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News 14 May 2025

Project platforms powering up cooperation across the Baltic Sea region

From tackling hazardous substances to rethinking tourism and boosting mental health, eight project platforms have been recognised as Operations of Strategic Importance (OSIs) in Interreg Baltic Sea Region. These project platforms bring together organisations from across the region to turn tested project results into lasting impact, helping communities thrive, protecting shared resources, and paving the way for a greener, more resilient Baltic Sea region.
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Author
Elena Kolosova
Senior Advisor for External Cooperation at the Baltic Sea Region programme
Baltic Sea Region

Interreg makes a difference: lifting up project results

Each project platform focuses on a specific theme  where cooperation makes a real difference, from coastal resilience and creative industries to maritime spatial planning and energy transition. By linking outcomes from over a hundred of completed and ongoing projects funded by Interreg Baltic Sea Region and other EU or national programmes, project platforms help authorities, experts, and communities apply consolidated knowledge in policies and daily practice.

Strategic platforms for the region

What sets these project platforms apart is their strategic role. They don’t just exchange experience, they shape policy, reinforce cooperation structures, and influence how institutions operate on the ground. And because they involve partners from other funding programmes, the macro-regional strategy and pan-Baltic organisations, their impact reaches far beyond the programme itself. 

Together, the eight project platforms are building on the outcomes of more than 100 projects. More than half of these originate from Interreg Baltic Sea Region, forming the backbone of the project platforms and providing a strong basis for capitalisation within the programme. Their openness to cooperation beyond the programme makes these project platforms even more powerful. Each project platform connects with projects from other programmes, like other Interreg programmes in the region and beyond, Horizon, LIFE, and national initiatives, to share knowledge and create synergies. 

Project platforms are part of the programme’s ambition to strengthen governance through cooperation. As OSIs, they receive dedicated visibility and support and are expected to turn collaborative achievements into lasting improvements for people, institutions, and territories across the region.

'Our project platforms exemplify how Interreg drives synergies in the region and builds on project results. That’s the essence of our capitalisation actions! They bring together knowledge and people to turn tested solutions into lasting improvements: across projects, programmes, and funds. This is how we do it transnationally.' Ronald Lieske Director of the Managing Authority/Joint Secretariat of the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme

Awaited new opportunities to cooperate across borders

Encouraged by the diversity and strength of the existing project platforms, the Programme is preparing a second round of platform opportunities. The next call will explore new thematic areas. The goal remains the same: to turn knowledge into action and make transnational cooperation count where it matters most.

The call is expected to open in May 2025, with more information to follow soon in the programme's gateway for applicants. In the meantime, the current platforms are already showing how cooperation at a strategic level can drive meaningful change.