UBC Environment and Sustainable Development Secretariat / Kirsi-Marja Lonkila / Projektityöntekijä / Kokoomuksen ympäristöverkoston seminaari 29.11.2011

“Successful city development – importance of

smart planning and co-operation“

Björn Grönholm, UBC Commission on Environment

UBC activities…

Meetings and workshops

Joint UBC Commission meeting, Halmstad, Tallinn, Kolding, Umeå,

Örebro, Arendal ….

Publications, Bulletins, testing communication technology

Joint UBC Environmental Bulletin

Social media (Facebook, twitter, Adobe Connect Pro, Skype etc).

Policy activities

Sector related statements, EUSBSR, EU and National

Surveys Good Practise Databases

1998, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2013 www.ubcwheel.eu

Management of development projects

UBC EnvCom projects Climate Change (starting from UBC Resolution at General Conference in Pärnu 2007)

- CHAMP; Integrated Management Systems for Climate Change 2012

- BaltCica; Impact, costs, scenarios on adaptation 2012

- GreenCitizens; Sustainable transport and logistics in Umeå

- Net-Com; Support to cities involved in Covenant of Mayors

- Nordlead; Study and evaluation of success factors in climate work

Maritime policies and development (based on UBC policy statements and memorandum) - Innoship: Sustainable ports

- Smartcomp (Central Baltic) Smart and sustainable innovations in Maritime industry

- SNOOP; Evaluation and measuring air emissions from ships

Urban wastewaters (based on UBC city proposals) - PURE; waste water treatment, sludge, Successful investments in Belarus

- PRESTO; waste water treatment, sludge, investments in Belarus

- WaterCluster (BSR Programme)

Finnish-Russian cooperation (based on successful cooperation and contacts) - NEAT+; awareness raising in St Petersburg

- BSNA; awareness raising, videos and films, mobile applications and games for youth etc

- Gulf of Finland year 2014 preparations

Sustainable Urban Transport (based on UBC city requests) - Eltis+, Sustainable and efficient transport

- Quest, Sustainable transport and good practises

- Rulla, Transport and mobility planning

- Civitas Dynamo Sustainable transport systems in Europe

- New Bridges, rural urban interaction, quality of life, regional development 2012

- Challenge (IEE Programme)

Totally 65 Work years (40 full time + 50 part time)

6 nationalities in office

Policy Liaison and Coordination HELCOM observer

CBSS Expert group on Sustainable Development

European Sustainble Cities & Towns Conference member of preparation committee

ELTIS+ consortium supporter

EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region commenting and involved in implementation

- Flagship status PA1 PURE and PRESTO, PA4 BSR Innoship

- Coordination involvement PA 5, PA 8.4

- HAL / Turku process involvement

Communication with DG Regional Policy, DG Env, EU Interact

Communication with Funding Programmes

CoR Outlook paper EU Budget - Integrating Climate Change for GREEN, SMART and INCLUSIVE GROWTH via the Committe of the Regions, DG Regional Policy etc.

Upcoming UBC EnvCom activities Coordination of the UBC Sustainability Action Programme 2010 – 2015

Starting up the next UBC Sustainability Action Programme 2016 – 2021

Internal UBC re-organization.

New funding period. New project applications and development projects. New

Concepts. Smart City Concept?

EUSBSR Action Programme Implementation

Evaluations and consultations

Upcoming events in 2014 and 2015 (Gulf of Finland year, BDF + EUSBSR Summit

etc….)

The Baltic Sea Region 2013

East – West arena

Enormous changes in a short time!

A region with a similarities and differences

A region with common challenges and problems

A region with common goals

One of the most active regions in

sustainable development in the world

Name/event

Geographic & Economic concentration

Aging population and Migration

Inefficient Energy consumption and availability

Traffic, transport and accessibility problems

State of the Baltic Sea

Climate change

Financial crisis!

Common challenges for all regions

Name/event

Coexistence of

Generations

Attractive

Living

Economy

& Work

Mobility

Cultural

Life

A World of

Sports

Vital Town

Districts

Dynamic

Town Centre

Green Areas

in Town Education &

Care

Energy

Local authority responsibility

Local - Global

Green Growth – Green economy

Green Growth is growing strongly in the EU already now!

• The EU eco-industry is one of Europe's biggest industrial sectors: annual

turnover of more than 300 billion euro (2,5% of GDP), around 3.4 – 4.0

million directly employed (1,5% of all employed in 2008)

• Venture capital investments in clean technologies in Europe rose

continuously in recent years to around ¼ of total investments ($1.8bn in

2008)

Going into Green economy – Green growth

- Behind all kind of development there are always driving forces- issues making things to happen

- The main driving forces in public sector are ; - A) policies (often verified by the budget)

- B) legislation (federal and local)

- C) economic tools (taxes, incentives etc)

…………. and

- Market forces creating (private) demand leading to many kind of development

Esittäjän nimi

10

What a city can do to create green jobs/Green

economy?

- Enforcement of national environmental legislation & local by laws and rules in green sector (make companies to invest on green technology)

- Creating criterias for public (green) procurement - Establisment of municipal enterprizes to work on new sustainability challanges Areas to focuse on; -- Improved waste management - Air quality management and monitoring - Climate change mitigation and adaptation - Energy efficiency and saving - Intelligent heating and electricity networks - Mobility management - Water and waste water management - Nature conservation and biodiversity management - Awareness raising, education

Esittäjän nimi

11

Jobs in the Green sector/Environmental cluster (indicative /relative figures only)

Research

and

education Public

administration

Public

services

Private sector

(service &

manufacturing

Others

(100)

(300)

(2000)

(300) (100)

Turnover 800 million €, some

260 companies

BALTIC SEA REGION URBAN FORUM FOR

SMART CITIES

Project overview