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MINUTES FROM THE 20TH MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF
THE UNION OF THE BALTIC CITIES
Kalmar, Sweden, 27-28 March 1998
INTRODUCTION The
20th meeting of the Executive Board of the Union of the Baltic Cities was
held on the 27-28 March 1998 in the City of Kalmar, Sweden, upon the
invitation of Mr Anders Engström,
Mayor of Kalmar and President of the Union of the Baltic Cities. The
first day of the meeting was attended only by the members of the Executive
Board. The second day was open for the representatives from all member
cities. FRIDAY,
27 March 1998 Opening
of the meeting and adoption of the Agenda. The
20th meeting of the UBC Executive Board was opened by Mr Anders Engström,
the President of the Union. Mr Engström
greeted all participants and wished them a successful meeting. Mr
Engström
informed the Board that Mr Igor Kozhemiakin, Mayor of Kaliningrad and
member of UBC Executive Board, died on the 23rd of March 1998. With the
minute of silence, the Board paid a tribute to the memory of Mr
Kozhemiakin, whose unexpected death was a great loss not only to the City
of Kaliningrad but also to the Union of the Baltic Cities. The
meeting adopted the Agenda. The
President introduced the new member of the Executive Board, Mr Eugenijus
Gentvilas, Mayor of Klaipėda
and Mr Risto Veivo, new UBC Environmental Coordinator from Turku. Election of two persons who, together with the President, will check the Minutes. Ms
Sandra Jonikane from Rēzekne
and Mr Toivo Riimaa from Pärnu
were elected to check the minutes. Report
from the Strategy Working Group. President
Engström
reminded that at the last meeting in Aalborg the Board decided to
establish a working group responsible for formulating the UBC Strategy and
the Internal Regulations. The working group consists of the UBC Presidium
and representatives of four cities: Copenhagen, Kaunas, Pori, Riga. After
Aalborg meeting the Secretariat sent out a short questionnaire to all
member cities to find out cities views on UBC Strategy. The questionnaire
was widely responded by member cities. The cities answers were the basis
for the working meeting of the Strategy Group held in Copenhagen on
February 25. The Working Group decided that Mr Bartłomiej Sochański,
Vice-President, shall be responsible for formulating the Strategy and Mr
Paweł Żaboklicki, Secretary General, for the Internal Regulations. Draft
of UBC Strategy. Mr
Bartłomiej Sochański presented an outline of the UBC Strategy, which was
subsequently discussed by the Board members. Decision: The
Board adopted the following time-table for the Strategy formulation
process: ·
Circulation for comments to the Board Members and the Chairmen of
the Commissions, deadline for comments May 15th. ·
Strategy Working Group meeting, May 28th. Preparation of final
proposal. Klaipėda
Board Meeting, June 26-27 ·
Circulation for comments to all member cities. ·
National meetings if necessary. Szczecin
Board Meeting,
November 6-7 (t.b.c.) ·
Adaptation of final proposal 3.2
UBC Internal Regulations. Mr
Paweł Żaboklicki presented the latest draft of UBC Internal Regulations.
The Regulations concern the following Union bodies: General Conference,
Executive Board, Presidium, Commissions, Secretariat. Decision: The
Board Members and the Chairmen of the Commissions are requested to send
their comments to the Regulations latest by the 15th of May. Baltic Cities Social Charter Mr
Anders Engström
informed that Mr Michael Bouteiller, UBC Vice-President proposed the
Baltic Cities Social Charter to be discussed by the Board. Due to the
absence of Mr Bouteiller, the question was not discussed. The Board
expressed an opinion that UBC Charters eg. Social Charter, Charter on
Sustainable Development, Charter on Equal Opportunities etc. shall be
developed after formulation of UBC Strategy. Report
from the Baltic Sea Meeting in Copenhagen. The
President informed that the meeting was organised in accordance with the
decision of major Baltic organisations made last year in Gdańsk to
meet regularly to discuss cooperation and Baltic strategic issues. The
Copenhagen meeting was held on February 25, in association with the CBSS
Committee of Senior Officials meeting. Financial report for 1997 Mr
Paweł Żaboklicki, Secretary General, submitted UBC financial report for
1997. Mr Żaboklicki
underlined that all member cities pay membership fees and the financial
position of the Union is stable. Apart from UBC income (mainly membership
fees) and expenditure the report includes additional contributions from
member cities and UBC projects with external funding. Decision: The
Board adopted the report. The
President informed that some Commissions asked if they could use in 1998,
the resources which they didn't use last year.
Decision:
The
Board decided the Commissions may use the resources granted from the UBC
budget during two years period beginning from 1997. Additionally
the Secretary informed about listed below financial applications. Mr
Żaboklicki
reminded that the budget for 1998-1999 has been already adopted by the
General Conference in Gdańsk. The only reserve which might be use for
below applications is 15.000$ from the UBC project fund. 1)
The Commission on Culture applied for extra 18.000$ for its
activities in 1998. Having
in mind the active work of the Commission on Culture, the Board decided to
grant extra 5.000$ for the Commission's activities in 1998. 2)
The City of Lübeck
applied for 5.500$ to co-finance the seaport conference to be held in
autumn 1998. The
President informed that Lübeck
has been instructed to forward its application to the Commission on
Transportation. 3) Mrs Hjördis Höglund applied for 5.000$ for the activities of the UBC Women's Network.
The Board decided to grant the Women's Network with 5.000$ and asked Mrs Höglund
to prepare an action plan of Network's activities. 4) Ms Sonja Hilavuo (Communication Task Force) applied for 6.000$ for the Children Drawing Competition project
The Board decided to grant the Task Force with 6.000$ for the
mentioned project. Proposal
to create the Commission on Education. The
President informed that two member cities ie. Norrtälje
and Kärdla
put forward the proposal to create the UBC Commission on Education. The
Commission could deal with eg. pupils and students exchange, distance
education, adult education etc. Decision: The
Board considered the proposal as very interesting and authorised Norrtälje
and Kärdla
to make a survey to find out which member cities would be interested to
cooperate within the new Commission. Further decisions in question will be
undertaken at the next Board meeting in Klaipėda. Proposals
from the Commissions. The
Commission on Social Affairs proposed to change its name to the Commission
on Social and Health Affairs. Decision: The
Board accepted the proposal. Proposals
from Member Cities. The
City of Elblag requested UBC to take the patronage over the project called
"Baltic Beetle Tour" - a tour of old VW beetles around the
Baltic Sea. Decision: The
Board considered the Elbląg proposal as very interesting and decided to
take the patronage over the event. UBC member cities to be visited by the
tour are requested to give all possible assistance to the organisers. The
City of Klaipėda
proposed a project for artists from all member cities named "Games of
sand". The artists will create sculptures on the beach using sand,
water, stones, tree branches etc. Decision: The
Board encouraged the member cities to take part in the project and asked
the Commission on Culture to include the event in the programme of
Commission's activities. Questions
raised. President
Anders Engström
informed that the day before the meeting St.Petersburg sent a fax asking
for UBC support for St.Petersburg to become European Cultural Capital in
2003. Decision: The
Board authorised the Chairman of UBC Commission on Culture to check which
UBC member cities applied to become European Cultural Capital in 2003. The
decision about UBC support will be made at the next Board meeting in Klaipėda. SATURDAY,
29 November 1997 Report
from the Board meeting of November 28. President
Anders Engström
summarised the main issues discussed by the Board on the previous day. New
Member Cities. President
Anders Engström
informed the Executive Board about new application for Union Membership
submitted by the City of Koszalin, Poland. Mr Engström
gave the floor to Mr Jerzy Krauze, Head of Foreign Relations in Koszalin.
Mr Krauze made a presentation introducing the City of Koszalin, and on
behalf of the city authorities, requested the Board to accept Koszalin as
UBC member city. Decision: The
Board decided to accept the City of Koszalin (Poland) as a Member of the
Union of the Baltic Cities and wished Koszalin a successful cooperation
with other UBC members. Moreover Mr Imants Timermanis, Deputy Mayor of Cēsis (Latvia) introduced the City of Cēsis, which was accepted as UBC member at the previous Board meeting in Aalborg. Reports
from the Commissions. The
following persons submitted the reports on Commissions' activities since
the IV UBC General Conference in Gdańsk, on 12-13 September 1998. ·
Commission on Business Cooperation:
Mr Torsten Lilja, Stockholm ·
Commission on Communication: Mr Lars Malmborg, Kalmar ·
Commission on Culture: Mr Sławomir
Szafrański, Szczecin ·
Commission on Environment: Mr Mikko Jokinen, Turku ·
Commission on Social Affairs:
Ms Petra Hamann, Rostock ·
Commission on Sport:
Mr Zdzisław Urla, Gdynia ·
Commission on Tourism:
Mr Leif Nilsson, Kalmar ·
Commission on Transportation: Mr Andrzej
Jankowski, Gdańsk Decision: The
Board took note of submitted reports. Report
from the Project Manager. Mr
Juhan Janusson, UBC Project Manager, reported on the results of UBC
project applications submitted to Baltic Small Projects Facility in
September 1997 and informed about new UBC applications submitted to BSPF
in March. Information
on UBC-EU Project status. Ms
Ewa Kurjata, European Liaison Officer in Szczecin, reported on the current
status of UBC-EU Information Project. Ms Kurjata informed that the
application for project continuation submitted to BSPF in October 1997 has
been rejected due to a number of reasons. Report
from the Communication Task Force. Ms
Sonja Hilavuo, chairman of UBC Task Force for Public Relations and
Communication, expressed thanks to the Board for granting the Children
Drawing Competition project with 6000$. Ms Hilavuo warmly invited all
member cities to take part in the next meeting of the Task Force to be
held in Szczecin on 25-27 May 1998. Report
from the Working Group on Town Planning. Mr
Jussi Kautto, Development Chief from Helsinki, reported on the latest
actions of the UBC Working Group on Town Planning. The report is attached
along with the reports from the Commissions. Mr Kautto informed that the
proposal to establish the UBC Commission on Town Planning will be
submitted at the next meeting of the Executive Board in Klaipėda. Baltic
Sea Tourism Alliance. Mr Arne Ellefors, Executive Director of Baltic Sea Tourism Commission (BTC) put forward a proposal to establish the Baltic Sea Tourism Alliance connecting the major Baltic organisations interested in tourism development. The first action of such alliance would be joint implementation of Cultural Heritage Programme BALDER. Decision: The
Board decided UBC shall join the Baltic Sea Tourism Alliance and
encouraged the member cities to participate in BALDER programme. The
chairman of UBC Commission on Tourism has been appointed to represent UBC
in the alliance. Opening
of the yacht port in Leba. Mrs
Marta Chełkowska, Secretary of the smallest UBC member city (4000
inhabitants), invited all member cities to the opening of the marina in Łeba
on June 27. The construction of the marina has been co-financed by the
Phare Programme. The
Board encouraged all member cities interested in yachting to establish
contacts with Łeba. Report
from the Öland
Folk-highschool. The
President reminded that the model Swedish adult education carried out by
folk highschools was presented at the Board meeting in Klaipėda
in 1993. Since then the efforts have been taken to introduce this model in
eastern Baltic countries. Mr Gunnar Aldestan from Öland
Folk-highschool presented the folk highschool project for Kaliningrad. Reports
from the conferences attended by Union's representatives. The
following delegates submitted reports from the conferences where they
represented the Union of the Baltic Cities: ·
Waterfront Urban Development project, Gdańsk, 16 February 1998 -
reported by Mr Juhan Janusson ·
Baltic Sea 2008 project, Gdańsk, 20 February 1998 - reported by Mr
Anders Engström ·
CBSS CSO meeting, Copenhagen, 25 February 1998 - reported by Mr
Anders Engström ·
VASAB Seminar on Urban Networking, Tartu, 19-20 March 1998 -
reported by Mr Lars Malmborg ·
Conference of Baltic Ministers of Industry and Economics, Gdansk,
20 March 1998 - reported by Mr Paweł Żaboklicki Matters
raised at the meeting. No
further questions have been raised. Next
Meeting of the Executive Board. Mr
Eugenijus Gentvilas, Mayor of Klaipėda,
maintained his proposal to hold the next (21th) meeting of the UBC
Executive Board in Klaipėda
on 26-27 June 1998. Decision: The
Board accepted the proposal. Closing
of the Meeting. Mr Anders Engström expressed his thanks to all participants for the fruitful meeting and closed the XX Meeting of the Executive Board of the Union of the Baltic Cities. Mr
Anders Engström
Mr Paweł Żaboklicki Chairman
Secretary Ms
Sandra Jonikane
Mr Toivo Riimaa Adjuster Adjuster
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