(NEWS) WMU hosts EUSBSR Meeting

November

2015

WMU Hosts International Steering Committee for the Policy Area on Maritime Safety and Security of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region

In 2009, the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) was adopted, as the European Union’s first macro-regional strategy. Today, the Strategy consists of 13 Policy Areas and 4 Horizontal Actions and a range of projects. One of the 13 Policy Areas focuses on maritime safety and security and on 5-6 November 2015, WMU hosted meetings for the international Steering Committee for the Policy Area on Maritime Safety and Security (PA Safe) of the EU strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.

The PA Safe Steering Committee consists of representatives of maritime authorities from the region to provide advice and ensure that activities are anchored throughout the region. The overall goal of PA Safe is for the Baltic Sea Region “to become a leading region in maritime safety and security”. This objective is pursued through a political dialogue and through a number of Flagship Projects involving a broad variety of stakeholders from the countries of the region. The Ministry of Transport and Communications of Finland and the Danish Maritime Authority serve as Priority Area Coordinators. Representing the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Lithuania at the meeting was WMU alumnus, Mr. Kristijonas Valatka (M.Sc. 2013 SPM).

Assistant Professor, Dr. Lisa Froholdt, coordinated the visit at which Professor Neil Bellefontaine, Vice President Academic, made a presentation about WMU to the Steering Committee. Additional presentations representing WMU were made by Associate Professor, Dr. Michael Baldauf, and Research Assistants Armando Graziano and Raza Ali Mehdi and focused on research by the Maritime Risk and Safety research group.

To learn more about PA Safe, click here.

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