On 17 March Copenhagen will host the travelling project Balticness, which is being organised by Latvia's presidency at the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS). The project features a photographic exhibition, a jazz concert, and debates on a topic relating to regional co-operation.

As part of the Copenhagen event, a round-table discussion entitled The Environmental standing of the Baltic Sea: from political proposal to practical project will take place at the Centre for Baltic Sea Region Studies of the University of Copenhagen.

The participants of the discussion will include Valdis Krastins, the CBSS Chair of the Committee of Senior Officials, Sandra Martinsone, the Latvian delegate to the CBSS Committee of Senior Officials, Anne Christine Brusendorff, the Executive Secretary of HELCOM (the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission), Christina Gestrin, a Finnish MP, Anne-Cerise Nilsson, the Chair of Baltic 21, Bo Riemann, representative of the National Environmental Research Institute of the University of Aarhus, Jan Thulin, the Senior Advisor of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Jesper H. Andersen, the Head of the EU Water Policy Unit and representative of DHI Water-Environment–Health, Kaisa Kononen, Executive Director, BONUS Network Coordinator, Christine Jakobsson, Director of the Baltic University Programme at Uppsala University, Andris Andrusaitis, Director of the National Research Program Climate Change Impact on the Water Environment of Latvia, and Rolands Bebris, the Director of the Department of Environmental Protection of the Latvian Ministry of the Environment.

At the University of Copenhagen, the opening of the photographic exhibition Where the Baltic Sea and People Meet will take place. The exhibition includes work by 40 young photographers from the CBSS member states. The photographers, who are between the ages of 18 and 30 and who represent all the Baltic Sea states, looking at the Baltic Sea through the eyes of a photo camera, have created its mirror image and a reflection of its diversity, with a touch of a sense of humour, creativity, respect for the surrounding environment, energy, and fulfilment of dreams. The exhibition will be open until 4 April.

The club Jazz House will host a joint concert by Latvian and Danish jazz musicians. Latvia will be represented by Deniss Paskevics and the group Riga Groove Electro, whilst Gianni Bardaro will represent Denmark. The concert will be complemented by a video performance about the interaction of the Baltic Sea and its people.  

The Project Balticness is a year long series of events taking place in major cities of the CBSS states (Tallinn, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Oslo, Reykjavik, Copenhagen, Berlin, Warsaw, Vilnius, and Riga). The main aim of the project is to foster development of a sense of identity and belonging in the region, promoting more comprehensive cooperation and closer integration among the countries of the Baltic Sea region, and highlighting the Baltic Sea as the life line of the entire region and its population.

The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in association with Latvian embassies in CBSS states, local governments of the host cities, the CBSS Secretariat in Stockholm, the Centre for Contemporary Art, the Ze Pirates association of musicians, and the Baltic Development Forum.

Media representatives and other interested parties are welcome to participate.

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