The Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC) was founded in Gdańsk, Poland in September 1991 with the aim of developing cooperation and exchange between its member cities. The main goal of the UBC is to actively contribute to the democratic, social, economic and environmentally friendly development of the Baltic Sea area for the benefit of the citizens living in the region. UBC also watch over the interests of its member cities towards the national governments and international bodies.

The UBC is open to all cities of the Baltic Sea Region. Since its foundation the number of member cities has grown from 32 to 106 cities from all 10 Baltic Sea countries. Each of these cities has widely developed network of bilateral contacts with other, not only Baltic, cities. This creates huge potential of cooperation capabilities. The member cities range from small towns with less than 10.000 inhabitants to multi-million metropolises all having a mutual interest – fostering practical cooperation with one another.

The highest UBC authority is the General Conference, which convenes once every two years. Between the General Conferences the executive power of the UBC is held by the Executive Board, which consists of ten cities, one from each Baltic Sea country. Currently these are: Gdańsk, Kardla, Kemi, Kristiansand, Liepaja, Naestved, Panevezys, Rostock, St.Petersburg, Vaxjo. The General Conference elects the UBC President and three Vice-Presidents.
The Secretariat of the Union is located in Gdańsk at the residence of the City Council.

The UBC has numerous activities. It coordinates projects and promotes exchange of know-how and experiences between the cities by organising seminars and courses and publishing newsletters. The Union has thirteen working Commissions, each led by 1-2 member cities. These are the Commission on Business Cooperation, Culture, Education, Energy, Environment, Gender Equality, Health & Social Affairs, Information Society, Sport, Tourism, Transportation, Urban Planning, Youth Issues. The Commissions oversee UBC activities and projects in each of the respective areas. UBC has also UBC EU-Coordinators and LA21 Network. Each city is capable to have its own creative and independent input to the work of the Commissions and Networks.

The Union has an observer status with the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), the Parliamentary Conference on Cooperation in the Baltic Sea Area, the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) and the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE), Committee of the Regions. UBC has links of cooperation with the European Commission and numerous Baltic and European organisations.