Spatial and Regional Development Projects at the second Partner Search Forum in Tromsö, Norway on 6-7 June, 2002.

On 6-7 June 2002 Tromsö (northern Norway) was the venue for the second Baltic Sea Region INTERREG III B Partner Search Forum (PSF) for bringing together prospective project ideas and professionals in regional development and spatial planning. Mr Anders Eira, State Secretary of the Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, opened the Forum by setting out the Norwegian views and key aspects of regional and spatial policy.

The Baltic Sea Region's INTERREG III B Joint Secretariat, in close co-operation with the Eastern Norway County Network, the Executive Committee for Northern Norway (Landsdelsutvalget), the Barents Secretariat in Kirkenes and the Pomerania Region in Poland, jointly invited interested project owners to meet potential partners and collect information on funding options for project ideas that need financial contribution from the various EU instruments (PHARE and Tacis Cross-Border-Programmes, BSR INTERREG III B and INTERREG III C) for transnational co-operation in the BSR.

The one and a half day long Partner Search Forum 2 attracted 140 participants and was divided into 2 sessions (one afternoon- and one full day). The Friday afternoon session was filled with a number of key presentations. On Saturday participants were splitted up into five theme-related workshops. The audience could take note of Mr Geir Knutson, Chairman of the Regional Barents Council, Nordland County, Barentsregion and Mr Brunon Synak, Chairman of BSSSC (Baltic Sea States Sub-regional Co-operation) presentations, focusing on north-south sub-regional co-operation in the BSR.

Ms Catherine Bodson, programme coordinator Tacis CBC SPF at the Europe Aid Cooperation Office of EC and Ms Valentina Chaplinskaya, St.Petersburg Liaison Office of EC Delegation in Russia presented updated information on bridging the instruments.

Mr Håkan Rodhe, associated professor at Lund University in Sweden, presented the audience his concept - How to overcome conflicts between environment and economic development - with contemporary experiences and case studies from the BSR.

Please go to presentations, held in the morning session (click here).

About 60 project ideas were presented at the Forum and had been collected in the Project Idea Catalogue, prepared for the PSF 2 participants.

The idea with the Project Idea Catalogue is to assist project owners in their search for project partners and to disseminate their project ideas. The Project Idea Catalogue is based on all Project Idea and Partner Search Forms submitted to the Joint Secretariat before the 10 May 2002. In the Catalogue the Project Idea and Partner Search Forms are sorted by the BSR INTERREG III B Community Initiative Programme's three Priorities. Some of the submitted Project Idea and Partner Search Forms have not been according to priority. In such cases the Joint Secretariat has tried to direct it to the most matching priority.

(Click here to download the Project Idea Catalogue for PSF 2).