HIGHLIGHTS OF COMMISSION ON SPORT - MEETING IN GDYNIA

COMMISSION ON TOURISM WILL MEET IN RIGA

New Chairman! 
It is a real pleasure to introduce a new Chairman of the Commission on Sport. It is Mr Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz a member of the City Council of Gdynia, Poland. 
Mr Kozakiewicz is an outstanding Polish sportsman, a gold Olympic medalist in pole vault from Moscow 1980. Actually, it is difficult to mention in this short note all of his achievements and gold medals scored during international and national championships. 
Annual Meeting 
The UBC Commission on Sport Annual Meeting took place on 18-20 June 1999 in Gdynia. Representatives of the following cities from 3 countries participated in the meeting: Lithuania (Panevėžys, Siauliai, Vilnius), Russia (Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg) and Poland (Gdansk, Gdynia, Szczecin). 
During the meeting the cities presented their calendars of international sport events. Some of them were proposed to be supported financially by the Commission and held under the UBC auspices. It was decided that the below mentioned events received the Commission support. Moreover, it is the pleasure to announce that these events

entered the official calendar of the UBC sport events: 1. UBC I Sport Games (23-25. 07. 99, Klaipėda, Lithuania), 2. Baltic Autumn (19-21. 11. 99, Kaliningrad, Russia), 3. Baltic Sail (13-15. 08. 99, Gdansk, Poland), 4. International Small Football Tournament (14-15. 08. 99, Vilnius, Lithuania), 5. International Football Triathlon (27. 08. 99, Panevėžys, Lithuania) 
You are welcome to participate! On further details, please contact the organizers. We do hope that all sport initiatives of the UBC members are a great opportunity to promote both the UBC idea and health or fitness. 
The meeting programme included a presentation on the other sources of financing the sport events, such as European programmes. Such knowledge makes it possible to look for and benefit from many funds while organising the international games. 
We invite all UBC member cities to cooperate with the Commission on Sport!

The Commission on Tourism was established in 1996 to promote the development of tourism in the Baltic Sea Area. For the time being there is a change in leadership. Mr Kyrre Dahl, new Development Manager in the City of Kalmar, is taking over the chairmanship.

On the 28th of August 1999 the Commission will hold a meeting in Riga where the continuation of the work with a new action plan for the coming years will be discussed. 
We welcome you all to take part in the discussions!

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S
WEEKEND IN NARVA

GENDER EQUALITY IN LOCAL AGENDA 21

EENA, the Estonian Association of Business and Professional Women invited women from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden to meet in Narva on 4-6 March, 1999. The weekend meeting was organized with the support of Nordic Council of Ministers, Narva City Government and other organizations. 
Women's situation, role and influence in the society were the highlights of the seminar. The agenda also covered a fair, exhibitions of paintings, photo, seminars and cultural exhibitions. The purpose of the seminar was to create the opportunity to establish new contacts and find partners, as well as to deepen existing co-operation between the BSR and the European networks through the European Women's Lobby (EWL). Two women's Networks - UBC and SweabaltQ tightened up their ties. As a result, Narva BPW Club was invited to participate in a women's exhibition in Sweden. This co-

operation is of great importance when we now are working for an EU enlargement in the region.
Also, discussions about the second Baltic Sea Women's Conference in Helsinki on 8 March, 2000 were held. The first conference took place in Lübeck in 1997. The aim behind the conferences is to strenghten women's influence on the development of the Baltic Sea Region. UBC Women's Network wants to play a strong role in this development, being deeply rooted in the local level in all member cities.

An application to the EU programme " Equal opportunities for men and women" was sent together by the cities Lahti, Lübeck and Sundsvall. The project entitled "Gender equality in Local Agenda 21" is planned for one year. 
The project aims to develop methods of integrating women's experience and needs into the ongoing Agenda 21 work in the cities. The purpose is to create greater awareness and knowledge within this field among the groups involved in the Agenda 21 planning and budget processes. 
It was impossible to involve non-EU cities in this programme, but we hope that there will be possibilities to spread out the results from the project among all UBC member cities.