Seed Money project possibilities by Interreg South Baltic Programme!

The 3rd Seed money call for proposals of the Interreg South Baltic Programme 2014-2020 is open between 13 September and 5 November 2021. The call is open for proposals which are aiming to develop ideas for regular projects to be implemented and financed under the future Interreg South Baltic Programme 2021-2027.

The template of the ISBP 2021-2027 being under public consultation by 15 October 2021 is available here

The applications must be developed under one of the current Interreg South Baltic Programme 2014-2020 specific objectives:

• SO 1.1 Increase the presence of blue and green sector SMEs from the South Baltic area in international markets through joint cross-border actions;
• SO 1.2 Improve the transfer of innovation for the benefit of blue and green sector SMEs through joint cross-border actions;
• SO 2.1 Increased development of the South Baltic area’s natural and cultural heritage assets into sustainable tourist destinations;
• SO 2.2 Increased use of green technologies in order to decrease the pollution discharges in the South Baltic area;
• SO 3.1 Improve the quality and environmental sustainability of transport services in the South Baltic area
• SO 5.1 Improve the cooperation capacity of local South Baltic area actors through participation in cross-border networks.

Interested applicants are invited to access the application documents here

The call closes on 5th November 2021 (Friday), 4:00 p.m. CET.

The Joint Secretariat is organising a webinar with questions and answers session dedicated to the 3rd Seed money call on 23rd September at 1:00 p.m. CET. The registration for the webinar is available here

The GDPR rules for the meeting are here. Please, say YES during the registration if you consent to the rules.

In case of questions, please contact Project Officers at JS, contact details to be found here

Would your organisation like to start or expand collaborations that contribute to sustainable economic, environmental or social development in the Baltic Sea region? The Swedish Institute provides funding for joint projects in which Swedish organisations meet transnational challenges together with organisations from the Baltic Sea region countries including Russia and the countries of the Eastern Partnership.

Overview

What is Seed funding in the Baltic Sea region?

The Swedish Institute seeks to strengthen Sweden’s relations and develop cooperation with the countries around the Baltic Sea and in our immediate area. Swedish organisations can apply for funding from the Swedish Institute in order to cooperate with organisations in the Baltic Sea region countries including Russia and organisations in the EU’s Eastern Partnership countries. The project activities that the Swedish Institute supports via ‘seed funding’ must be clearly linked to one or more of the challenges identified in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea region. Projects including countries in the EU Eastern Partnership must also relate to this framework. Furthermore, projects should help create conditions for long-term, sustainable relations in the region.

• A project can run for no longer than 18 months.
• A project can apply for SEK 100,000 to SEK 500,000.

Who can apply?

• The main applicant has to be based in Sweden.
• The application must include at least three actors in three different countries eligible for support, one of which is Sweden (as main applicant).
• Countries eligible for funding are  Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russian Federation, Sweden and Ukraine.

Project database

Have a look at our project database to get an idea of the kinds of project we support. The database is under construction and more project descriptions will be added.

Questions?

If you have questions relating to our seed funding for Baltic Sea region cooperation, please find our contact details at the bottom of the page.

The next call for Seed funding for cooperation projects in the Baltic Sea region opens 19 November 2020. Read all the info about the call here: https://si.se/en/apply/funding-grants/pi/

Seed Money is funding provided by Interreg Baltic Sea Region to support the preparation of projects in line with the Action Plan of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. With Seed Money support, projects can be prepared for any funding source available in the region.

The Seed Money application procedure consists of two steps. In step one, an applicant submits a draft application to Policy Area and Horizontal Action Coordinators who preselect draft applications (typically six weeks after submission). In step two, authors of preselected draft applications are invited to submit full applications to the Managing Authority/Joint Secretariat (typically within six-eight weeks after preselection). The Monitoring Committee selects Seed Money projects for funding typically three months after submission.

Our application is the result of work undergoing in Water Core Group since May 2019. ECG submitted the concept note in Dec 2019 that was positively assessed by PA NUTRI Coordinators and we were invited to submit the full application. On 23rd March we have sent the file and we await the information from the JS. The results are expected in June 2020.

What is the project about?

Reducing the outflows of nutrients & hazardous substances to surface water, groundwater and the Baltic Sea, in particular, is the main concern of water management in the BSR and will remain its foremost task in the future. At the same time, the effects of climate change pose new challenges to water supply: Droughts limit in certain periods the quantity of water for various uses (e.g. drinking water, agriculture). Floods impair the quality of drinking water – and thus indirectly its quantity, too. SMHI has predicted that problems linked to water shortage will become even more severe in the future.
The two mentioned tasks cannot be addressed as a question of either/or. The ambition must be to meet environmental goals at a high level and to secure water supply. Possible synergies between them, however,
were hitherto not widely addressed: If effluent water is retained, re-circulated & re-used, water supply will not only be more secure & climate-resilient. At the same go, this will be an effective way to reduce outflows of nutrients & hazardous substances.

WaterMan develops and promotes circular approaches to reduce outflows of nutrients & hazardous substances to surface water, groundwater and the Baltic Sea in particular, which at the same time contribute to the climate-resilient water supply. Its centre of attention is measures & techniques to re-use water from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and the retention of water before flowing into the Baltic Sea. Thus, less
groundwater resources will be needed for drinking water production & other uses and water supply becomes more climate-resilient.
The project focusses thereby on measures at the local level and on areas in the BSR, where the water supply may be particularly affected by climate change. Main target group are, consequently, municipalities & water
companies that are responsible for local water management.

If your organisation would like to start or expand collaborations capable of contributing to sustainable economic, environmental or social development in the Baltic Sea Region, take a look at the funding provided by the Swedish Institute.

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