Conference Resolution 26 BSPC

1Conference ResolutionAdopted by the 26th Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC)The participants, elected representatives from the Baltic Sea Region States*, assemblingin Hamburg, Germany, 3-5 September 2017,• welcoming successful steps taken to re-establish full-scale and comprehensivepolitical dialogue in the Baltic Sea Region, in particular within the Council of the Baltic SeaStates, highlighting the importance of the Foreign Ministers’ meeting on the occasion ofthe 25th anniversary of the CBSS hosted by the CBSS Icelandic Presidency in Reykjavik on20 June 2017 and the call for maintaining the momentum and spirit of these positivedevelopments;• supporting the appointment of an independent group of wise persons, includingrepresentatives from civil society by the CBSS to elaborate a report with recommendationsfor a vision for the Baltic Sea Region beyond 2020 and on the future role of the CBSS andthe means to expand its impact as a forum for political dialogue and practical cooperationin the region;• welcoming the High-Level Meeting of the Representatives of the CBSS LabourMinistries and the Declaration adopted on 15 June 2017 in Berlin;• welcoming the adoption of the CBSS Action Plan - "Realizing the Vision: The Baltic2030 Action Plan" as an important step towards ensuring sustainable development of theBaltic Sea Region;• welcoming the decision by the CBSS to continue operation of the Council's ProjectSupport Facility for 2017-2019, noting in particular its role as a tool for supporting thestrategically important project activities in the Baltic Sea Region;• further promoting and encouraging public-private practical interaction as a tool forcross-border cooperation, economically viable actions and projects for the benefit of theBaltic Sea Region, taking into account the continuous progress made by the SaintPetersburg initiative;• continuing involving youth into the procedures of the BSPC working groups.Especially during the second half of a two-year mandate of a working group the vivid2debate with young people nominated by the member parliaments can be an enriching alsowith regard to the annual conference;• expressing deep concern about the growing number of terrorist attacks that haveoccurred since the last BSPC in Riga namely in Stockholm, St. Petersburg and Berlin and -by reaffirming the position in the 25th resolution - utterly condemning terrorism in all itsforms as an increasing common threat for our citizens and our shared values, a threatwhich can only be eliminated by joint efforts;• being convinced that the issues of Migration and Integration pose a tremendouschallenge to all countries in the Baltic Sea Region as well as a great chance for their furtherdevelopment. Those issues call for intensive dialogue as well as close cooperation andcoordinated policies also between the Baltic Sea States;discussing Cooperation and Participation as well as Innovative Science and SustainableTourism in the Baltic Sea Region,call on the governments in the Baltic Sea Region, the CBSS and the EU,Regarding Cooperation in the Region, to1. intensify the cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region including the Northern Dimension,the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the Strategy for the socio-economicdevelopment of the North-West Federal district of Russia in addition to other regional actorsby identifying common priorities and developing respective regional strategies and actionplans in fields of common interest and mutual benefits. Since macro-regional strategiesgather stakeholders and actors from all sectors and levels of governance, macro-regionalstrategies offer efficient instruments to improve relations between neighbouring countriesand thereby support European Neighbourhood Policy;2. further strengthen and develop HELCOM as the coordinator of the regionalimplementation of ocean-related goals of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda ofthe United Nations, through the strengthened implementation of the HELCOM Baltic SeaAction Plan and further commitment to achieve a Baltic Sea in good environmental statusby 2021 and if applicable, by renewing the Baltic Sea Action Plan in line with the UNSustainable Development Agenda with a time perspective until 2030;3. support HELCOM in elaborating a regional action plan on underwater noise as wellas in implementing the marine litter regional action plan and in its battle againsteutrophication; concrete measures to reduce the input of plastics into the marineenvironment should be taken on;4. support the significance of the Science, Research and Innovation Agenda as it isoutlined by CBSS Science Ministers’ Conference held in 2016 in the Chair’s Conclusions:Baltic Science: Renewing the Commitment to Science/Research Joint Actions in the BalticSea Region;5. elaborate a common programme based on a strategy within the framework of theCBSS to develop sustainable tourism in the Baltic Sea Region, considering the followingaspects3• the reduction as far as possible of obstacles to cross-border travelling to promotethe freedom of travel including promotion of the local border traffic regime on outer bordersof the EU• facilitating border and visa regime for youth and organized tourist groups• the improvement of sustainable transport and tourism infrastructure• support for the idea of Baltic Sea Region States creating a common Baltic Sea Brand,based on cultural and natural heritage, to strengthen tourism competitiveness• the improvement of travel options especially for young people (e.g. interferry);Regarding Democratic Participation and the Digital Age, to6. further improve and develop means of democratic participation, e.g. throughtransparency, comprehensive information, government accountability and otherinstruments of citizen participation;7. commit to strengthening the involvement of youth in all areas of society, including,but not limited to, government, science, education and culture. To this end, the BSPC willcontinue to work towards establishing a Baltic Sea-wide youth forum;8. stimulate a common dialogue and debate in the Baltic Sea region on ethicalconditions for the digitization of states and societies and the possibilities of a common legalframework in this policy field. The task of the Parliaments is to guarantee fundamentalrights, democracy and the rule of law in the digital world as well. Parliaments andgovernments are encouraged to ensure that there is no gap between the digital societyand the state;9. work with the aim to make the Baltic sea region a global frontrunner in making newdigital technologies work for democracy and political development;10. stimulate policies to enhance digitization of democratic activity and processes withthe aim to increase public participation in decision-making through sharing of technologyand best practices by governments and parliaments;11. draw attention to training and education for the youth with regard to digitalizationopportunities in order to foster a competent and responsible use of the evolvingtechnological innovations - thereby contributing to democratic societies in the digital age;12. understand state coordination of innovation policies in terms of a social progressand not only as a technological process;13. support the social partners in the Baltic Sea Region in their pursuit to use thechances of digitalization for decent and sustainable working and living conditions;14. draw special attention to the gender and generation aspects of digital innovationand the consequent societal changes;15. bearing in mind the importance of freedom of expression, explore legal possibilitiesand a common approach to react against “Hate Speech” and “Fake News”;4Regarding Innovative Science and Research, to16. intensify scientific cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region qualitatively andquantitatively and therefore promote the development of more credible projections of the future of the BalticSea, based on the best basic marine research as well as the most plausiblesocioeconomic development scenarios and associated alterations in humanpressures, and the complex impacts of climate change on the ecosystem, promote the delivery of new comprehensive knowledge on true long-term effects ofvarious human pressures on all organizational levels - from genes to an ecosystem,as well as suggestions on ways to mitigate these effects, provide a scientific foundation for innovative cross-border policy making, includingpotential internalization of the costs of marine ecosystem services into the economicsystem;17. promote the further development of the Baltic Sea Science Network to enhancemacro-regional dimensions of science and research policy from which higher education andresearch institutions should benefit and to thus create a supra-regional network thatprovides an “administrative network” in addition to the existing “scientific network” tomanage the scientific cooperation in a useful and targeted way, especially in the frameworkof the project “Baltic Science Network”;18. take a more active role with regard to providing sustainable resources for researchand development in order to further innovations by developing e.g. common standards,data security and intellectual property rights within the Baltic Sea Region;19. continue to support the efforts in building closer ties between analytical researchinstitutions and businesses in the framework of the Baltic TRAM (Transnational ResearchAccess in the Macro-region) project;20. further improve the conditions of the Baltic Sea Region in global scientificcompetition through joint strengthened efforts by increased investments in innovativescience and research;21. recognize the EUSBSRs Policy Area Innovation and Policy Area Educationcommitment to ensure a prosperous, sustainable and competitive region based on frontrunning innovation, research and higher education activities as “a common good” andhighlight the importance of developing measures to overcome innovation and performancegaps in the region;22. strengthen citizen awareness of education and science as important innovationresources through suitable measures;23. referring to the success of the Baltic Sea Science Day held for the first time in St.Petersburg on 8 February 2017, to support and promote the continuation of this initiativeas a useful tool for the intensification of scientific cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region andfor improving the visibility of the Region's achievements and potential in the field ofscience, research and innovation;24. support BONUS II;525. intensify measures to facilitate cross-border border integration of interdisciplinaryEarth system science in the Baltic Sea region;26. call for seeking synergies and measures for developing the Arctic-Baltic joint vision,collaboration and scientific performance;27. improve the short-term mobility possibilities of researchers by providingunbureaucratic support outside of large funded projects to allow for more flexibility invisibility and international research collaboration and a better integration of the Baltic SeaRegion research landscape, to intensify the mobility of teaching professionals and studentsby stipend programmes for mobility within the Baltic Sea Region imparting the benefits ofscientific and cultural exchanges and while strengthening and to promoting summerschools as well as exchange programmes in the Baltic Sea Region;Regarding Sustainable Tourism, to28. work towards the vision that the Baltic Sea Region will become the first eco-regionin the world, conceiving the Baltic Sea Region as the first region where ecology andeconomy work together in a balanced and integrated manner to sustain societies andculture.29. ensure that the consequences of tourism are sustainable by adopting models andmethods to save and protect nature and orient work along the principle that sustainabilityis the guiding principle and standard practice in all types of tourism in the Baltic Sea region;30. further examine the use of carbon footprints to improve the comparability andattractiveness of tourism products and their ecological and economical impacts; furtherimprove the transparency of tourism products as to their quality in terms of sustainability,e.g by using common labels and standards;31. promote wastewater facilities at harbours in the Baltic Sea Region;32. improve interrailing, to promote the use of alternative sources of energy and fostera sustainable multimodal split (sea, road, rail), and to improve bike infrastructure includingbicycle stands and Ebike charging stations at transport hubs as examples for ecologicalforms of tourism;33. jointly task a Tourism Transport Impact Assessment Study to analyze continuouslythe output of different political action to increase the level of sustainability;34. counteract the lack of skilled workers in the tourism sector in the Baltic Sea Region,e.g. by establishing an international winter school to increase labour skills, language andintercultural skills;35. fully use the possibilities of the circular and fair sharing economies creating newjobs in the service sectors;36. foster a joint promotion by private and public stakeholders of the Baltic Sea Regionas a tourism destination especially in new source markets and to foster cooperation in theregion as a main key for the successful development of the Baltic Sea Region;637. better use the potential of digitalization in promoting sustainable tourism andfurther support the development of the Baltic Sea Tourism Center into a permanentplatform for information and exchange of know-how at the transnational level, especiallywith regard to the long-term priorities of the CBSS;38. sustain a sound environment, safeguarding the recreational quality of natural andman-made landscapes and integrating natural, cultural and human environments withinthe BSR so that tourism activities do not endanger the natural and cultural heritage of theBSR and instead actively contribute to their preservation;39. promote and sustain the competitive quality and efficiency of the tourism businesswhile also creating satisfactory social conditions for tourists, the workforce and the localpopulation;40. involve citizens in the development of tourism strategies.Furthermore the Conference Decides to41. welcome with gratitude the kind offer of the Parliament of Åland to host the 27thBaltic Sea Parliamentary Conference in Mariehamn on 26–28 August 2018.* Parliaments and Parliamentary Organizations:Baltic Assembly,Free Hanseatic City of Bremen,Denmark,Estonia,Federal Republic of Germany,Finland,Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,Iceland,Kaliningrad Region,Karelian Republic,Latvia,Leningrad Region,Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,Nordic Council,Norway,Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA)Poland,City of St. Petersburg,Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation,Schleswig-Holstein,Sweden,Åland Islands.