Dear UBC Friends,

XI UBC General Conference is approaching. In Liepāja we will be celebrating the 20th Anniversary of UBC's foundation in Gdańsk on 20 September 1991.

Much has happened since the UBC's establishment in 1991. The Baltic Sea Region has been an arena of spectacular changes. From the region divided for 45 years by the Iron Curtain, it transformed into the area of vast cooperation. The theme of the conference will be 'Building on the past, heading for the future'.The reference to the past should be, however, a stepping-stone to the discussion about the future.

The first plenary session will bring an outlook on what happened during the last 20 years from the Cold War to the present cooperation and what can happen during the next 10-20 years.

We have invited distinguished speakers to our conference inter alia from the European Commission and Baltic Development Forum.

The second plenary session will focus on the cities' role, their expectations, interests, etc. Among the speakers there will be Ilmar Reepalu, Mayor of Malmö and UrveTiidus, UBC Vice-President, member of the Parliament of Estonia, former Mayor of Kuressaare.

We will start the second conference day with the workshops, covering three crucial issues our communities are facing:

• How to strengthen economic attractiveness of cities;
• How to master climate change; success factors in the local integrated climate management;
• How to meet the demographic challenge; the ageing society.

I hope the cities will actively contribute to the conference workshops. The second day will be devoted to the internal UBC matters such as reports, elections, finances, etc.

I truly hope Anders Engström, UBC Honorary President, former UBC President and former Mayor of Kalmar, as well as Michael Bouteiller, former UBC Vice-President and former Mayor of Lübeck will join us in Liepāja and share with us fascinating stories from the origins of the UBC.

To have an overview of what the General Conference will bring, I would encourage you all to read this issue of our Bulletin. It highlights the tremendous changes in our cities, once cut off from the East-West contacts, and now active on the international arena. Their dynamic development and increasing sustainability show the huge step we have made since 1991.

With Baltic Sea greetings,

Per Bodker Andersen President of UBC	Kolding, June 2011