Union of the Baltic Cities
{{Short description|Regional cooperative organization}}
{{more citations needed |date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Union of the Baltic Cities
| image = Logo ZMB.jpg
| image_border =
| size =
| alt =
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| formation = 1991
| founder =
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| headquarters = Gdańsk
| general =
| leader_title = President
| leader_name = Mantas Jurgutis
| main_organ = General Conference, Executive Board
| website = {{url|www.ubc.net}}
}}
Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC) is a voluntary, proactive network mobilizing the shared potential of the member cities for democratic, economic, social, cultural and environmentally sustainable development of the Baltic Sea region. The Union gathers the cities from nine Baltic Sea countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Ukraine.
Origins
The Union of the Baltic Cities was founded in Gdańsk, Poland in September 1991, by 32 cities, with the aim of developing cooperation and exchange between its member cities. Inspired in part by the historic example of the Hanseatic LeagueLeif Beck Fallesen, [https://web.archive.org/web/20141011152948/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-15583575.html "Urban Ambassadors"], The WorldPaper, July 22, 1998, via HighBeam Research. which was one of the first formal institutions established to bolster the Baltic as a cohesive region within Europe. The cities of Gdańsk in Poland and Kalmar in Sweden took the initiative in founding the organization, but Gdańsk was chosen as the organization's headquarters to emphasize the desire to break down historic barriers between Western and Eastern Europe.Tassilo Herrschel and Peter Newman,
Governance of Europe's City Regions: Planning, Policy, and Politics (Routledge, 2013), {{ISBN|978-1134661053}}, p. 111. [https://books.google.com/books?id=oJG6OW3_uT0C&q=%22union+of+the+baltic+cities%22 Excerpts available] at Google Books.Robert Clifford Ostergren, Mathias Le Boss, The Europeans: A Geography of People, Culture, and Environment (Guilford Press, 2011), {{ISBN|978-1609181406}}, p. 256. [https://books.google.com/books?id=y-1fwix23zMC&dq=%22Union+of+the+Baltic+Cities%22&pg=PA256 Excerpts available] at Google Books.{{cite book|last=Rydén|first=Lars|title=The Baltic Sea Region - Cultures, Politics, Societies|year=2002|publisher=Baltic University Press, Uppsala|location=Poznań|isbn=91-973579-8-7|page=18|editor=Maciejewski, Witold|chapter=The Baltic Sea Region and the relevance of regional approaches|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vD0dEY5l-Z4C}} Anders Engström, who was in office from 1999 to 2001, was the first President of the UBC.{{cite web|title=Founding Conference, Gdańsk, 19-20 September 1991|url=http://www.ubc.net/documentation,56,261.html|publisher=Union of Baltic Cities|accessdate=26 February 2014}} Per Boedker Andersen was the UBC President in the term 2001–2019. Since 2019 the office has been held by Mantas Jurgutis.{{cite web|title=Presidium|url=http://www.ubc.net/organisation,18,121.html|publisher=Union of Baltic Cities|accessdate=26 February 2014}}
Aims
The Union states its aims are to:
- Promote, develop and strengthen cooperation and exchange of experience among the cities in the Baltic Sea Region,
- Advocate for common interests of the local authorities in the region,
- Act on behalf of the cities and local authorities in common matters towards regional, national, European and international bodies,
- Strive to achieve sustainable development and optimal economic and social development in the Baltic Sea Region with full respect to European principles of local and regional self-governance and subsidiarity.
- Contribute to joint Baltic identity, cohesion and common understanding in the region.{{cite web|title=Statute Of The Union Of The Baltic Cities|url=http://www.ubc.net/plik,5574.html|publisher=Union of Baltic Cities|accessdate=26 February 2014}}
Status
References
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Category:Organizations established in 1991