The Group is drafting two project ideas to be submitted to the South Baltic Crossborder Cooperation Programme within its second call to be closed on 9th January 2009. These are CeLa BaSe and DSIKE.

The project team dealing with the preparation of the South Baltic project facilitating cooperation between science and technology parks in Lithuania, Poland and Sweden met online yesterday and agreed some of the more practical details. Read more in Minutes

SME / Innovation Working Group met yesterday in the preparation process for a project submission to the South Baltic CBC Programme. The concept of the project preliminarily entitled Development of Science and Technological Parks and Innovation Centres in South Baltic Region originated during meetings organized in Poland connected with creation and functioning of science and technological parks, clusters and entrepreneurship incubators. The aim of the project is to build a network of cooperation of technological and science parks, schools of higher education and innovation centres; see the Minutes

On 22^nd February 2008 Euroregion Baltic Council made a decision to transform the Seagull II project reference network dealing with SMEs and Innovation into a formal Working Group. The decision followed the drafting and the presentation of the 2008 Annual Action Plan and the clear definition of the goals to be reached by the Group this year.

The Municipality of Elblag will take over the regional patronage over this particular idea of the Euroregion Baltic Joint Development Programme and leadership of the Working Group. Mayor of Elblag, Mr Henryk Słonina will be the chair and Mr Sławomir Demkowicz-Dobrzański of the ERB International Secretariat will be the Group administrator. Ms Eva-Lisa Ahnstrom of the Blekinge Institute of Technology will act as the Group expert.

The main tasks for 2008 will be to work towards the establishment of Learning Centres in Lithuania, Poland and Kaliningrad Region as well as to facilitate cooperation within ERB in the fields of studies and analyses on qualified vocational education and net-based learning channels, course development methods and learning objects, learning development centres and learning resource centres.

The Group Action Plan can be found in the Basic Documents section.