From October 29th to 31st, the EUSBSR welcomed established as well as new stakeholders in Visby on the island of Gotland, Sweden for its Annual Forum 2024. Over 650 individuals representing numerous insitutions, organisations and projects across the Baltic Sea Region, Ukraine and beyond gathered in this stunning location with the guiding topics being sustainability, resilience and security. Dive into the recap from ARS BALTICA's and Arthur Bondar's perspective.
The Engagement Day marked an early start to the Forum for those new to the Strategy on October 29th. About 200 participants had the opportunity to present themselves with their projects and network in the roundtable sessions led by the EUSBSR Policy Areas. ARS BALTICA organized PA Culture's participation on the day and supported in person at the roundtables. It was delightful to see multiple connections to the cultural field of expertise being present within the BSR, Ukraine and beyond. ARS BALTICA and PA Culture are currently following up on them.
There were various panel discussions, sessions and workshops to take part in and inbetween the CCI Contact Desk and ARS BALTICA joined PA Culture at their stand at the Networking village, stressing culture as a vital factor in connecting the BSR. Especially the upcoming InnoCultureConference on November 19th and 20th in Gdańsk, Poland as a pilot for an Annual EUSBSR Culture Forum (More info & registration here) was promoted.
On the final day of the Annual Forum, PA Culture and EUSBSR PA Education teamed up hosting a workshop on the topic of ‘Culture X Integration’. Three organizations active in this field presented themselves and lead interactive table discussions on the matter, namely being Give Something Back To Berlin, Fundacja Ocalenie and the Art of Belonging project. Read the workshop summary and learn about the follow-up here.
In addition, ARS BALTICA was delighted that photographer Arthur Bondar (www.arthurbondar.com) was able to join the forum as a Ukrainian national upon invitation from the event's organisers. He reflects on the conference as follows:
"Being invited to the EUSBSR conference gave me the unique opportunity to participate in such kind of event. Personally for me, it was also very unusual to be part of this event because I am a photographer, so I usually am on the other side of the table, capturing the results of these initiatives in daily life. It was interesting to observe how political and civil initiatives collaborate giving people a chance to build up their projects and ideas. Additionally, the nature of Gotland and the Baltic sea made this visit unforgettable.
For me, the topic of the current war in Ukraine became the main theme of the whole conference. It prevails any other event or speech. Not surprisingly, many speakers were short of words after the performances and speeches by Ukrainian musicians or individuals from other fields who talked about the war and suffering of people in Ukraine. It was very familiar to me, because my own family is in Ukraine. One of the really useful and practical workshops for me therefore was the workshop of the Ukrainian paramedics about first aid in the field. I'll be happy if I never have to use this knowledge, but it was very helpful."
We thank the organizers and participants for putting together this international multi-perspective networking event!
