In the run-up to the board meeting, members of the BSSSC visited the EDU Offshore Wind Fair 2024 on March 5 and 6. At the education fair, the growing importance of the offshore wind industry for the Baltic Sea region was emphasized and the need to train a skilled workforce for the continued success of this sector underlined.

On the first day, board members took part in panel discussions on international cooperation in the area of offshore wind farms and an agreement on the Pomeranian skill partnership was signed. As a closing point of the day, Stefan Musiolik, the current Secretary General of BSSSC signed a time capsule, which will be entrenched into the foundation of “Baltic tTowers”, an offshore wind towers factory that is currently being built in Gdansk.

In addition to networking opportunities, the fair offered a competition for young talents, in which around 25 young people from the BSSSC network from the entire Baltic Sea Region also took part. On the second day of the fair, attractive prizes were awarded to the young adults by Minister Schwarz and the Marshal of the Pomeranian Region, Mieczysław Struk.

Minister Schwarz was impressed: "Pomerania shows how the energy transition can progress. The high attendance of around 8,000 visitors at the trade fair - mainly young people from schools, vocational colleges and universities whose interest in careers in offshore wind energy is to be awakened - is a strong signal to the maritime industry."

After visiting the trade fair, Minister Schwarz met with the Marshal for bilateral talks to discuss joint topics such as the upcoming regional elections in Poland and the European elections in June.

At the board meeting, the priorities of Schleswig-Holstein's BSSSC chairmanship for 2024/25 were discussed, including the expansion of renewable energies, the removal of dumped munitions in the Baltic Sea and the improvement of transport routes around the Baltic Sea.‌

Attention was also paid to ways of strengthening democracy with an exchange of ideas on combating fake news and disinformation as well as solutions to increase voter participation in the European elections, particularly among first-time voters.

The BSSSC rapporteurs as well as other BSR organizations present reported on a wide variety of topics, which led to fruitful discussions.

BSSSC is especially looking forward to the new possibilities arising from the upcoming funding period and will strongly advocate the provision of appropriate funding for priority topics of Baltic Sea Region cooperation.