Baltic Sea Challenge: network and Action Plan 2024-2028

The cities of Turku and Helsinki have committed to tangible and voluntary
conservation measures aimed at impacting the state of coastal waters and the
entire Baltic Sea beyond what is required by legal obligations alone. In 2007, our
cities jointly established the Baltic Sea Challenge network initiative, which aims to
serve as an example of protecting the Baltic Sea at the city level while challenging
other actors to join the network. From the very beginning, the vision of this
challenge has been a clean, productive and shared Baltic Sea.

In the upcoming fourth action period, the cities of Helsinki and Turku commit to
continuing their valuable work on the Baltic Sea in 2024–2028. The upcoming
period will focus especially on reducing stormwater pollution and promoting
biodiversity, cooperation and participation. At the same time, our cities will
challenge new actors to join us in cooperation and our existing partners to renew
their action plans.

The Baltic Sea Challenge Action Plan for 2024–2028 consists of 27 actions to
be implemented that contribute to one or more of its objectives. There are six
objectives, and they cover the most significant threats affecting the state of the
Baltic Sea: promoting the sustainable use on the sea, preventing litter, reducing harmful substances, increasing biodiversity, curbing eutrophication, increasing cooperation and inclusion. The actions are grouped into nine themes: maritime transport and ports, land use, cooperation and network, eutrophication, stormwater, biodiversity, Baltic Sea identity, littering, procurement.

Cities play a key role in influencing the state of our waters, as cities manage
processes like land-use policies from planning to implementation. Achieving the
objectives of the action plan requires seamless and functional links between
city activities so that the impacts of human activities on the Baltic Sea can be
considered in the context of sustainable development at every stage. Taking these
links into account in the action plan’s future implementation is part of the cities’
ambitious water protection efforts. In addition, city lobbying can influence national
water protection policies and adequate funding for policy measures, maximising
the effective use and adequate budgeting of water protection funding.

The Baltic Sea Action Plan guides the operations of Helsinki and Turku alongside
city strategies and other programmes. We have aimed to build a concise plan that
creates a clear frame of reference for the cities’ work on the Baltic Sea over the
next five years. The plan has been prepared using other documents guiding Baltic
Sea policy at national and international levels for reference (Annex 1). This has
made it possible for us to focus the plan’s measures on the most cost-effective
and synergistic areas. The plan supports climate change mitigation, circular
economy commitments, and water protection objectives, among other things. At
the national level, the plan contributes to implementing the national Archipelago
Sea Programme and the Programme of Measures of the Finnish Marine Strategy.

The Baltic Sea Challenges full Joint Baltic Sea Action Plan of the Cities of Helsinki and Turku can be read from here:
https://itamerihaaste.fi/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/itamerihaaste_EN.pdf