The Baltic Sea Region to Strengthen Smart Growth

This requires enhanced coordination between various EU instruments plus more national and regional public and private investments. The key target is to enhance cross-border collaboration between small and medium sized companies and academic research.

Smart growth and eco-innovation should be strengthened in the Baltic Sea Region as it has the potential to be a globally leading green valley and health region. This requires enhanced coordination between various EU instruments plus more national and regional public and private investments.

The key target is to enhance cross-border collaboration between small and medium sized companies and academic research. ScanBalt BioRegion today released a set of concrete recommendations at a round table discussion in Klaipeda, Lithuania, where infrastructure is being established to develop the marine sector based on science and technology. The recommendations are presented in the report “Smart Growth: Bridging Academia and SMEs in the Baltic Sea Region” as part of the EU FP 7 project Bridge-BSR. Download the report here:

http://www.scanbalt.org/graphics/ScanBalt/Activities/Bridge%20BSR/BridgeBSR_Smart_growth0906.pdf

Hans-Robert Metelmann, Chairman of ScanBalt, says “ScanBalt BioRegion will strengthen cross-border support and services to SMEs and enhance technology transfer between industry and academic research. This should be further promoted by establishing a strong cross-border financing collaboration, network or institution supporting research, development, innovation and education – this is a task for the national and regional policy and decision makers in the Baltic Sea Region”.

Bo Samuelsson, Chairman of the Innovation Council preparing the recommendations and representing Sweden's largest region, Västra Götaland, adds “For Västra Götaland as for other regions it is very important to have the recommendations as a tool box. We will now implement them via dialogue with key stakeholders around the Baltic Sea Region. Our ambition is to set an innovation agenda which leads to more and better investments. It is a step towards realizing the ambitions of the EU Baltic Sea Region Strategy”.

For further information please contact Bo Samuelsson at tel. 0046-706 931 883, e-mail bo.samuelsson@clinchem.gu.se or Peter Frank, ScanBalt, at Tel. 0045-27141078, e-mail pf@scanbalt.org

Background information
The recommendations were prepared as part of the EU FP 7 project Bridge-BSR, coordinated by ScanBalt and with the following partners: BioCon Valley, Latvian Association of Biotechnology, Steinbeis Team Northeast, BioForum Oulu, Estonian Biotech Association, IPPT-PAN, Medicon Valley Alliance. Read more about Bridge-BSR at http://www.scanbalt.org/sw14944.asp