Baltic Cities Environmental bulletin 2/2012

Ba ltic C itie s www.ubc-environment.net

Environmental
bulletin No 2, 2012

GREEN GROWTH IN
THE BALTIC SEA REGION

Message from the New climate networks
EU Commissioner for in Arendal and
climate action page 1 Helsinki pages 6 and 9

Baltic Cities
Editorial
environment 2/2012

Cities for climate action

W
ith Christmas nearing and temperatures below am glad that the Union of Baltic Cities is actively addressing
zero in many cities throughout the Baltic region, issues such as energy consumption, energy dependence
global warming may not come to mind as the and adaptation in its Sustainable Action Programme. Much
most pressing issue. Some might even argue that it would can be done by regional and local authorities in these areas
be nice if the mercury would climb a couple of notches in and in the EU we are working to ensure that cohesion funds
the thermometer. will be much more targeted to support for instance energy
efficiency initiatives under the next multiannual budget.
Unfortunately, chances are that it will, unless we take
further action to address the climate challenge. And as But cities also play a crucial role when it comes to
numerous reports have documented recently, it is not communicating the benefits of climate action to the
going to be a pleasant ride. The World Bank used the term citizens. Cities are in a much better position to provide
‘devastating’ to describe the world with a four degrees their inhabitants with locally adapted, hands-on advice on
temperature rise, which we are heading towards. what they can do to help. Because there IS a whole lot of
things people can do – many of which will have benefits
In the Baltic Sea Region, climate change spells more rain,
both for themselves and their city. Good examples and
more floods and more – and more extreme –storms.
concrete actions are at the heart of the Commission’s new
Last summer, In Copenhagen, we got a very pedagogic
communication campaign “A world you like. With a climate
introduction to what we have in store. Months of rains fell
you like.” And I am pleased that UBC has decided to join us
within a few hours. The consequences were flooded streets
as a partner in the campaign.
and homes with extensive material damage. The bill for this
one incident reached more than 800 million euros. And that
is not counting all the lost time families have had to put in
to cleaning up and getting rid of their damaged property.
We often hear the argument that we can’t afford further
climate action. And in the midst of the economic crisis
where citizens and public authorities are cash-strapped, it
is no wonder that people are reluctant to step up financial
commitments for any purpose. But it is paradoxical how
expenses such as the ones connected with the Copenhagen
flooding are rarely discussed by finance ministers. They are
just paid. And then we move on.
Tackling the climate challenge will require action at all levels
Connie Hedegaard,
– not least from cities and their citizens. Cities account for
European Commissioner for Climate Action.
almost three quarters of emissions on global level. And I

UBC member cities (as of April 2012)
Aalborg • Aarhus •Arendal • Bergen • Botkyrka • Chojnice • Cēsis • Elbląg • Elva • Espoo • Falun • Gargzdai • Gdańsk •
Gdańsk • Gdynia• Greifswald • Guldborgsund • Gävle • Haapsalu • Halmstad • Helsinki • Jelgava • Jurmala • Jyväskylä •
Jõgeva • Jõhvi • Jēkabpils• Kaliningrad • Kalmar • Karlskrona • Karlstad • Kaunas • Keila • Kemi • Kiel • Klaipėda • Kolding
• Koszalin • Kotka • Kristiansand• Kristianstad • Krynica • Kuressaare • Kärdla • Køge • Lahti • Łeba • Liepāja • Linköping
• Luleå • Lübeck • Maardu • Malbork• Malmö • Mariehamn • Międzyzdroje • Morska • Nacka • Narva • Norrtälje • Næstved
• Oskarshamn • Paide • Palanga • Paldiski• Panevėžys • St Petersburg • Pori • Porvoo • Pruszcz • Pärnu • Rakvere • Reda •
Riga • Robertsfors • Rostock • Siauliai • Sillamäe• Sopot • Sundsvall • Szczecin • Söderhamn • Słupsk • Tallinn • Tampere •
Tartu • Tierp • Trelleborg • Tukums • Turku • Umeå • Ustka• Vaasa • Viljandi • Vilnius • Visby • Vordingborg • Västervik • Växjö
• Võru • Wismar • Örebro • Östhammar
2 Baltic Cities Environmental bulletin 2/12

Baltic Cities
contents
environment 2/2012

UBC EnvCom Member cities
2 Cities for climate action 6 Full speed on green growth in Arendal
– Editorial by Connie Hedegaard,
7 Rakvere - Velocity 2012!
Commissioner for Climate Action
4 Economic reasons to go green 8 Environmental and economic benefits

Q’s

corner
in the winds of Örebro and Kumla
13 The Task force on UBC Development
9 City of Helsinki and local companies
18 SmartComp project - New challenge global warming
opportunities for the Central Baltic
maritime cluster 10 Vilnius nurtures the assets of
sustainable urban development 23 Audrone Alijosiute
19 Strategic Local Climate Work in -Implementing sustainability
Nordic Municipalities - NordLead 11 Heating with woodchip in Jelgava at local level
22 Networking the Covenant of Mayors 12 From waste to mobility in Tartu Photo: Shutterstock/ MarkMirror
23 National training event on Sustainable 14 Green areas will increase in the city
Urban Mobility Plans gathered over 80 of Panevezys
participants in Helsinki, Finland
15 Big Jump Challenge - Happy
24 Comprehensive report displays splashing for better water quality in
legislation of sewage sludge handling in Greifswald! UBC Energy Commission
the Baltic Sea Region - PURE
16 Proximity to Green areas as an 20-21 Clean Water and Energy
25 Online guidance on the Integrated indicator for the quality of urban life in Efficiency
Management System by CHAMP project Gdansk
available!
17 Development of recreational area in
Back cover: EU Commission campaign: Jekabpils
“Visions for a world you like”
26 Short News
The Baltic Sea Needs Action
PURE Book “Good Practices in Sludge
Management” now available!
BSR InnoShip to launch new information
platform

Photo: Shutterstock.com/ MarkMirror

Photo: Jēkabpils City Municipality

Editorial information
Baltic Cities Environmental bulletin 2/2012 is published by the Union of the Baltic Cities Environment and Sustainable Development
Secretariat. Chief-Editor:Jeppe Mikel Jensen (firstname.surname@ubc.net) Address: Union of the Baltic Cities Environment and Sustainable
Development Secretariat, Baltic Sea House, Vanha Suurtori 7, FIN-20500 Turku, FINLAND, Tel: +358 2 262 3171, Fax: +358 2 262 3425
More information: www.ubc-environment.net ISSN 1455-0903
Cover photo: Bikeworldtravel / Shutterstock.com
Printing house: Newprint Oy, in December 2012 on 100 % recycled paper.

3

Economic reasons to go green
Text: Jeppe MIkel Jensen Photos: Shutterstock.com/ Todd Klassy and Shutterstock.com/ Markus

Climate change has become an increasingly important policy issue influencing both local and
international level. During the current time of recession, the climate has wrongly been accused
for being a hindrance in changing the negative economic results on the baseline for both public
and private sectors.

P
reviously, the focus on the environment and sustainable It is thus important to understand the broad scale of the climate
development has been considered an increasing necessity change effects and include all levels from personal sustainable
that included extra expenditures to save the environment. decisions up to international political decisions.
For private companies, the green profile was something that was
considered a part of the corporate social responsibility strategy The latter was shown at the RIO+20 conference in June 2012.
that showed a philanthropic approach to environmental protec- One of the main outcomes was the fact that the great challenges
tion. The start of the global recession in 2008 was therefore ex- of fighting climate challenge on international level were even
pected to have a negative effect on sustainable development. more difficult than previously expected. These challenges on the
However, the recession also triggered innovative thinking. global level put a stronger emphasis on solutions on city level,
and thus the importance of UBC, towards more sustainable cit-
Along with the decrease in production that reduced emissions, ies. This has also been widely acknowledged by international
green growth appeared with energy solution where less is more organizations such as the UN and OECD.
when sustaining our quality of life without compromising our
environment.
Global challenges require co-operation on a global scale in order
The number of solutions to tackle both the climate and the eco- to deliver public goods (climate change mitigation, biodiversity)
nomic challenges are increasing steadily catalyzed by clear in- or protect the global commons (the environment, fisheries). In-
centives benefitting both citizens and the environment. The per- ternational co-operation is necessary because:
ception of a green profile has thus been changed from a former • no single country can successfully address the problems alone;
philanthropic approach and into economic strategies in both the
public and the private sectors. • the costs and benefits of action may accrue to different
countries, and individual countries may not be willing to bear
As shown in the predictions the greenhouse gas emission will in- the costs of addressing global challenges if they cannot ap-
crease if the current trajectory is continued. This will not only af- propriate the benefits;
fect a general rise of the sea level, drowning islands growing des-
serts and loss of marine flora and fauna, but also cause effects • uncoordinated efforts of many countries to address global
locally in regard to air quality, food supplies, local floodings, etc. challenges are likely to be more costly and less successful
than coordinated, co-operative efforts.
Source: OECD, 2011


Urban citizens experience the immediate effect CO2 emissions and cities are thus more prone to take immediate actions regardless of international negotiations.

Cities to guide nations
Cities only cover 2% of the surface of the earth but host 52% of Baltic Sea provides clear incentives to collaborate towards sus-
the world’s population and contribute to 70% of the CO2 emis- tainable development in order to save the sea along with in-
sions. There are therefore clear incentives to tackle the climate creasing wealth and quality of life in the region. As shown in
issues on a city level, with smart and sustainable solutions. Cities this edition of Union of the Baltic Cities’ Environmental Bulletin
experience the immediate effect of carbon emission. This natu- including both individual city projects and network initiatives
rally leads to rapid responses from city authorities by several up- that focus on social, environmental and economic sustainability.
coming bottom-up approaches. An example of a bottom-up ap-
It has proven a grand task to mitigate the climate change. The
proach from the cities is the Covenant of Mayors initiative that
green growth examples on city level and the strength of city net-
includes local and regional authorities, voluntarily committing to
works are important to show. It signals that cities understand
increasing energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sourc-
the challenge and are ready to work together for joint solutions.
es on their territories. The movement is an astonishing success,
which transmits a clear message to all decision-makers about
cities’ capabilities and commitments to tackle climate change. More information:
Jeppe Mikel Jensen - Project Coordinator
As early as in 1994, the role of cities in the fight against climate jeppe.jensen@ubc.net
challenges had become evident and formulated in the Aalborg www.ubc-environment.net
Charter. The Union of Baltic Cities, with its 107 member cities,
is thus a key stakeholder with knowledge exchange, networking
and seminar activities on this subject.
The Baltic Sea Region is considered a frontrunner in the devel-
opment of macro-regions in the European Union. Our common

‘We are convinced that sustainable human
life on this globe cannot be achieved without
sustainable local communities. Local
government is close to where environmental
problems are perceived and closest to the
citizens and shares responsibility with
governments at all levels for the well-being of
humankind and nature.‘
Source: Aalborg Charter 1994
Electric vehicles is one of several initiatives towards increased urban sustainability

Baltic Cities Environmental bulletin 2/12 5

Full speed on green growth in
Arendal
Text: Svein Tveitdal Photo: City of Arendal

A growing network has sprung around the city of Arendal’s efforts towards Green Growth. In
2009, Arendal established Climate Partners in co-operation with the County of Aust-Agder and
the UN centre GRID-Arendal. In three years this initiative has grown into a regional network that
now includes the UBC member city Kristiansand, the Agder University and a number of public
institutions and private companies currently with 35 partners that employ a total of 17,000
people.

T
he network focuses on products and services needed to abroad is increasing, which underline the value and the belief
develop Agder into a low emission region. Examples on in expanding climate networks in Norway, the Baltic Sea Region
new innovations include a concept for green conferenc- and beyond.
es, production line for climate neutral publications, new hybrid
buses and green data storage. Arendal has been the first city More information:
in Norway with a climate neutral city administration. Another By Svein Tveitdal, Environmental Ambassador
Arendal, Norway
key focus is knowledge about threats and opportunities climate
svein.tveitdal@arendal.kommune.no
change is posing on the partners.
www.klimapartnere.no
Reports prepared by the network include:
How to measure a climate footprint, green
IT, climate friendly transport, climate friend-
ly land-use planning, green conferences,
green buildings and green electricity. Along
with the overall network activities, all em-
ployees in the Climate Partner network are
offered an online environmental test, and
those who pass receive a diploma.

Emissions and costs go down!
Partners also focus on sweeping their own
doorsteps. All members of the network
must prepare annual climate footprint sta-
tus that is made public in a common report.
The initial members of Climate Partners
achieved an emission reduction of 33% in
three years. Low hanging fruits are picked
first, and in most cases the emission cuts
are economically profitable. The most com-
mon, profitable and sustainable actions are
the phasing of outdated oil boilers, increas-
ing energy efficiency, transition towards re-
newable energy and the establishment of
climate friendly car fleets.
After three years, Climate Partners has de-
veloped into Norway’s largest private-public
network with focus on reducing emissions
and developing green products and servic-
es. The main success factor has been coop-
eration between the private and the public
sectors also with respect to financing. The
interest from other regions in Norway and


Rakvere – Velocity 2012!
Text: Kairi Maasik Photo: City of Rakvere

Using a car for 1 km produces 0,2kg/CO2, whereas using a bicycle for 5km can save up to 1kg
of CO2. The latter simple calculation have inspired Rakvere to act towards a greener urban
environment through the initiative: “Rakvere Velocity 2012”.

R
akvere is a small city, which gives it good prerequisite to station to provide a smooth change between bicycle and bus.
become a bicycle city. However, the situation so far has The first housing association to receive the new bicycle housing
been challenging. The percentage of bicycle transport in facility will be chosen in line energy efficiency plans.
the overall transport is low; using bicycles has been uncomforta-
As a signatory of the Covenant of Mayors, Rakvere is considered
ble and unsafe. The number of bicycle paths is small and many of
a pioneering city in Estonia fully committed to the green lifestyle
the paths lack of adequate marking and signing. Another major
and determined to create a situation where using a car is not the
issue is the lack of safe bicycle parking. The current parking sys-
main possibility to get access to services, shops etc. Along with
tems are considered uncomfortable without sufficient options
improving the urban environment considerably by planning for
to secure the bicycle properly. bicycles, there is also a series of economic benefits, such as an
Many kilometers of bicycle paths have been built and renovated overall improvement of public health, decrease in household’s
over the past years in order to make the usage of bicycles more daily transport costs and of pollution.
appealing to the general public. Bicycle roads belonging to the
city were built to meet those of the bordering municipalities, Rakvere is a city with a bicycle sculpture in the central
making longer trips possible. To encourage the citizens, Rakvere square, depicting the famous composer Arvo Pärt on a
also intends to provide free of charge electric bicycles that ena- bicycle. With “Rakvere – Velocity 2012” the city encour-
bles tourists and citizens to get to know the city in an alternative ages its citizens to follow the famous composer and ride
way and enjoy the obvious benefits of cycling in Rakvere. the bicycle towards a greener city.
Project “Rakvere – Velocity 2012” aims to tackle the aforemen-
tioned obstacles towards the goal of reducing CO2 emissions More information:
with 20% in 2020. In the framework of the project, Rakvere will Kairi Maasik, International relation Specialist
supply custom designed bicycle parking facilities for municipal City Government of Rakvere, Estonia
use and also for the housing associations. In the spring of 2013, kairi.maasik@rakvere.ee
the first bicycle parking facility will be built in relation to the bus www.rakvere.ee


Environmental and economic
benefits in the winds of Örebro
and Kumla
Text: Petter Arneback Photo: Shutterstock.com/ Rafa Irusta

The municipalities of Örebro and Kumla in the heart of Sweden have initiated a joint
effort towards green growth and securing a stable energy supply to their citizens. The two
municipalities have recently agreed on forming a joint power company with the intention of
building at least 20 new wind turbines by 2020.

T
he pilot study, prepared as the foundation for the decision, Both Örebro and Kumla municipalities have high ambitions for
showed significant profits for the municipalities to invest wind power. Örebro Municipality has in its climate plan set a tar-
in and build wind turbines. The newly established energy get to reduce the climate impact of the organization by 50 per-
company will also be open to other interested parties to buy cent per capita from 2000 to 2020. The new turbines will reduce
shares. In order to engage both public and private sector, small- the climate impact by 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year
er individual wind power cooperation initiatives will be an im- - 32,000 tonnes for Örebro and 8,000 tons for Kumla.
portant element in the new joint venture, where both individual
This represents as much as a car emits if it would run 5,000 times
investors and smaller companies can make green investments. It
around the world. Moreover, the focus means that Örebro mu-
is a determining factor for Örebro and Kumla to involve all stake-
nicipality organization will become self-sufficient in renewable
holders from citizens to private enterprises in the municipalities’
electricity in 2020.
sustainable energy plans.
‘This wind power investment is a major step towards the goal of
More information:
our climate plan. We have the ambition to reduce carbon emis- Petter Arneback
sions by 40%, and wind power will represent more than half of Örebro munipality, Sweden
this’, says Petter Arneback, project manager for the wind power Email: petter.arneback@orebro.se
in Örebro municipality. www.orebro.se


City of Helsinki and local
companies challenge global
warming
Text: Mia Malin Photo: Johanna Joutsiniemi

A survey on the city’s commitment to sustainability development paved the way for an
ambitious public-private network initiative in Helsinki. In September 2012, already 36
companies and other organisations have joined the Climate Partners, which is a network
bridging local companies and the City of Helsinki’s efforts towards global warming.

T
he Climate Partner network aims to reduce emissions in ficiency, low-energy logistics, environmentally friendly procure-
the Helsinki metropolitan area by creating a platform for ments, waste treatment or enhancing the commitment of its
new ideas and cooperation. The network is also a way for personnel.
companies to make them more competitive and increase the
The network also includes support members, such as universi-
coverage of their environmental work. In the future, the net-
ties and research institutes. These members will bring contrib-
work will pursue more concrete development projects with its
ute with valuable expertise and opportunities to create concrete
partners.
projects to reduce emissions for companies and the city of Hel-
“The aim of the Climate Partnership Network between the lo- sinki.
cal entrepreneurs and the City of Helsinki is to gather innova-
The idea for the cooperation came from the fact that the city’
tive people and good practices around the same table in order
organisation is responsible for only 15% of the total energy con-
to identify new operating models to address the challenges of
sumption in the Helsinki Region. “So if we want to cut our emis-
global warming. At the same time, we can strengthen the com-
sions, we need all the other operators, citizens and businesses
petitiveness of our companies and find new business opportuni-
to work with us”, comments Mira Jarkko, Coordinator of the Cli-
ties, for instance in the field of green tech and energy efficiency”,
mate Partner Network.
describes Mayor of Helsinki Jussi Pajunen when talking about
the new Climate Partner Network.
Examples of Climate Partners commitments include:
From energy savings to sustainable mobility • Nordea will reduce energy consumption by 15% by 2016
All companies of the Climate Partners have signed the Climate • Siemens will introduce eight electric cars into use over next
Commitment together with the Mayor of Helsinki. In the com- three years
mitments, the companies define how they plan to mitigate cli- • The University of Helsinki will include information material
mate change in their own operations. Partnering companies can on being environmentally friendly and controlling climate
focus on any topic they want to, e.g. energy savings, energy ef- change when travelling, eating, using water and energy, as
well as on recycling into the orientation period for every new
student.

More information:
Mia Malin, Project Planner
City of Helsinki, Finland
Environment centre
mia.malin@hel.fi
www.ilmastokumppanit.fi

First companies signed the Climate Commitment together with the Mayor of
Helsinki (in front) at a ceremony in April 2012.


Vilnius nurtures the assets of
sustainable urban development
Text: Sandra Bložienė Photo: City of Vilnius

Sustainable development cannot be
implemented as a top down decision in
modern cities. The city of Vilnius recognizes
this fact and provides support for the green
aspirations of public institutions.

V
ilnius city municipality implements various projects re-
lated to monitoring air pollution, noise reduction in the
city, effective waste management and managing polluting
territories – contaminated soils. The aim is not only to restore a
clean environment but also to apply effective preventive meas-
ures.
The Environment Protection Division of the Environment and Every year many successful events are organized and support-
Energy Department of Vilnius city municipality administration ed; one of them is intended for pre-school children. During the
encourages sustainable city development, citizens’ ecological event, kindergartens decorate Christmas trees with Christmas
thinking, healthy lifestyle, saving and fostering their daily envi- tree decorations made from secondary raw materials. Another
ronment. example of an event intended for the citizens invited people to
bring ten used plastic bags that were exchanged for one fabric
A lot of attention is paid not only to project development and reusable shopping bag.
implementation but also to inform society with the help of a
Programme for Ecological Education. Many events have been This year, the 9th edition of the Environment Protection Division
organized to support this aim, including exhibitions such as of Vilnius city municipality administration “Environment protec-
“Blossoms of Lithuania” and “Compositions of flower carpets”, tion in Vilnius. Sustainable life in MY city” was issued. The pub-
competitions, conferences, seminars and forums in which vari- lication includes useful advice which allows reducing both costs
ous problems of local importance, global problems and their so- and the influence of human impact on the environment as well
lutions were discussed. as city pollution.

While implementing the Programme of Ecological Education, in-
More information:
ventory of flora and fauna in Vilnius city and its neighbourhoods
Sandra Bložienė, Head of Division
was also performed. Thus the changes in biodiversity were re- Environmental Protection Division Vilnius, Lithuania
viewed and future trends were forecasted. Common projects Sandra.Bloziene@vilnius.lt
together with municipalities of other regions were carried out
and institutions subordinate to the municipality were trained;
they participated in competitions intended for receiving support
from the European Union.

“The aim is not only to restore a clean
environment but also to apply effective
preventive measures.”


Heating with woodchip
- a local, green and economically viable solution
Text: Krišjānis Dzalbe Photo: Jelgava City self-government

Centralized heating plays an important role of keeping cities in the Baltic Sea Region warm
during winter times. It is also a source of headaches for the municipalities of those cities. A
biomass cogeneration plant now under construction in Jelgava aims to cure some of these
headaches.

T
he problems that Jelgava faces in central heating today lems by building a cogeneration plant for woodchips and other
evolve around low security of heat supply and high fuel biofuels. The plant will provide the base load of electricity for
prices. Heat in Jelgava is produced solely with natural gas. the whole city of 64,000 inhabitants and most of the heat energy
This heavy reliance on one kind of fuel poses high risk, as natural needed.
gas is associated with unpredictable price fluctuations. This has
Cogeneration is universally acknowledged as the most efficient
an effect on the tariffs and instability in finance planning for the
way of producing energy because it provides higher efficiency
heating company, which then affects the stability and reliability
for burning fuel than when producing heat end electricity sepa-
of energy provision as well as the prices, and ultimately the cus-
rately. Although natural gas is convenient and cleaner than other
tomer satisfaction. The last five years have also seen a significant
fossil fuels there are important benefits for using biomass fuel.
increase in the price of natural gas, which is linked to prices of
Woodchip used in the plant is locally produced and its supply
CO2 quotas.
is not dependent on suppliers of imported fossil fuel. It is also
considerably cheaper because it uses up less of CO2 emission
Valuable experiences shared across the Baltic Sea quotas.

“Fortum Jelgava” - a subsidiary company of the Finnish “Fortum” The switch to biomass fuel has benefits beyond the heating sys-
that provides heat in Jelgava - has decided to solve these prob- tem. Where todays natural gas used for heating is imported, the
fuel for a biomass cogeneration plant is produced locally, which
generate new jobs in the local region in the production and sup-
ply of woodchip to the plant.
The switch to biomass fuel in Jelgava addresses and solves sev-
eral problems and has a positive effect on the local economy. It
is a sustainable and greener solution in a world where the prices
of fossil fuel are increasing and unstable.

Facts:
64,000 inhabitants live in the city of Jelgava
2/3 of inhabitants live in housing with central heating
Most public buildings have central heating

More information:
Krišjānis Dzalbe, PR Officer
Jelgava City Council, Latvia
Krisjanis.Dzalbe@dome.jelgava.lv
www.jelgava.lv


From waste to mobility in Tartu
Text: Raul Verde Photos: City of Tartu

In recent years, Tartu has been working to find and apply environment-friendly, sustainable
energy solutions to the local bus fleet. A particular focus on harvesting biogas from landfill and
waste has shown profitable for both environment and municipal budgets.

I
n Aardlapalu nearby Tartu, the municipality has been working
on closing an old landfill site since 2010. During this process, “Five buses run on natural gas with the goal to
new benefits of the landfill have been discovered, as the land- have the complete fleet to run on biogas in 2017”
fill contains considerable amounts of biogas. Originally it was
hoped that the gas could be used to fuel about 15 of the city’s The most recent project is producing biogas from the waste wa-
buses, but later research has shown it would need a difficult re- ter produced in the city from a new modern biogas plant. This
fining process. Still, gas from the landfill would be suitable for renewable source of energy will be used to produce heat and
producing energy and heat. Up till now, biogas has only been col- electricity for city’s water treatment plant. The cornerstone of
lected and burned, while studies continue to determine how to Tartu’s new biogas plant was laid in August and will be ready to
proceed in optimizing the use of the newly discovered resource. provide low-cost and green energy by January 2013. The plant
is expected to process up to 15,000 tons of sewage sludge and
Despite the obstacles with refining biogas from the landfill to the produce 1,3 million cubic meters of biogas in a year. This would
bus fleet, Tartu has already started using compressed natural gas cover about ¼ of the city’s water treatment plant’s energy de-
to diminish the pollution by city’s public transport. Currently, five mand and provide all the necessary heat for its buildings.
buses run on natural gas with the goal to have the complete fleet
to run on biogas in 2017. Included in these goals, it is also the in- However, the most direct, appreciated outcome of this project
tentention to continue using locally produced biogas. Additional- for Tartu’s citizens will be that the waste water treatment system
ly, the use of electric cars is widely supported. City’s social work- will not provide its traditional and unpopular smells.
ers already use electric vehicles and the first electric taxi company
has alredy started offering its green services to the wider public. More information:
City Government has procured four more electric cars for offi- Jaanus Tamm, Project Manager
cials’ business travel needs. Since October 2012, new all electric City of Tartu, Estonia
vehicles have been a central part of the car-fleet in the depart- Jaanus.tamm@raad.tartu.ee
www.tartu.ee
ments of IT, Communal Services and Misdemeanor Proceedings.


The Task Force on UBC
Development
Text: Mikko Lohikoski Photos: UBC EnvCom

Task Force on UBC Development was established by the UBC Executive Board in Karlstad on
17 June 2011 upon initiative of Swedish member cities. The objective of the Task Force is to
strengthen the UBC by evaluating all relevant dimensions of the organization. Member cities in
each of the ten countries have nominated one city to represent themselves.

T
he Task Force includes one city representative from each of The Task Force has also started to go through all relevant UBC
the ten countries, nominated by respective member cities documents, e.g. UBC Statute and UBC Internal Regulations in or-
themselves. The members are: Annely Veevo (Kärdla, Es- der to propose improvements if needed.
tonia), Stefan Windh (Oskarshamn, Sweden), Jørgen H. Kristians- The Task Force will present its conclusions and proposals to
en (Kristiansand, Norway), Søren Revsbæk (Næstved, Denmark), the UBC Executive Board in March 2013. It is not authorized to
Audrone Jaugelaviciene (Šiauliai, Lithuania), Marketta Mäkinen decide upon any new rules or instructions, but to make recom-
(Jyväskylä, Finland), Piotr Grzelak (Gdansk, Poland), Vilnis Vit- mendations. The final decisions will be made by the Executive
kovskis (Liepãja, Latvia), Karin Wohlgemuth (Rostock, Germany) Board and, if needed, by the General Conference in Mariehamn
and Igor Lonskij (St. Petersburg, Russia). Mikko Lohikoski, UBC in October 2013.
Strategy Coordinator was invited by the Executive Board as the
chairman of the Task Force and Ms Helinä Yli-Knuutila serves as
More information:
its secretary. Mikko Lohikoski, Director of External Affairs, City of Turku
So far the Task Force has met three times and the next meet- UBC Strategy Coordinator and Chairman of the UBC Task Force
ing will be held in December 2012. The Task Force has discussed www.mikko.lohikoski@turku.fi
www.ubc.net
working methods and “internal culture” of the organization, pri-
orities of action etc. There is a strong common understanding
that through dialogue and joint initiatives it’s possible to further
strengthen the organization and its effectiveness so that it will
meet the needs of the member cities in the future even better.


Green Areas will increase in the
.
City of Panevežys
Text: Rūta Taučikienė Photo: City of Panevėžys

A problem was turned into an opportunity in
Panevėžys, where a polluted filtration field “Something that before solely was considered a
within the city center has been transformed problem to the city, is now regarded an asset for
the citizens of Panevėžys”
into a recreational area, benefitting both the
environment and the citizens of Panevėžys. ter, to protect the health of people from negative effect of heav-

T
ily polluted territory, Panevėžys City Municipality have initiated
he former filtration fields of Molainiai (62ha) are situated the project ‘Re-cultivation of former filtration fields of Molainiai’.
in the territory of Panevėžys City, where biological waste
water treatment equipment has been operating from During the project, the territory of former filtration fields of Mo-
1961 to 1978. Throughout this period biological waste water and lainiai will be cleaned, the heaps of brought ground flattened
other waste water was spread on the surface of land or under and the canals of irrigation and the Šermutas rivulet running via
the ground above ground water of the fields of Molainiai. It was the territory of Molainiai filtration fields treated. Broad-leaved
automatically infiltrated into the layers of ground, which have trees resistant to ground pollution are planted. Heavy metals
the features of natural treatment and filtering. According to the will slowly be absorbed in the trunks of the trees and the pollu-
former city waste water infrastructure facts and data on waste tion in the ground will naturally reduce.
water management and processing, the companies, which did
With the help of this project, the green areas in Panevėžys City
not possess their own industrial waste water equipment, used
will increase by 62 hectares and something that before solely
to treat industrial waste water in the filtration fields of Molainiai. was considered a problem to the city, is now regarded an asset
for the citizens of Panevėžys.
Green benefits for the city
More information:
After an explicit eco-geological research of the soil and ground Rūta Taučikienė , Acting Head of Ecology Department
water of the polluted territory, it became clear that the sludge City of Panevėžys, Lithuania
r.taucikiene@panevezys.lt
accumulated on the surface of this territory is strongly polluted
www.panevezys.lt
by heavy metals: cadmium (over 160 times more than normal),
copper (over 16 times more than normal), nickel, chromium and
zinc. In order to reduce the pollution of ground and surface wa-

The former filtration fields of Molainiai will be turned into 62 hectares of recreational green areas for the citizens of Panevėžys


Big Jump Challenge –
Happy splashing for better water quality!
Text: Juliane Fritzsch, Nele Kapretz and Sabrina Schulz
Photo: Viva con Agua Greifswald

Imagine that on one day of the year at the exact same time all over Europe, all over the world,
people of all ages join forces and jump into their local river or lake to raise awareness for better
water quality. Just an illusion or an encouraging vision?

I
t is the 17 June 2012. Seagulls are flying in the clear blue sky Challenge were elected by a jury and invited to Berlin to present
over the old harbour of Greifswald. But this Sunday, some- their jumps and to discuss their insights and demands with poli-
thing is different. People with fishing nets draped around ticians and water authorities.
their shoulders are arriving. Others are setting a float with a
washing machine in the port. Suddenly about thirty students get
into their swimsuits, put on blue shirts stating “Big Jump 2012” ‘The Big Jump Challenge specifically tries to
and line up at the quay wall. They count down from ten to zero motivate young people aged 14 to 21 years for
and – jump. And with them jump hundreds of young people all water conservation’
over Germany at that very moment.
More than 50 groups registered in spring 2012 on the online
platform www.bigjump2012.net to jump into their rivers and
lakes. This is the astonishing result of the ‘Big Jump Challenge’,
an educational campaign that wants to create a sense of urgency
for water protection among young people. It was initiated by
the socio-ecological research group GETIDOS at the University of
Greifswald, in cooperation with several environmental associa-
tions and a new-media think tank, and is inspired by the idea of
the Big Jump. Founded in 2005 by Roberto Epple and the Euro-
pean Rivers Network, the Big Jump takes place every year on the
European River Swimming Day with the aim to reconcile people
with their rivers.
As a contribution to this movement, the Big Jump Challenge
specifically tries to motivate young people aged 14 to 21 years
for water conservation. They not only hopped and splashed into
their lakes and rivers but also sent a friendly challenge to their
local water authorities requesting information about the local More information:
implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. The di- Sabrina Schulz, Project Manager
rective demands all European rivers and lakes to be in good con- University of Griefswald, Germany
dition by 2015 – a goal that has so far only been met by a mere info@bigjump2012.net
10 % of waters in Germany. The best three teams of the Big Jump www.getidos.net


Proximity to Green areas as an
indicator for the quality of urban life
Text and Photo: Beata Ochmańska

The city of Gdansk has carried out a study on the allocation of green areas in the city. The
result shows that there a plenty of beautiful gardens and green parks for the citizens to enjoy.
However, the distribution of green areas to the citizens is uneven, which sparked new ideas in
the municipality.

A
lthough there is a significant rate of 118 m2 of green ar-
eas per inhabitant in Gdansk, only slightly more than half
of the inhabited areas are in pedestrian access to parks
or forest. Pedestrian access means no further than 750 meters
away and reachable in less than 15 minutes on foot.
Proximity to green areas from housing areas is an extremely
important indicator for the quality of life in the city and highly
valued by the residents of Gdansk and a great asset in the inter-
urban competition of investments and knowledge. In Gdansk,
about 46% of all housing and housing-service areas are situated
beyond walking distance to the urban greenery, such as parks or
forest. In these areas there are lawns, squares and larger well or-
ganized community green spaces of significant importance that
make up for the lack of green areas. Due to their existence the
parative analysis of Gdansk and Dublin. The findings resulted in
green deficit zone decreases, so the green deficit is only 27% in
more than 20 new spots in the city earmarked for green areas.
these areas.
Dublin experiences show that the best results to assure resi-
There is therefore a need to put a special emphasis on planning dents their right to greenery is done with green squares - small,
new green and recreational areas for the citizens in Gdansk. The recreation and sport facilities of several hectares, shaped simul-
special focus will primarily concern establishing new green areas taneously with the implementation of new housing estates. To
in Gdansk within the existing urban tissue. ensure the right number of green square meters per citizen, it
is important to include these strategies in land-use planning for
Learning from Dublin the future of Gdansk.

In order to provide green areas for its citizens, Gdansk focused More information:
on the greening of the city. The new focus was decided based on Beata Ochmańska
studies on the existing green areas in the city, including a com- Enviroment Protection Team
Gdańsk Development Agency, Poland
zos@brg.gda.pl
www.gdansk.pl

Proposed municipal park areas or squares with their potential
accessibility – 2025


Development of recreational area
-
in Jekabpils Text: Laura Afanasjeva
Photo: Jēkabpils City Municipality

On the April 16, 2012, Zemgale Planning Region and eight project partners including Jēkabpils
City Municipality signed an agreement to execute a project “Secure green area and water
basins in Zemgale and Northern Lithuania - Urban Green”

The main goal of the project is to protect green areas and wa-
ter basins in the cities of Zemgale region in Latvia and Northern ‘Our city is constantly spreading, and
Lithuania by making investments in reconstructions of parks and accessibility for green areas is decreasing.
green. However, Urban Green also includes a public awareness Therefore it is vital to improve green areas in
campaign to increase care and cherish the green areas in the
city. the city by developing our parks and prevent
negative impacts made by pedestrians,
When the project ends in October 2013, inhabitants and tourists
of Jēkabpils will have been granted wider accessibility of nature
bicyclists and motorists.’
resources and green areas. This project serves the interests of
both people and nature. Jaunjelgava and Pļaviņas. The intention is to increase the aware-
ness on the green areas in the city and underline their impor-
This project will improve the infrastructure of Jēkabpils Forest tance as the urban oasis and an important break from the bus-
Park – the most popular recreation and leisure area in Jēkabpils. tling urban lifestyle.
The park was established in 1966 to protect the city from dust
created in the dolomite quarry. In 1987, the quarry was flooded Environmental campaigns also include a joint cleanup of the For-
and a scenic water basin with small islets and clean water rose est Park and experience exchange workshops on green area and
from the previous industrial site. In sharp contrast to the previ- park management for specialists of the municipalities.
ous polluting activities, the basin has now been granted the blue The project is financed by the Latvia–Lithuania Cross border Co-
flag for several years as a sign for the exquisite water quality. operation Programme 2007 – 2013.
With the support of Urban Green, the main road that leads to
the blue flag beach will be paved and the bicycle and pedestrian More information:
route around the water basin will be designed to attract future Laura Afanasjeva
investments. During the environmental campaigns, there have Laura.afanasjeva@jekabpils.lv
already been organized competitions to find the most beautiful www.jekabpils.lv
gardens in the project partner cities, including Dobele, Jēkabpils,

17

SmartComp project-
New opportunities for the Central
Baltic maritime cluster
Text: Kirsi-Marja Lonkila Photo: Shutterstock.com/ TranceDrumer

The Baltic Sea, being one of the busiest seas in the world, has a huge impact on the Central
Baltic Sea economy and society. Tightened competition and new legal requirements challenge
the competitiveness of the Central Baltic marine cluster, which has always been sensitive to
economic ups and downs. When simultaneously markets like Russia or Asia are eager to create
a business-friendly environment, there is a strong need for new openings in the Central Baltic
Sea Region.

W
ithout a doubt, the competitiveness of the Central business models, in order to help adopting new solutions in
Baltic Region marine cluster, including Latvia, Estonia, the Central Baltic region. The research results will also be the
Finland and Sweden, has to be improved. However, basis for all other triple helix activities in the project, including
this must be done in parallel to a strong focus on taking care consulting days for business representatives and creating policy
of our common Baltic Sea. Marine traffic is an environmental- recommendations.
ly friendly means of transport, but as the volumes increase, it
The project is co-financed by the Central Baltic INTERREG IV A
could also mean increased effects on health and environment.
Programme, and it will culminate in a SmartComp Forum in No-
These include e.g. the increased risk of accidents and oil spills, as
vember 2013 in Turku, where the results and achievements of
well as growing greenhouse gas emissions. Solutions need to be
the project shall be presented to a wide range of participants.
found in smart and environmentally sustainable growth.
The main actors of a marine cluster include maritime industry,
shipping related business and port operations. In all countries More information:
in the region, marine clusters are strategic actors with good, ex- Kirsi-Marja Lonkila
isting networks. What could be improved, though, is the coop- kirsi-marja.lonkila(a)ubc.net
www.cb-smartcomp.eu
eration between different actors across national borders, which
would improve the competitiveness of the Central Baltic Sea
marine cluster.

Smart competitiveness for the Central Baltic Region
Led by UBC Commission on Environment, the SmartComp EUROPEAN UNION
project aims to support smart, environmentally sustainable EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND
INVESTING IN YOUR FUTURE
growth and cooperation of the Central Baltic Region marine
cluster. This will be done through tri-
ple helix cooperation, meaning that
maritime cluster businesses, the pub-
lic sector and universities are encour-
aged to cooperate across borders in
Finland, Estonia and Latvia.
The project research team will work
to provide an insight into the current
state and future scenarios of the Cen-
tral Baltic Region maritime cluster.
Reports concerning sector and com-
pany levels in all three participating
countries will be published, as well as
a report comparing the region with
other successful maritime clusters
globally.
The research conducted will help to
recognize the problematic areas and
introduce best practices and smart


Strategic Local Climate Work in
Nordic Municipalities
Text: Kirsi-Marja Lonkila Photo: Shutterstock.com/ MarkMirror

Local actions are crucial for mitigating climate change and reaching national and EU level
greenhouse gas emission targets. Especially in the Nordic countries, as internationally
compared, the competencies and responsibilities of Nordic municipalities are quite broad in
fields that are relevant for mitigating and adapting to climate change.
The NordLead project that was launched in 2011 to find the success factors and support needs
in local climate work in the Nordic countries.

N
ordic municipalities have already been working with
sustainable development for two decades and have in
recent years compiled ambitious climate strategies. As
part of the NordLead project, a survey among Finnish, Norwe-
gian, Swedish and Icelandic municipalities was conducted. The
study gathers valuable information about local climate change
management.
The results show that Nordic municipalities are working for cli-
mate change mitigation and adaptation, whereas Norwegian
and Swedish municipalities have been the most active in devel-
oping and adopting local climate strategies. This mainly comes
down to differences in national-level support for municipalities.
The support from the state has been weaker in Finland and Ice-
land. Commonalities in the success factors and challenges are
found in the study. However, it shows there is no ’one size fits all’
solution because the countries differ in many respects – the na-
tional framework conditions being the most crucial difference. improve the local climate work in the Nordic municipalities is a
state-level economic support to implement climate mitigation
Municipalities still in need of support and adaptation measures, as well as for hiring climate coordina-
tors or other staff.
Norway is the only country requiring municipalities to develop
a climate strategy. Based on the study, it clearly indicates that Nordic municipalities are challenged by the need for cross-sec-
this kind of requirement is an effective way to start the work torial climate work, and capacity building to support local au-
but should include additional resources to plan, implement and thorities in this task is crucial. The study shows that the Swedish
monitor climate work. In all cases, the most important factor to combination of municipalities acting on their own initiative, be-
ing still supported by the state, and municipal central adminis-
tration taking a strong role gives the best
results in successful climate strategies.
Municipalities that have a climate strategy or are
The whole study report will be published
preparing one, by country online in late 2012 in the Nordic Council
*) Finnish figure from an earlier mapping incl. all of Ministers TemaNord Series online, and
municipalities can be downloaded free of charge. The
Nordic Council of Ministers has partly
funded the project.
Norway (n=89) 99%
More information:
Kirsi-Marja Lonkila, Project Coordniator
Sweden (n=125) 81% krsi-marja.lonkila@ubc.net
www.ubc-environment.net

Finland (n=336)* 34%

Iceland (n=29) 11%

Municipalities that have a climate strategy or
0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1 are preparing one, by country


Clean Water and Energy
Efficiency
Text and photos: Eva Hjälmered

This text is being written on a warm and sunny day in September. And this text will focus
on our cold climate and its impact on the sewage treatment. The Baltic Sea is one of the most
polluted waters in Europe. We need to explore new ways to increase the quality of our sea.
Biological wastewater treatment is ITEST to increase the carbon dioxide content
probably the largest bio technological in the air for nitrification. The idea is
process, used all over Europe to treat The project ITEST (Increased Technol- to integrate several measures that can
UBC Energy Commission

municipal wastewater. Our climate ogy and Efficiency in Sewage Treat- be used in new plants, but also imple-
complicates this process during the ment) demonstrates new methods to mented at existing plants, in order to
colder part of the year. The Baltic States improve the treatment efficiency while achieve better treatment efficiency. The
and other nations with a cold winter at the same time saving electrical energy. combination of different measures is the
climate have important problems to ITEST aims at demonstrating improved innovation of the suggested method.
meet claims on Nitrogen from sewage municipal waste water treatment and
treatment plants given in the Directive improved power efficiency in waste Simulation – what would your
98/15/EEC concerning urban waste water treatment by adding heat to the results be
water treatment. The main reason to incoming water in the treatment pro-
the observed difficulty is that the tem- cess. Added heat from combined heat The technique has been tested in lab
perature of the sewage water during and power plants, will not only warm scale and is now running in test scale.
the winter season is too cold and may up the incoming water, but also stabilize Simulation software has been developed
be below 10°C as an average. Raising the treatment temperature. This will and the results from the first three
the temperature of the incoming sew- improve the treatment efficiency, espe- months of demonstration have been
age water will facilitate for many EU cially for Nitrogen, and possibly to use added. This gives other cities and mu-
countries to comply with legislation the excess heat for pre-warming sludge nicipalities the possibility to add there
and reduce the negative impact on the for anaerobic digestion, and possibly information, for example the number
European lakes and seas.

20
BCB Environment 2/12- UBC Energy Commission

of inhabitants, the brown water tem- Furthermore, during optimization go on and proceed until a complete
perature, the capacity and the buying periods samples were taken manually series of results from a cohesive period
and selling price of district heating. and analyzed via so called cuvette tests. of six months is completed.
When adding this in the simulation the Process parameters like temperatures
local results will show. The simulation and flow were generated automatically
software is located on www.itestlife.eu by the control system of the equipment. For more information visit
and contains: Tests are also being done externally to
• Overview of the plant process
have the testing ensured and certified. www.itestlife.eu
• The plant process display of the The demonstration site was deliber-
simulation ately shut down and there were no
• Schematic display of the simulation testing done during the summer, due
to high temperature which would not
• Energy simulation screen be representative data. During the
• Statistics display month of October 2012 the demon-
stration plant will start up again and
• Explanations of the underlying cal- the installation will be running with-
culations in a month. Thereafter the testing will

Results
Once a week a 24h sample was taken
automatically and sent for analysis.

More information:
Eva Hjälmered The UBC Energy Commission
UBC Energy Commission is part of the Union of Baltic
eva.hjelmered@ubcenergy.org Cities, for more information
www.ubcenergy.org please visit: www.ubc.net.

BCB Environment 2/12 - UBC Energy Commission 21

Networking the Covenant of
Mayors
Text: Jeppe Mikel Jensen Photo: UBC EnvCom

The Covenant of Mayors is the first bottom-up energy autonomy and of a supply close to where consumption
happens will be at the centre of attention. More and more cities
initiative brought into being by European local
and towns implement “sustainable energy” hand-in-hand with
authorities and supported by the European local, “territorial cohesion” policies. They are successful exam-
Commission: the signatory cities commit ples of how to achieve the “3x20” objectives by 2020. Through
to go beyond the EU’s energy and climate the exchange in the Covenant Club the cities can get inspired
and propose new solutions to the national government and the
goals and to reduce their CO2 emissions by at EU.
least 20% by 2020 through energy efficiency
The next Baltic Sea Region Covenant Club work shop is held at
and renewable energy actions, the so-called the International Winter Conference in Jokkmokk, Sweden 7-8
“3x20” objectives. February 2013, with a specific focus on the land-use aspects

N
when creating Sustainable Energy Action Plans.
etworking Covenant of Mayors has the objective to
share the experiences with the obligations related to the The covenant club is open to all relevant stakeholders, either sig-
signing the Covenant of Mayors. In order to meet this natory cities or potential signatories. Sign up for newsletter on
objective, the Baltic Sea Region Covenant Club has been initi- www.networkingcovenantofmayors.eu
ated. The Club is considered an open network with knowledge
sharing, workshops and newsletters on topics relevant to the More information:
Covenant of mayors. It addresses mayors, environmental offic- Jeppe Mikel Jensen - Project Coordinator
ers and specialists either active with the covenant of mayors or jeppe.jensen@ubc.net
have a general interest in urban sustainable development. www.ubc-environment.net

Soil production facility as the latest achievement
The network will bring together local authorities and national
actors. The aim is to create and share a powerful vision and to
develop common priorities for action in terms of de-centralised
energy and territorial cohesion. The new paradigm of greater


National training event on
Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans
gathered over 80 participants in
Helsinki, Finland
Text and Photo: Maija Rusanen

The European Commission seeks to accelerate the large scale take up of Sustainable Urban
Mobility Plans (SUMP) by local and regional authorities in Europe by informing comprehensively
about the scope, content and benefits of these plans.

D
uring the European Mobility week,
a training seminar on Sustainable
Urban Mobility Plans was held in
Helsinki. Union of the Baltic Cities Com-
mission on Environment organised the
event in collaboration with the Finnish
Ministry of Environment, Finnish Ministry
of Transport and Communication and Mo-
tiva. The successful event gathered more
than 80 participants from all over Finland.
The participants included: local planners
and implementers dealing with city, land
use and transport planning, regional and
national level authorities and other inter-
ested parties.
The main aim of the event was to present
the concept of Sustainable Urban Mobil-
ity Plans and to discuss how the different
elements of the concept could be better
integrated into the existing planning in-
struments and systems in Finland.
project. Previously national SUMP Awareness Raising events for
A Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan is a way of tackling urban the Baltic Sea region states have taken place in Estonia, Latvia,
transport-related problems in a more green and efficient way. Lithuania, and Poland. The next round of events is currently be-
A SUMP consists of a diverse range of initiatives including policy ing planned and further Technical training seminars will be or-
making, public participation and implementation of environmen- ganised in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 2012-2013.
tally, socially and economically sustainable transport systems.
To facilitate the planning and implementation of such plans in
More information:
European cities, Guidelines – Developing and Implementing a
Maija Rusanen, Project Coordinator
Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan aimed local authorities and im- maija.rusanen@ubc.net
plementers have been prepared and can be found online. www.mobilityplans.eu.

Upcoming Baltic Sea region events on SUMP
During 2011-2013, more than 35 awareness raising and training
events will be organised across Europe on developing and imple-
menting Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans within the Eltisplus


Comprehensive report displays
legislation of sewage sludge
handling in the Baltic Sea Region
Text Olena Zinchuk Photo: Hannamaria Yliruusi

Russian GOST and SanPiN state standards (also applied in Be-
Sewage sludge comprises an end product larus), there are similar treatment and surface-bound require-
of the waste water treatment process ments and regulations similar to the ones in the other Baltic
with limited use and disposal options. A States.
cornerstone of sludge management is Find the report and more information on the PURE website:
therefore handling the restricting factors www.purebalticsea.eu
usually of technical, economical or legal
nature. A new research publication from More information:
Hannamaria Yliruusi, Project Coordinator
Project on Urban Reduction of eutrophication hannamaria.yliruusi@ubc.net
(PURE) provides a comprehensive and useful www.ubc-environment.net
introduction to legislation on sewage sludge
handling within the Baltic Sea region.
PURE

T
project on urban
reduction of eutrophication
he report presents both the EU framework and national
legislation that applies to sludge handling. It also pro-
vides a full set of the requirements influencing handling of
sludge which is to be used for specific purposes e.g. agriculture,
land re-cultivation, landscaping and forestry or disposal e.g.
landfilling and incineration. Text

Sewage sludge is defined as waste under the EU’s Waste Frame-
work directive. After 1999, the Urban Waste Water Treatment
directive has prohibited sludge disposal to surface waters,
dumping from ships and discharge from pipelines, and called for
the re-use of sludge whenever appropriate. The analysis of exist-
ing legislation shows that specific legal requirements focus prin-
cipally on the use of sludge in agriculture, both at national and
European level. Other uses or disposal routes for sludge broadly
fall under general laws on waste management e.g. the Landfill
directive prohibits the acceptance of liquid waste and aims at
reducing the amount of biodegradable waste going to landfills;
the Incineration directive applies to sludge incinerating plants.
The only specific Sewage Sludge directive, adopted in 1986, lists
the acceptable treatment methods of sludge used in agriculture
– as biological, chemical or heat treatment, long-term storage or
any other appropriate process. It also define the limit values of
heavy metals contained in sludge and in soil, the restriction on
the choice of crops and surfaces where sludge is to be applied
and control system of legislative compliance.
The research, conducted for the report has shown that when
incorporating this directive into their national legal frameworks,
all EU member states from the Baltic Sea Region have gone for
stricter and more precisely defined laws. For example, the most
stringent heavy metal limit values can be found in Scandinavian
countries and Germany, whereas Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and
Poland established particularly detailed requirements on treat-
ment procedures or surface restrictions. And even though Rus-
sia and Belarus do not have to comply with EU directives, in the


Q’s

corner
Implementing sustainability
at local level
Text: Maija Rusanen Photo: ECAT
Answers provided by Audrone Alijosiute,
ECAT – Lithuania has ex- Director of ECAT – Lithuania. audrone@
perience of many decades ecat.lt
on working with sustain- In your opinion, what should be done to foster green
ability issues at local growth in the Baltic Sea region?
level. Audrone Alijositute,
the director of ECAT, gives Baltic Sea region is a unique region located at the crossroad
insights into green growth between East and West Europe and has potential to show
in the Baltic Sea region a leading example in smart development. However, green
based on their experi- growth needs a strong support from the national govern-
ences. ments and wider acknowledgement at the community level.
More attention should be paid to capacity building in govern-
ance and creating the legal basis for green growth and at the
same time reinforcing the green culture in the region.
Could you describe the issues ECAT – Lithuania is working What kind of actions should be taken at local level?
with?
Sustainability issues and green growth should become main-
Environmental Centre for Administration and Technology stream policy at all levels. Municipalities should not work
(ECAT – Lithuania) is a non-governmental and non profit or- only with sustainability projects but embed sustainability
ganisation that was established in 1997. We are the leading principles in their daily activities and management, using ap-
organisation in Lithuania specialising in sustainable devel- propriate indicators to follow the progress. Local projects of-
opment policies at local level. We have a long experience ten offer interesting insights but sometimes lacks of continu-
in assisting and working with municipalities, companies and ation when the innovative activities end with the last project
organisations who seek to advance their efforts towards sus- report. Sustainment of the results should be planned from
tainable development. This includes all stages of the process- the beginning and should be seen as important as the project
es - from generation of ideas and project planning to report- implementation itself. Local initiatives - through regulatory,
ing and evaluation. Currently we are involved with projects economic and informative measures - have a strong poten-
dealing with climate change and energy efficiency, sustain- tial to encourage green behaviour in our region.
t: Eva Hjälmered able lifestyles and corporate responsibility.

Online guidance on the Integrated
Management System available!
In order to enable European local governments to apply inte-
ND grated management for sustainability and climate change re-
NA BAS
EL sponse, an online Capacity Development Package (CDP) was de-
T IO NG IN
I
UA ORT E veloped. The online guidance has been developed together with
RE L

P municipalities and it can be used to organise climate work in a
R
A

EV
EV

cross-sectorial and systematic way. The CDP is the main output
IE
W

ORGANISATIONAL
of the CHAMP project.
SETUP The step-by-step guidance contains practical tools and many ex-
I M P L E M E O RIN
A N D M O NIT

amples of climate work carried out by European local authori-
ETTIN G

ties.
INVOLVEMENT
&
NTA

TS

COMMUNICATION
GE
TI O G

R
N

TA

PO
LIT T Find the CDP online in six languages at
IC A L EN
C O M MIT M

www.localmanagement.eu!


Short News
PURE Book “Good Practices in Sludge
Management” now available!
We are happy to announce that one of the PURE project out-
comes, book ”Good Practices in Sludge Management” is out
now in English and Russian!
The Baltic Sea Needs Action
First of its kind in the region, this comprehensive publication
presents technical solutions used in sludge handling and
In August 2012 the Baltic Sea needs Actions (BSNA) was disposal processes, compares the results achievable by ap-
launched as an awareness raising project on the current en- plication of different techniques, explores relevant emerg-
vironmental challenges the Baltic Sea faces. The project is ing technologies and legal limitations for the further sew-
coordinated by UBC Commission on Environment in coopera- age sludge use. The book was created by the PURE project
tion with Committee for Nature Use, Environmental Protec- consortium. The book is to be translated to four more lan-
tion and Ecological Safety of City of St. Petersburg and Valo- guages: German, Polish, Latvian and Estonian yearly 2013.
nia – South-West service center on sustainable development For a high resolution copy (EN or RU): Send a request to ole-
and energy. na.zinchuk(ad)ubc.net including your physical address and a
CD will be sent to you.

Based on the experiences from Blue Pack and the NEAT pro-
jects, BSNA develops further interactive education/aware- See also: www.purebalticsea.eu
ness raising materials on environmental issues of the Baltic
Sea and prepares support materials for teachers, experts and
other stakeholders carrying out environmental education. It
also assists the basic ideas and principles of the HELCOM Bal-
tic Sea Action Plan that focuses on active participation of all
major stakeholder groups in the region. The outputs of the
project are a series of learning material including: interactive
computer games, information slides as well as stories to ac-
tively engage citizens in saving the Baltic Sea.

For more information:
Stella Aaltonen
Project Manager
stella.aaltonen@turku.fi

BSR InnoShip to launch new information
platform

BSR InnoShip - Baltic Sea cooperation for reducing ship and
port emissions through knowledge- & innovation-based com-
petitiveness has launched a new, interactive web platform.
The ‘Clean Shipping Currents’ platform is developed to dis-
seminate information on: airborne emissions from shipping,
abatement techniques, cost efficiency estimations and oth-
er current issues related to clean shipping. The platform acts
as a compendium of knowledge receiving the latest material
from major scholarly institutions and the private sector. The
information on the platform is thus both relevant and concise
knowledge for all stakeholders involved in Baltic shipping.

Visit www.cleanshippingcurrents.eu.


UBC ENVIRONMENT AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
SECRETARIAT

Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC) is a network of 107 cities from all
ten Baltic Sea countries, with an overriding goal of contributing
to the democratic, social, cultural and environmentally
sustainable development in the Baltic Sea Region. UBC
Commission on Environment (UBC EnvCom) is one of the 13
commissions of the UBC.
Practical work of the Commission is carried out by UBC
Environment and Sustainable Development Secretariat. Its
services for the cities include for example organising meetings
and policy work, preparing documents and publications,
initiating and running projects, and consulting and training. The
Secretariat carries out Baltic Cities Sustainable Development
Surveys biannually, publishes Baltic Cities Environmental EnvCom,
Turku
bulletin, and offers Good Practice Database for local authorities
at www.ubcwheel.eu.
The current staff of Environment and Sustainable Development
Secretariat consists of 16 professionals working fulltime for
the UBC. Our
aims UBCWheel UBC Good Practice Database (UBC
Wheel) is a database full of practices
that cover sustainable development
in Baltic Sea cities including all topics
from transport to health and from social
aspects to economic instruments; all di-
mensions of the Aalborg Commitments.
At the moment, there are 500 cases in-
Projects
serted in the database.
www.ubcwheel.eu

Contact
us
Our address is:
UBC Environment and Sustainable
Development Secretariat
Baltic Sea House
Vanha Suurtori 7
FIN -20500 Turku, Finland

Tel: +358 2 262 3172
Fax: +358 2 262 3425
PRESTO - PURE - CHAMP - NEW BRIDGES - BaltCICA - Eltis+
- QUEST - SUSTAINMENT - BUSTRIP... just to mention a few.
www.ubc-environment.net


Baltic Cities Environmental bulletin 2/2012

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Baltic Cities Environmental bulletin 2/2012