68^th UBC EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING, ON THE EVE OF XII GENERAL CONFERENCE
Mariehamn, 1 OCTOBER 2013
MEMO
 
The Board went through the programme of the XII General Conference:
 
2 October Plenary Session – welcome addresses and keynote speeches
 
Promoting smart development and well-being in the Baltic Sea Region:

• Paweł Orłowski, Vice-Minister of Regional Development, Republic of Poland
• Ambassador Satu Mattila, Chairperson of CSO of the Council of the Baltic Sea States
• Pauliina Haijanen, 2^nd Vice Chair of the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy of the Committee of the Regions,  rapporteur on “Evaluation of macro-regional strategies”
• Michael Ralph, Adviser to the Director-General Walter Deffaa, DG Regional Policy, European Commission
• Nina Oding, Head of the Research Department of the Leontief Centre, St.Petersburg

 
 UBC  Programme to promote youth employment and well-being

• Matti Mäkelä, Head of the Project Management Office, Turku, Action Plan of Cities for Youth Employment and Well-Being
• Johan Andersson, Falun, UBC Commission on Youth Issues

 
Private sector and trade unions’ actions in combating youth unemployment and marginalisation

• Christian Weinberger, Senior Adviser SMEs & Entrepreneurship, DG Enterprise and Industry, European Commission
• Uwe Polkaehn, President, Confederation of German Trade Unions DGB-Nord
• Pirjo Väänänen, Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions – SAK
• Mikael Backman, CEO of Viking Line

 
Examples of cities initiatives and projects directed to youth

• Gunnar Bakke, Commissioner, City of Bergen
• Susanne Gaschke, Mayor of Kiel
• Vytautas Grubliauskas, Mayor of Klaipėda
• Gunars Ansins, Vice-Mayor of Liepāja
• Marie-Louise Rönnmark, Mayor of Umeå
• Roland Methling, Mayor of Rostock
• Viktoriia  Shuvalova, leading specialist of the Department of social programmes and cooperation with NGOs, St. Petersburg
• Taavi Aas, Vice-Mayor of Tallinn

 
3 October General Assembly
 
Meetings of the UBC Commissions
Workshops:

• W1. How to prevent & fight unemployment among youth

Coordination:  Commission on Business
                          Support:  Commission on Education

• W2. Youth empowerment and non-formal education with gender perspective

Coordination:  Åland Peace Institute

• W3. Green Growth for UBC Cities

Coordination:  Commission on Environment

• W4. Regional INTERREG IV Programmes for the Baltic Sea Region

Coordination: Central Baltic & South Baltic Technical Secretariats
 
General Assembly
                           Report on UBC Activities, Per Bødker Andersen, President of UBC
Report on UBC Strategy
Amendments  In The Statute
Resolution on Commissions Consolidation Process
Resolution on task force to promote youth employment
Resolution on EU Strategy for the BSR
Auditor’s Report
Board of Audit Report
Absolving the Board, Presidium, Secretary
Membership Fees 2014-2015
Election of The President And Vice-Presidents
Election of The Executive Board
Auditor for 2013-2014
Venue of The General Conference In 2015
BSR Urban Forum for Smart Cities (BUF)
 
The Board approved the following candidatures to the UBC organs:
 
1. Executive Board
Denmark – Naestved
Estonia – Elva
Finland – Jyväskylä
Germany – Rostock
Latvia – Liepāja
Lithuania – Šiauliai
Norway – Kristiansand
Poland – Gdańsk
Russia – St. Petersburg
Sweden – Växjö
 
2. President and three Vice-Presidents
Per Boedker Andersen, Deputy Mayor of Kolding –  for the President
Marie-Louise Rönnmark, Mayor of Umeå – for the 1st Vice President
Jarkko Virtanen, Deputy Mayor of Turku – for the Vice President
 Taavi Aas, Deputy Mayor of Tallinn – for the Vice President
 
3. Board of Audit
Ewa Back, Councillor, Västernorrland
Marta Chełkowska, Director of Tourism Department, Pomorskie Voivodship
Jukka Vilen, Director of City Office, Kemi
 
4. Auditor – licensed auditing company Bilans from Gdańsk
 
Application for membership from the municipality of Mielno, Poland
The President informed that UBC received an application from the municipality of Mielno, Poland, to join the Union of the Baltic Cities.
The Board decided to accept Mielno as a member of the Union of the Baltic Cities and wished Mielno a successful cooperation with other UBC member cities.