ARS BALTICA supports cultural cooperation within the Baltic Sea Region. The network advocates for the significance of arts and culture on the political level and promotes the cultural life around the Baltic Sea outside the own core region. It understands itself as a cultural think tank offering information on different aspects of the field of arts and culture and assisting project leaders in implementing multilateral projects.

Twice a year, projects that exemplarily realize the idea of cross-cultural cooperation and that mirror the cultural diversity and therewith the cultural identity of the Baltic Sea Region are granted with the ARS BALTICA logo, a well-known seal of quality.

ARS BALTICA was established on the initiative of the Ministries of Culture of the Baltic Sea Region in 1991. It maintains tight links with the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS). The current Chairmanship is held by Germany. The Secretariat of the initiative is based in Rendsburg/ northern Germany.