Commission for the period of next 2 years: Bergen, Espoo, Szczecin, Tartu, Visby.

The first meeting of the elected board was held in Tartu in September 2000. The main purpose of the meeting was discussion on the UBC cultural projects for the years 2001-2002. The second meeting was held in Espoo in December 2000 and discussed inter alia: catalogue of cultural institutions; distribution of Mare Articum magazine; possibility to participate in CLRAE meetings as observers. The third meeting of the board was held in Copenhagen in June 2000. The main topic of the meeting was the program of the 5th Session of the Commission in Espoo in September 2001.

V working Session of the Commission, Espoo & Helsinki, September 2001

The convention had close to 30 participants from 17 UBC member cities. Moreover 15 Finnish experts of art education participated in the meeting. The theme of the session was art education concentrating mainly in the structure and teaching models adopted in Finland. Experiences on art education in Poland and Latvia were also introduced. Performances by the students from Helsinki and Espoo as well as art exhibition of handicapped children, demonstrated the methods and results of art education in Finland. The Commission decided to have its next annual meeting in Riga in 2002.

MARE ARTICUM the Baltic Art Magazine

In 2000 two issues of the magazine were published:

1. DESIRED COMMUNITY - Baltic art in the 90s. The issue presents lectures, panel discussions and workshops conducted within the frame of N.E.W.S.

2. CYBERBALTIC - new media art in the region. The CYBERBALTIC issue focuses on one of the most urgent questions in contemporary art practice: media culture which is presented in a series of essays written by media theorists, critics and practitioners.

MARE ARTICUM - ARTGENDA

ArtGenda is a net of 18 city partners in the Baltic Sea Area which aims on promoting the young Baltic art scene. MARE ARTICUM closely collaborates with ArtGenda since 1998. On the invitation of ArtGenda Helsinki 2000 the MARE ARTICUM editorial board visited Helsinki. The visit resulted in a series of articles published in the CYBERBALTIC issue. The organisers of ArtGenda Hamburg 2002 expressed the will of further development of cooperation and invited MARE ARTICUM to present the new proposals. Currently two joint projects are discussed.

MARE ARTICUM - IV Biennial of Contemporary Art

MARE ARTICUM editorial board recommend the artists to the new edition of the Biennial to be open on 26th of October in Szczecin under the title " SYBARIS. The fatal attraction of civilisation". The organisers of the Biennial wish to put on display sensual, intriguing, professional and carefully crafted art objects without limiting themselves with any restrictions of the form or genre.

III.  Commission on Education

The Commission is chaired by Mr Kurt Pettersson, Norrtälje and Mr Ivo Eesmaa, Kärdla.

Secretariat

The Secretariat of the Commission on Education is located in Kärdla, Estonia.

In Stockholm in 1999 the "UBC Classes" project idea was introduced. The project was discussed again during the commission meeting in 2001. After this meeting the project name was changed into the "International Summer School".

In year 2000 there were changes in the positions of the key persons in Norrtälje and Kärdla. In the end of 2000 the Commission secretariat was re-established with the help from Norrtalje, SIDA and Swedish Association of Local Authorities.

Commission meeting

In April 2001 the meeting of the Commission on Education took place in Kärdla. The meeting was attended by 12 participants from Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Sweden and Estonia.

The meeting decided:

• to cooperate with other UBC Commissions
• to develop possibilities of distance education
• to inform students about UBC classes project
• to raise a problem of Chairman of the Commission
• to hold the next meeting of the Commission in November 2001 in Norrtalje

International summer camp on Hiiumaa

The Commission organised in 2001 an international summer camp for youth. Young persons from Sweden, Hungary and Estonia participated in the camp. The project had three main goals:

• communication between young people from different countries, to learn cultural similarities and differences
• improvement of the language skills
• environmental education

The Commission hopes that this event will become popular among high school students (age 15-17) from UBC member cities.

IV.  Commission on Environment

The Commission is chaired by Mr Mikko Jokinen, Turku and Mr Carl Nielsen, Aarhus.

Secretariat

The Secretariat of the Commission on Environment is located in Turku, Finland.

Meetings

During the reporting period, the following Commission on Environment and Local Agenda 21 Working Group meetings were organised: Riga, March 2000 (60 participants), Butzow, October 2001 (50 participants) and Liepāja, March 2001 (35 participants). In addition to these meetings, several workshops and other events have been organised as part of the different projects.

Project Activities

Municipal Environmental Auditing (MEA)

In 2000-2001, MEAs have been carried out in Klaipėda, Panevėžys, Marijampolė, Trakai and Ignalina in Lithuania. ECAT Lithuania has been a partner in this work and Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) has provided co-funding. Budget: EURO 100.000.

SUFA

Success Factors in Local Environmental Policy for Local Agenda 21 activities and EU Accession in the BSR, 2000-2001. This project has supported LA 21 work and EU accession by research, training, information and policy dialogue. Partners: ICLEI and Abo University. The project has received co-funding from the EC DG Environment, Finnish Ministry of Environment and NCM.

Budget: EURO 200.000.

Best City Practices (2000-2001)

In this project member cities worked in five city couples for benchmarking of good practices. The city couple approach has proved to be beneficial and interesting for the participating cities. The project has also disseminated good practices to wider target groups. Co-funding was received from the NCM. Budget: EURO 70.000.

SAIL

Spreading Awareness to Foster the Implementation of Local Agenda 21 around the Baltic Sea (SAIL), 1999-2000. The SAIL Project was finalised in 2000. It produced and distributed basic information on LA 21 in Russian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish. Partners included ICLEI, ECAT-Lit, UBC Secretariat in Gdańsk, Lahti, Turku, Tartu, Jurmala. The project was co-funded by the EU Phare and Tacis Baltic Small Projects Facility (BSPF). UBC Secretariat was an applicant. Budget: EURO 200.000.

Indicators of Local Sustainable Development

The Commission carried out translations and dissemination of the common EU indicators of local sustainability in 12 CEE languages (including Russian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish). This work was carried out under a direct service contract and funding from the DG Environment (Budget EURO 45.000). The Commission also started a Baltic 21 Pre-feasibility Study on the use of the EU indicators in monitoring Baltic 21 in cities. This study is co-funded by the NCM (Budget EURO 10.000).

Best Environmental Practice in Baltic Cities Award

The award process was organised for the first time in 1999, and is now (Autumn 2001) being organised for the second time.

UBC Local Agenda 21 Program

The Commission on Environment Secretariat has also functioned as the secretariat for the Agenda 21 program and the LA 21 Working Group. The implementation of the program has been successful, and the UBC Executive Board is proposing a new program for the General Conference.

Cooperation with other actors

The Commission has continued active work within the European Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign. UBC became a member of the new Steering Committee of the Campaign. With the DG Environment the Commission has cooperated by participation in the European Open Platform for urban sustainability. Mr Mikko Jokinen, chairman of the Commission, was nominated to the EU Expert Group on Sustainable Landuse.

The Commission actively continued to contribute to the work of HELCOM Program Implementation Task Force (PITF) and to the implementation of the Agenda 21 for the BSR (Baltic 21). In Baltic 21 the Commission initiated the working group for the implementation of Joint Action 4 (City cooperation and sustainable development issues in local communities).

In March 2000 the Commission and the UBC Secretariat organised in Gdańsk a workshop on Baltic cities cooperation in the field of public transport in cooperation with the Federal Environmental Agency of Germany and the Wuppertal Institute.

The Commission also continued good cooperation with Eurocities and ICLEI. The Commission is actively involved in the UBC-LVRLAC project.

Baltic Cities Environmental Bulletin

The bulletin is a tool for exchange of experience and information, its contents is based on contributions of the members. During the period, the following editions were published: 1/2000, 2/2000, 1/2001 and 2/2001. The bulletin is distributed in 2500 copies to the member cities and external partners.

V.  Commission on Health & Social Affairs

The Commission is chaired by Ms Petra Hamann and Ms Karin Wohlgemuth, Rostock.

Secretariat

The Secretariat of the Commission on Health & Social Affairs is located in Rostock, Germany.

Commission Meeting, Karlstad, March 2001

Main items of the discussion were: the structure of the Commission, preparation of the thematic Conference during the General Conference in Rostock, UBC Social Charter, information on planned and ongoing EU supported projects, project proposals, Bulletin on health & social affairs, Commission's leaflet.

Questionnaire on Volunteer's Organisations in the Baltic Sea Region

The Commission started together with 'Social Hansa' a new project on volunteer work in accordance with the world-wide initiative of the United Nations 'International Year of Volunteers' proclaimed for the year 2001. Aim should be to draw the attention to the great importance of volunteers for the welfare and advancement of all nations. A questionnaire was published in the social bulletin and distributed to all cities as well as to many NGOs and institutions in order to collect and summarise data concerning the volunteer work in the cities of the BSR and to publish the results.

Ecos-Ouverture/PHARE Project "BABS" (Business around the Baltic Sea)

Since August'97 the Commission has been contributing to the project. Main objectives are development of a network of newly established business centres for providing information and help for SMEs in respect of business contacts, export facilities and regulations, language and technology education. The project budget is 430.000 EURO.

Book on the Social State of Elderly Citizens around the Baltic Sea

17 UBC member cities from 8 countries participated in the project. The book was financed from the regional funds of the international Year of Senior Citizens in 2000. The aim of the project was not only the book, but also further common project activities, building up of senior partnerships and exchange of best practice.

Participation in conferences

Commission representatives participated inter alia in the following conferences:

• 'Gender Equality and the Future' - 2nd Baltic Sea Women's Conference, Helsinki, March 2000
• CBSS 'First Baltic Sea Area NGO Forum', Lubeck, May 2001
• International Congress 'Instruments and Strategies for a Sustainable Development of Culture and Tourism in the Baltic Sea Region', Wismar, September 2001

VI UBC General Conference

The topic for the first thematic day ie. ‘Social Justice in the new Millennium' has been accepted by the board. A working team from different departments of the Hanseatic City of Rostock elaborated topics for the workshops. The same group started to organise everything needed for a successful conference.

VI.  Commission on Sport

The Commission on Sport is chaired by Mr Władysław Kozakiewicz, Gdynia and Mr Björn Fries, Karlskrona.

Secretariat

The Secretariat of the Commission on Sport is located in Gdynia, Poland.

Annual Meetings

In April 2000 the Commission hold its annual meeting in Panevėžys, Lithuania. Delegates of seven cities from four countries attended the meeting. Participants exchanged experiences on the organisation of sports structures in their cities, quantity and quality of sports facilities, functioning of sports clubs as well as the most popular sport disciplines among the inhabitants. Moreover the work organisation of the Commission's Secretariat in Gdynia was presented and each member of the Commission was encouraged to undertake its own sporting initiatives.

In April 2001 the annual meeting of the Commission was held in Sopot, Poland. The meeting was attended by the representatives of twelve member cities from seven countries. During the meeting speeches were given on the following topics: Senior Sport Project by Aalborg, Network for the European Youth Work in Sports by Frankfurt and Unihockey - Sport for Everyone by Gdynia. Furthermore, the possibilities of the EU support for sport events organisation were presented by the UBC EU-Coordinator.

Cooperation with other organisations

Between 1999-2001 the Commission on Sport initiated cooperation with the following international sport organisations: Danish Federation for Company Sports - wishes to spread senior sport in Denmark and not only; Network for the European Youth Work in Sport - cooperation of eight European countries in the field of youth work in sport; Polish Floorball Federation - floorball is a young sport rooted in the USA.

Commission's initiatives

In 1999 an informative leaflet on the Commission was published.

In October 2000 the Commission on Sport introduced into its home page the following data base (www.ubc.net/commissions/sport-database.html):

1) data base of sport clubs in member cities in order to make direct sports exchange easier among clubs in Baltic Sea Region countries,

2) sports equipment stock exchange; part of the western UBC members regularly change their sport equipment in clubs and stadiums which still can be used by other members.

In the years 2000 and 2001 the Commission on Sport allocated (from the UBC budget) 13 grants for sport events in the member cities, in the total amount of 6.250 EUR.

VII.  Commission on Tourism

The Commission on Tourism is chaired by Mr Kyrre Dahl, Kalmar and Mr Martynas Uzpelskis, Palanga.

Secretariat

The Secretariat of the Commission on Tourism is located in Kalmar, Sweden.

Meeting

The latest annual meeting of the Commission on Tourism was held in April in Vilnius. 29 participants representing 16 member cities attended the meeting. The Commission elected new Board which consists of Kalmar, Palanga, Kaunas and Rostock..

Baltic Tourism Academy

Within the Baltic Tourism Academy project, in 2001 the Commission carried out seven successful seminars as follows:

January, Kalmar; Seminar on marketing

January, Karlskrona; Seminar on the idea behind an event

February, Tallinn; Seminar on organisation and financing

March, Gdynia; Seminar on organisation

April, Vilnius; Seminar on advertising

May, Rostock; Seminar on sponsoring

May, Nykøbing F.; Seminar on measuring of effects

Tourism Exchange Programme

The development of the planned Tourism Exchange Programme (TEP) is continuing. Contacts with the Council of Nordic Ministers in Vilnius and the Programme Office in Stockholm have been established. The programme will be of high priority for the Commission board. An investigation on interests and demands of such exchange programme has been made by the secretariat.

VIII.  Commission on Transportation

The Commission on Transportation is chaired by Mrs Lisa Sundell, Göteborg.

At the UBC Executive Board meeting in Kolding, November 2000, Goteborg was made responsible for leading the Commission on Transportation. In assuming the responsibility, Goteborg declared an ambition to focus on urban mobility. Further, the interest was to develop attractive regional centres with well functioning traffic, fulfilling high demands on safety and environmental sustainability.

In February 2001, an invitation to all UBC member cities was distributed to join this work. Member cities were asked to respond, indicating if they would like to be involved in future meetings and projects of the Commission on Transportation.

The Commission met in June 2001 in Göteborg for a two-day meeting with aim to discuss the priorities. Present at the meeting were sixteen individuals, from nine member cities, in six different countries. On the agenda were introductions by the city representatives on topics that had attracted most interest in response to the letter sent to all member cities. There was also ample time for further discussions on priorities and desired activities. As a result of the meeting and consultations following since then, the Commission developed an action plan for the next two-year period.

IX.  Commission on Urban Planning

The Commission on Urban Planning is chaired by Mr Jussi Kautto, Helsinki.

The Commission on Urban Planning attracts now 42 member cities. The Commission involves urban planners, architects, civil engineers and other professionals in from UBC towns. In the years 1999- 2001 the Commission has organised four Best Practice seminars. The number of participants has been limited to max. 40 persons. In that way all the participants have had a possibility to give their contribution and take part in the discussion. 

Malmö Seminar, December 1999

The topic of the seminar was: "Refurbishing old industrial sites and harbours and how to develop these areas for new purposes". Representatives of 22 UBC cities attended the seminar. In the post-seminar booklet there is 20 plans from UBC member cities showing how they have developed these kind of areas in the vicinity of the city centre.

Umeå Seminar, June 2000

Participants from 20 member cities took part in the seminar. The theme of the seminar was: "Best practice in Urban Physical Planning and Urban Design". The basic issues were: Renewal of the City Centre, public-private solutions; How to make use of our own experience in future Urban Planning and Design. At the seminar the Commission also discussed long term cooperation in urban planning and design around the Baltic and the application to the Interreg III B. In the seminar booklet, the best practice examples from 14 member cities are presented.

Helsinki Seminar, November 2000

The theme of the seminar was: "Housing for the future - Urban life in our new and renovated districts". Participants from 23 member cities presented best practises in such areas as: architecture of new housing; renovation of concrete panel; lack of land for housing, revitalisation of city structure etc.

Gdańsk Seminar, April 2001

The topic of the fourth best practice seminar attended by representatives of 22 member cities, was: "Waterfronts - development opportunities in cities". The seminar lectures and workshops were devoted to vision and strategies how to develop cities around the Baltic and particularly how to regenerate Gdansk post-shipyard waterfront area - in this case the Commission acted as multinational consultant.

Project to Interreg III B

The Commission has prepared an application to EU Interreg III B program called: "ABC - Alliance of Baltic Cities, a city network cooperation for local approaches to regional strategies". The idea is to make two seminars per year in 2002-2004. After these three years with their seven seminars and a common training, the Commission hopes it will be able to work as multinational consultant, auditing discussions and exchanging information on a very professional level. There will be three preparation groups working between the seven seminars, in order to guarantee that each seminar will be successful. The groups have to prepare common discussions on the most interesting items in the city planning of today such as sustainability, equality, ecological challenges and public-private partnerships.

UBC Women's Network

The UBC Women's Network is chaired by Ms Hjördis Höglund, Sundsvall.

The  UBC has during the last two years taken some important steps on its way towards the goal of integrating a gender perspective into all the activities of the organisation. Gender equality is now integrated in the UBC Strategy and LA21 work.

EU project "Gender equality in Local Agenda 21"

Contacts within the Network have been used when creating the EU-project "Gender equality in LA 21", which was going on for 15 months, since autumn 1999 to the end of 2000. The cities of Lahti, Lubeck and Sundsvall participated in the work. Non-EU countries could not participate in this project but the result has been introduced into the UBC LA 21 Working Group and spread this way to all the UBC member cities.

Meeting in Šiauliai

The city of Šiauliai invited the contact persons of UBC Women's Network of Lithuania to a seminar, in June 2000. It was a good initiative from the city of Šiauliai and it is desirable that all UBC Board members, representatives of different countries, would arrange similar meetings.

Cooperation with other actors

UBC Women's Network started a discussion about cooperation with Turku based network Femina Baltica - a project aimed to build up long-term cooperation of women at all levels in societies around the Baltic Sea. Both networks work in the same region with the same target groups and with the same goals.

Women's Resource Centres in Norrköping and Norrtälje cooperate with the UBC Women's Network in the EU-project called BalticFem. BalticFem is an information campaign created within the framework of Agenda 2000, focusing on the enlargement process and the opportunities for women in the Baltic Sea States. So far three conferences were held - in Luleå, Norrköping and Rostock.

UBC Women's Network participates in the UBC-LVRLAC project funded by SIDA, with task to create a similar network in Victoria Lake region. In February 2001 a seminar was held in the city of Entebbe, Uganda. 15 women representing cities from Tanzania, Kenia and Uganda took part in the seminar. They decided to create the LVRLAC Women's Network and adopted a document stating that "the Women's Network desires to be a strong part of LVRLAC". The project will continue for 3 years.

Gender mainstreaming in UBC

In the project "Gender Equality in LA 21", the gender mainstreaming method "3R" was used. This method is an analytical tool, in order to produce information needed to gender mainstream operation in a systematic way. By answering questions under the headings Representation, Resources and Realia, (the 3R) activities can be analysed from a gender equality perspective. The analysis shows how power is shared between women and men and how gender aspects affect the activities. The UBC Board decided to use the 3R-method for analysing the gender equality work in all UBC activities.

During the period the Women's Network has been represented at the following conferences:

• "Women and Democracy at the Dawn of the New Millennium", Reykjavik, October 1999
• Conference "WoMen and Democracy", Vilnius, June 2001
• 2nd Baltic Sea Women's Conference "Gender equality and the future", Helsinki, March 2000
• The BalticFem Conference, Norrkoping, November 2000.

UBC EU-Coordinators Network

The UBC EU-Coordinators Network is chaired by Ms Charlotte Pedersen, Aalborg. The UBC EU Coordinator has functioned as the resource for the network.

One of the main aims of the UBC EU-Coordinators Network is to prepare the member cities for the EU enlargement in the Baltic Sea area. The EU Coordinators Network is addressed to those persons who are responsible for coordinating the EU related matters within the local authorities. The central issue for the network is to create a forum for the exchange of information, knowledge and experiences between the EU coordinators from UBC member cities.

Meetings

In the reporting period EU-Coordinators Network organised the following meetings:

Seminar on the role of the EU Coordinator in the local authority, Tartu , January 2000

Seminar on the integration process to the European Union, Vilnius, May 2000

Seminar on Development of EU-projects, Jēkabpils, September 2000

The 5^th meeting of the EU Coordinators Network was held in May 2001 in Kotka, Finland. The main objective of this meeting was to decide on how to continue the network and what activities the network should focus on. The meeting decided that the strategy and action plan for the EU Coordinators Network shall be developed by the working group consisting of representatives from Kotka, Tallinn and Aalborg.

The group met in Brussels in June 2001 and proposed three approaches for the network. First, political approach will be to focus on the political framework in which the cities are operating. The second approach is to initiate common projects in order to reach the political objectives specified by the individual countries in their preparations for EU membership. Finally, the network will support the UBC (presidency, board, etc) in its EU policy formulation.

The mission of the EU coordinators work is to be reached through the following fields of work:

• Facilitating a platform for learning processes among the network members
• Strengthening the position of the EU coordinators in the cities and hereby promoting new cross-sectoral network-based working methods
• Setting up partnerships between cities in the network.

Other UBC activities

UBC-LVRLAC Cooperation Project

SIDA - the Swedish International Development Cooperation Authority asked UBC to carry out a project aiming at strengthening a similar network in the Lake Victoria Region in Eastern Africa; Lake Victoria Region Local Authority Cooperation (LVRLAC). UBC acts as a consultant for SIDA in this project.

The project started operations from 2001 with five concrete activities:

1. Study tour by LVRLAC to Baltic Sea Region. The study tour took place in a cold weather in April 2001. 15 persons from LVRLAC visited Stockholm/Nacka, Turku, Kalmar and Gdańsk/Gdynia.

2. Functional internal communication. The overall purpose is to create a functioning communication with modern information technology between the participating authorities in LVRLAC.

3. Functional Secretariat. The activity concentrates on a discussion on the UBC secretariat working methods on a very practical level.

4. Environment Pedagogic Centres (EPC). The purpose is to establish EPCs in the Lake Victoria region. Such centres are meeting places for nature, culture and new environment friendly technique.

5. Support for LVRLAC Women's Network. In February 2001 a seminar attended by women from Uganda, Kenia, Tanzania and delegates of UBC Women's Network, was organised.

Baltic Cities Bulletin

The major focus of the Baltic Cities Bulletin is directed to information about the work of the Union and the actions of the member cities. Besides an emphasis is put on covering some specific fields of general interest, which are presented as main themes for each issue. The bulletin is printed in 5000 copies and sent out to over 200 Baltic cities as well as to the number of organisations and institutions, including the EU. The bulletin is available on the Internet at www.ubc.net. In 2000 three issues have been published: 1/2000 "Sustainable Tourism in the Baltic Sea Region"; 2/2000 "Urban Planning in Baltic Cities"; 3/2000 "Culture in Baltic Cities". In 2001 two issues: 1/2001 "Youth in the Baltic Sea Region"; 2/2001 "Social Justice in the Baltic Sea Region".

Anders Engström - UBC President 
Armas Lahoniitty - UBC Vice-President
Eugenijus Gentvilas - UBC Vice-President