In May 2014 the European Commission adopted a "Sustainable Blue Growth Agenda for the Baltic Sea Region". It calls for a stakeholder-driven, cross-Baltic approach to innovation, sustainability, skills and qualifications. As a first step of this agenda, the European Commission launched a Maritime Stakeholder Platform on 26-27 March 2015 in Kiel, Germany. Commissioner Karmenu Vella, Parliamentary State Secretary Uwe Beckmeyer and MEP Ulrike Rodust participated in the event along with key maritime stakeholders from business, academia and the public sector across the Baltic Sea region to discuss smart specialisation, maritime technologies and skills and employment.

Programme

Final report

List of participants

Speeches and presentations

26 March

Setting the scene

• Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
• Kaspars Briškens, Advisor to the Transport Minister, Latvia
• Ulrike Rodust, Member of the European Parliament

Session 1: Smart specialisation: unlocking the potential of the blue economy

• Anders Carlberg, Maritime Expert, Region Västra Götaland, Sweden
• Juha Valtanen, Programme Manager, Machine Technology Center Turku Ltd, Finland
• Joanna Przedrzymirska, Maritime Institute in Gdańsk, Poland
• Allan Larsson, Senior Advisor, Sweden

27 March

Session 2: Maritime technology and the Baltic Sea Strategy

• Ari-Pekka Saarikangas, Director, Asset Performance Optimisation , Wärtsilä, Finland
• Carl Carlsson, Head of Unit Environment & Sustainability, Swedish Shipowners’ Association, Sweden
• Angela Schultz-Zehden, Managing Director of the SUBMARINER Network, Germany
• Dr. Christiane Gätje, Schleswig-Holstein Agency for Coastal Defence, National Park and Marine Conservation, Germany
• Ottilia Thoreson, Manager, WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme, Sweden

Session 3: Skills in the Baltic maritime economy

• Steen Sabinsky, CEO, Danish Maritime Development Center, Danemark
• Dr. Kaisa Kononen, Executive Director, BONUS, Finland
• Anne-Bénédicte Genachte, Key Account Manager, European Wind Energy Association
• Prof. Gerhard Graf, Head of the Department „Maritime Systems“, University of Rostock, Germany

Articles related to the conference

• Newsletter HansEUmschay
• Mitteldeutsche Zeitung
• Hamburger Abendblatt
• shz.de
• T-online
• Newstral
• KN Online
• Die Welt

Photos

More photos are available on Flickr