The Baltic Sea Project (BSP) Some 300 schools are active in the Baltic Sea Project (BSP), the first regional Project within ASPnet to combine environmental education on a specific issue, the Baltic Sea, with intercultural learning.

Most are secondary schools situated on the Baltic coast in the nine countries participating in the project: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden. They meet annually to evaluate the project and to plan future activities. The general coordinator is responsible, among other things, for contacts among the BSP National Co-ordinators. This position is currently held by Dr Jolanta Mol of Poland. With the Rio Declaration in 1992 focus changed in the UNESCO Baltic Sea Project (within the Associated Schools Project network) from environmental education (EE) to education for sustainable development (ESD). Baltic Sea Project students worked with chapter 36 in the Agenda 21 plan of action for the “From Words to Action” conference in Sweden in 1997. Students worked with the sectors in Baltic 21, a regional Agenda 21 for the Baltic Sea Region, for the “On the Threshold – Baltic 21” conference in Denmark in 2000. The eight sectors included in Baltic 21 are sustainable agriculture, education, energy, fisheries, forestry, industry, tourism and transport. Ten years after Rio, at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg 2002, the Baltic Sea region presented Baltic 21, which consists of three integrated dimensions: the environmental, the economical and the socio-cultural dimensions. The BSP has thus contributed to the Baltic 21 Education process. Its fifth learners’ guide is an important contribution to Education for Sustainable Development. Learners’ Guide Education for Sustainable Development, Baltic 21, An Agenda 21 for the Baltic Sea Region: Learners’ Guide 5 (in English) http://pub.uvm.dk/2003/learnersguide/ The BSP is an important contribution to Education for Sustainable Development. A new UNESCO website on Education for Sustainable Development (www.unesco.org/education/desd) in English, French and Spanish explains further the concept of sustainable development endorsed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) (Johannesburg, 26 August to 4 September 2002). Objective: The project seeks to raise awareness of students on the environmental problems of the region and to help them to understand the scientific, social and cultural aspects of the interdependence of people and nature. It aims to facilitate a systematic exchange of information on educational methods developed, experiences gained and results achieved for the benefit of all educators, teachers, and students in the Baltic Sea countries through the publication of a Baltic Sea Newsletter and resource materials for teachers. Baltic Sea Project: www.b-s-p.org Sister projects of BSP: Caribbean Sea Project, Blue Danube River Project, Western Mediterranean Sea Project and Zambezi River Basin Project.