Attention should likewise be turned to ways in which the Nordic countries and Baltic States can work more closely together on research, since cooperation between scientists, entrepreneurs and the public sector could produce lasting solutions to the challenges currently being faced. The example given by Sundström here was the research partnership between Nordic Innovation, the Top-Level Research Initiative and Nordforsk. His full address can be viewed here.
The conference, entitled "Cooperation between the state, universities and local governments to more effectively incorporate Estonia into the European Union's Baltic Sea Strategy", was organised by Tallinn University on 18 January in association with the Riigikogu, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Agriculture, the NPO Polis, the Association of Municipalities of Estonia, the Union of Harju County Municipalities, the Association of Estonian Cities, the Estonian representation of the European Commission, the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Estonia, the Swedish Institute, the University of Tartu, Tallinn Technical University, the Estonian University of Life Sciences, the Estonian Association of Administrative Lawyers, the Estonian Association of Municipal and City Secretaries and OÜ Geomedia.
One of the objectives of the organisers was to discuss how cooperation between public departments, universities and local governments could be fostered – something that must be done so as to make them part of the European Union's Baltic Sea Strategy – and how to ensure sustainable funding in this area during the next budgetary period of the European Union, which begins in 2014.
The event was a follow-up to the March 2010 conference "The Baltic Sea Strategy – a new opportunity for science-based regional and local management and integrated cooperation".