On 1 June, Smiltene experienced a significant event – the first concert at the renovated Jāņukalns open-air stage and the Baltic Sea Region Cultural Pearls of 2025 awarding ceremony. The event gathered more than 700 children and young people from the Smiltene and Valka regions, along with a large number of local residents. This cultural…
Engaging Communities: Tools and Approaches for Co-Creation Practice-Based Insight: Glass Design and Urban Regeneration through a Participatory Approach Speaker: Monika Arczyńska (Poland), Co-founder of A2P2, specializes in architecture and urban planning with a focus on participatory approaches Time: 4 June 2025, 10:00 CET Register HERE The speaker’s presentation will focus on participatory processes in both…
On May 10, the city of Płock, Poland, became a vibrant hub of celebration, culture, and international unity as it hosted the 26th edition of the European Picnic. This much-anticipated annual event, dedicated to promoting European integration, cross-border cooperation, and cultural diversity, bringing together citizens, and international guests. The highlight of the day was the…
Kaskinen (Kaskö in Swedish) is a small wooden town over 200 years old, located on an island in the Ostrobothnia archipelago in Western Finland. Because of its remote location and past challenges, many people in the town have started to lose hope for the future. To change this, the town applied to become part of…
From 24–26 April 2025, the 16th Conference on Baltic Studies in Europe (CBSE), themed “Converging Paths: The Baltic Between East and West”, was held at the University of Cambridge in England, we the BSR Cultural Pearls project was presented. We were honoured to contribute to the roundtable “How Regional Institutions Enhance Societal Resilience in the Baltic…
Jointly organised community events play an important role in strengthening social life in the Peipsiääre region. Last Saturday, 26 April 2025 three vibrant events took place in the municipality – number of lakeside villages along Lake Peipus joined forces to host the Sibulatee Fish Café Day (KALApuhvetite päev), the Open Fishing Harbours Day, and the…
During the BSR Cultural Pearls 2025 title year the city of Helsingborg is about to pilot new forms of co-creation, focusing on children, young people, and the elderly. By incorporating the stories and experiences of local inhabitants in how they see their city, the aim is to build a sense of community and pride that…
On April 26, 2025 a Big Cleanup event will take place in Smiltene as part of the town’s Cultural and Social Resilience Action Plan as a BSR Cultural Pearl 2025. The event will bring together residents and provide a great opportunity for Latvian remigrants, those who have returned to live in Vidzeme in recent years—to…
The call for applications for the BSR Cultural Pearls 2026 title has officially closed and from 17 applicants 16 small and medium-sized municipalities will be stepping forward to be part of the appreciated programme. This strong turnout, nearly matching last year’s number of 18 applicants, reflects the growing recognition of the BSR Cultural Pearls title….
From 3 – 5 March the first BSR Cultural Pearls Network conference took place in Helsingborg, Sweden. The event brought together small and medium-sized cities in the Baltic Sea Region, which have been awarded the BSR Cultural Pearls title in 2024 and 2025, BSR Cultural Pearls project partners and RESCOM (Resilient Communities Learning Platform) project…
PROJECT LEAD PARTNER:
Council of the Baltic Sea States Secretariat Felix Schartner Giertta, Project Coordinator+ 46 73 026 73 12
felix.schartner.giertta@cbss.org
