Introduction
The Baltic Sea Project was launched as the first regional UNESCO school programme within the frame of the Associated Schools network in 1989. Environmental awareness concerning the suffering Baltic Sea and the perception that pollution knows no borders made the starting point for the Baltic Sea Project at a time (1989) where the borders gave limited access and prevented students and teachers from exchanging points of view person to person.

The Baltic Sea has a surplus of water: Salt water from the oceans enter through the narrow Danish straits as the heavier bottom layer and surplus freshwater flows out from the entire drainage area as the surface layer. So in all the Baltic Sea consists of brackish water with great differences in salinity. The bottom conditions show thresholds preventing the saltwater intake, and deep depths in the Baltic proper makes it a very vulnerable sea. The turnover time of salt water has been estimated to 70 years. The Baltic Sea is therefore utterly vulnerable to the impact of human interference, the  runoff through rivers, from different land use and through downfall from the atmosphere.

Now ten years after the objectives (box 1) are considered the main reason for its continuous development, activities and success.

• Joint programmes have been elaborated over the years as international co-operation between teachers and students
• Teaching materials have been published that are of use in the entire region
• Themes develop when students and teachers implement new ideas and share them with others
• International exchanges between groups or classes take place, and the increasing use of the Internet add new dimensions to the means of communication

Thus the Project is based on the four UNESCO pillars of  “Learning to know”; “Learning to do”; “Learning to be” and “Learning to live together” for democracy and peace.

Focus on Water Quality
Within the Baltic Sea Project a joint programme – Water Quality-  has been elaborated to trace the impact of man, making a scientific method that can be used in the whole Baltic region. A Learners’ Guide book has been published for use within the programme; an educational video has been made to introduce the programme to students, and a computer programme “WaQua” has been made to store the data enabling long term comparisons.

Students investigate the presence or absence of certain species on the beach; they measure the numbers of individuals of each species in 1 m2 of the bottom at app. knee deep waters; they measure redox-cline in the bottom sediment and the amount of organic material; They measure visibility, salinity, oxygen saturation, amount of nutrients such as Nitrogen and Phosphorous in the water; water samples are taken to examine and determine the amount and constellation of plankton. Often the amount of epiphytes that grow on larger plants or algae can tell that the water is eutrified, too enriched with nutrients.

By having many schools investigating many different localities around the Baltic Sea and by using the same often simple methods at the same place over and over, the data become comparable. Reports are made to a programme co-ordinator who store the data in a computer file, and who sends all updated data to participating schools. So the same tests made at the same place can show if conditions have turned better or worse. Data can also be compared with data from other localities in the Baltic region for discussions and understanding of the importance of factors such as salinity, oxygen saturation, amounts of nutrients, redox-cline etc.
 
 

The objectives in the BSP are to: increase the awareness of the students about the environmental problems in the Baltic Sea area and give them an understanding of the scientific, social and cultural aspects of the interdependence between man and nature develop the abilities of the students to study changes in the environment encourage students to participate in developing a sustainable future The BSP works with the following means: building networks of schools, teachers and educational institutions in the Baltic drainage area  creating and developing educational approaches and joint programmes for environmental and international education  organising joint activities and events and publishing the BSP Newsletter and other relevant information The Basic characteristics of BSP schools are:  active participation in looking for solutions to the environmental problems in the Baltic Sea area  networking  pilot function in promoting environmental education in the spirit of the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21 / Baltic 21 The educational approach for the BSP is to:  achieve a balance between a holistic view and individual subject studies  change the role of the student from passive recipient to active constructor change the role of the teacher from supervisor to guide in a learning process  use networks to provide participants with opportunities to learn and pass along new ideas  use international co-operation as an inherent element of school work

Box 1: Objectives of the Baltic Sea Project

In one place one school might find very high production rates by measuring the (low) visibility in the water bodies and by examining the plankton in the microscope, and they can then search for the possible causes be it sewage not being treated properly, or let outs from industries or agricultural land use, and they may confront the decision makers with their observations and results, and ask what they will do about it. So through participation in the Water Quality programme within the Baltic Sea Project the can use their accurate observations not only to obtain knowledge on the Baltic Sea, but also as a means of active participation in the process of creating a sustainable future.

The Baltic Sea Project took its starting point with the Water Quality programme. But since then a number of programmes have been elaborated: Rivers, Air Quality, Phenological studies, BSP-CoastWatch, Bird ecology, Environmental history - all with a programme co-ordinator (teacher) in charge of getting the protocols and reporting back to active schools. However, new themes develop as sustainability demands teaching a necessary change of lifestyle, and an Agenda for the Baltic Region has taken into environmental education sectors on agriculture, energy, fishery, forestry, industry, tourism, transport, water, health and medicine. These innovative ideas add new perspectives to the Baltic Sea Project, and enable many more teachers teaching a wide variety of  subjects to achieve a holistic, interdisciplinary approach.

Baltic 21
Now we are “ON THE THRESHOLD” - on the verge of entering a new millennium!
The governments in eleven countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, North-west Russia, and Sweden together with networks of cities and organisations have decided on a regional Agenda for the next millennium: An Agenda for the Baltic Region entitled “Baltic 21”. The governments have put up aims and goals for a sustainable development in seven sectors (www.ee/baltic21): Sustainable agriculture, sustainable energy, sustainable fisheries, sustainable forestry, sustainable industry, sustainable tourism and sustainable transport.

The Baltic Sea Project wants to focus on the steps needed to enter into the next millennium. A students’ and teachers’ conference will enable many of the active Baltic Sea Project participants to meet and exchange knowledge and share good ideas with each other. A school version on the  “Baltic 21” seven sectors has been published for school work prior to the  “On the threshold/ Baltic 21” conference that takes place in Sønderborg, Denmark on June 18th-22nd in 2000, in the year dedicated to Culture and Peace.

The BSP students are invited to ask themselves:

•  What are my expectations for the next millennium?
•  How would I want my life to be? -and that of my children and their children?
•  What would I basically need?
•  What do I just like to have or get without really needing it?
•  What am I willing to do in my private life to make my expectations come true?
•  How can I take part and help my local politicians to work for a sustainable future?

Basically we all need food, drinking water, air, health, friends, love and care…
But is our food always healthy? Is our drinking water always clean? Do we breathe clean air? Why do so many people fall ill, become injured or even die in to-days traffic and industrialised society?

“Baltic 21” is committed to democracy, openness and broad public participation, and the Baltic 21 Bureau has decided to include the Baltic Sea Project activities as a part in implementing Joint Action no 7 in the Baltic 21 action programme. Joint action 7 aims i. a. at strengthening public education and increasing the public knowledge of sustainable development in the Baltic region. The Baltic Sea Project work on Baltic 21 is expected to be a valuable contribution to this action.

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For more information about the Baltic Sea Project Contact one of the people below

Birthe Zimmermann
Regional coordinator Baltic Sea Project
Soendre Landevej 18
DK-6400 Soenderborg, Denmark
Tel: +45-7443 7400
Fax: +45-7443 3238
e-mail: bsp@post8.tele.dk
visit: http://www.b-s-p.org

Denmark
Mr Johannes Bang
Ministry of Education, Uddannelsesstyrelsen GSS
H.  C. Andersens Boulevard 43
DK-1553 Copenhagen V
Tel: +45-3392 5107
Fax: +45-3392 5302
e-mail: Johannes.Bang@uvm.dk
web: http://www.bsp-dk.dk

Estonia
Mrs Anne Kivinukk
REC Estonia
Rävala Str. 8-B 414
10143 Tallinn
Estonia
Tel/fax: +372-6461 423
e-mail: recest@online.ee

Finland
Mrs Kaija Salmio
National Board of Education
Box 380
FIN-00531 Helsinki
Finland
Tel: +358-9 7747 7235
Fax: +358-9 7747 7838
e-mail: kaija.salmio@oph.fi
web: http://www.oph.fi

Germany
Mrs Gisela Knipper
Hauptstrasse 14
D-37274 Klein Elbe
Germany
Tel: +49-5345 1984
Fax: +49-5345 622
E-mail: stilvol@t-online.de

Latvia
Mrs Velga Kakse
Ministry of Education & Science
Valnu iela 2
LV-1050 Riga
Tel: +371-7 212603
Fax: +371-7 223 801
e-mail: velgak@latnet.lv

Lithuania
Mrs Ausra Biritiene
Ministry of Education
A.  Volano 2/7
LT-2691 Vilnius
Lithuania
Tel: +370-2 618174
Fax: +370-2 612077

Poland
Mr Krzysztof Kafel
Ministry of National Education
Al Szucha 25
Pl- 00918 Warsaw
Poland
Tel: +48-22 6280 461
Fax: +48-22 6213 160
e-mail: kafel@kaliope.men.waw.pl

Russia
Mr Stanislav Babitch
St. Petersburg University of Economics
St. Sadovaya 21
R-191023 St. Petersburg
Russia
Tel: +7-812-310 472/ +7-812-156 7282
Fax: +7-812-327 6680
e-mail: babitch@ap2901.spb.edu

Sweden
Mrs Siv Sellin
Skolverket
S-10620 Stockholm
Sweden
Tel: +46-8 723 3274
Fax: +46-8 723 7922
e-mail: siv.sellin@skolverket.se
web: http://skolverket.se/baltic_sea

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