Growth and Innovation beyond Metropolises

Targeting Non-metropolitan Regions in the Baltic Sea Region

If the Baltic Sea Region wants to become globally competitive in entrepreneurship, innovation and growth, it is vital that the peripheral areas are included in the overall economic interaction.

Peripheral areas differ in their development challenges from more centrally located cities or metropolises. At the same time, they share the same potentials, e.g. natural resources, space, work force, social innovation capability. Herein, locally anchored development strategies and initiatives play the key part towards positive spirals of development.

Baltic Development Forum initiated in 2005 together with some of its members (Baltic Sea Solutions and Region Skåne) a working group of eager peripheral sub-regions of the Baltic Sea Region in increasing their economical visibility towards external cooperation partners.

The Vision is that the Peripheral regions throughout the Baltic Sea and beyond will take a proactive role in achieving the ambitions on Growth and Jobs set out in the Lisbon Strategy to become globally competitive.

The Mission is by giving local answers to the global challenges facing peripheral regions in the Baltic Sea Region, we reach more visibility and put the non-metropolitan areas on the agenda of regional decision-makers within business, government and academia. The most effective tool of doing this is to present these areas in a positive light focusing on the untapped opportunities that exist.

Since its existence, the working group has benefited from earlier BDF Summits when hosting its first session in Stockholm 2005. As follow-up a comparable event took place at the Helsinki Summit, October 2006. For this, a scientific report chaired by Nordregio was launched to present regional best-practice initiatives.

See report on Growth and Innovation byond Metropolises below.

See also Session Summary from the 2005 Stockholm Summit here.

See also Session Summary from the 2006 Helsinki Summit here.

If you have any inquires, want to have additional information about the initiative or share your insights, please do not hesitate to contact Project Manager Kinga Valeria Szabo for further information at +45 60 21 85 75 or ks@bdforum.org or the coordinator for this initiative, Silke Alsen, Associate Director at Baltic Sea Solutions, at +45 54 79 89 47or silke@bass.nu