VASAB 2010 Transnational Cooperation in the Spatial Development of the Baltic Sea Region

Abstract

International cooperation in the field of spatial planning started in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) in 1992. On 21 August 1992, ministers responsible for spatial planning and development in countries of the Baltic region met in Karlskrona in Sweden to discuss the prospects for future spatial development in the region. They decided to initiate permanent cooperation in BSR spatial planning at governmental level by jointly preparing a document on spatial development prospects for the BSR. The programme was named “Vision and Strategies around the Baltic Sea 2010” (VASAB 2010). A body known as the Group of Focal Points was set up to conduct the work. The Group comprises representatives (usually heads of spatial planning departments in the relevant ministries) from Belarus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany (at both federal and regional level - Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein), Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia (Kaliningrad, Karelia, St. Petersburg regions), and Sweden. The Group of Focal Points is backed up by a secretariat.