Pathways to Democracy (Socrates)
	Leobaltica (Leonardo da Vinci II)
The 3rd Conference of the BALTIC SEA ACADEMY
	Methods for Popular Education Development
	Further Education in the BSA Region
	Project Leaders

Speech by Mayor Ortwin Runde
at the Opening of the 3rd "Baltic Sea Academy" Conference: 08.09.2000

Governor,
Mr. Hasselgren,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to have been invited to attend this Baltic Sea Academy conference.
This conference offers further proof of how close, indeed how normal, the networks of co-operation all around the "Mare Balticum" have now become. The Baltic Sea no longer separates us - it binds us together!
I am especially pleased that, following the meetings in Hamburg and Stockholm, our host this time is St. Petersburg. The venue underlines the importance that has always been attached to education and further training in Russia.
For more than 40 years now, Hamburg and St. Petersburg have been sister cities, bound together by agreement and friendship. Indeed, our partnership has long ceased to be something that concerns state organizations alone, for it has been embraced by the citizens themselves. That is wonderful and it has been a great pleasure to see this friendship developing.
One of the cornerstones of our partnership is, for example, the intern programme. Since 1992, more than 400 young people from St. Petersburg have spent between three and four months in Harnburg, where they were able to gain first-hand experience of Germany's business world as intems in local companies.
I am sure you already know that we also have a large number of school exchanges. I would, however, like to single out one programme that has been running since 1995 - the apprentice exchange. I am especially fond of this programme because it brings together young people who would otherwise have little opportunity to meet with their peers in other countries.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
this Petersburg conference focuses on a trio of related subjects: qualification. requirements, the development of democracy and the integration of Europe. These concepts are indeed very closely connected with each other.
I should like to speak in more detail about the three aspects:
I: Education is one of the foundation pillars of democratic societies. And, as the young democracies in the Baltic region move forwards, they will need to continue the work of building firm foundations for democratic structures, for democratic patterns of thought and behaviour. In short: democracy needs education.
II: We are on the way towards the world knowledge society. Structures are altering ever more rapidly, the pace of change in technology and society is accelerating. To help people cope with these new conditions we must equip them with the ability to keep on leaming, or teaching themselves - as long as they live. The saying "You live and learn" has always been true, but in future it will be all the more appropriate.
III: the competitiveness of regions will, in future, become less dependent on physical geography, in other words, natural resources as the distance from markets. In future, it will be more impartant to have good ideas and innovations. Our common future is in the Baltic Region - and we should not define this Baltic region simply in terms of geo-politics - we must see it as a knowledge region, to be grasped, developed and filled.
IV. Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Baltic Region is one of the areas that will play an important role in the future Europe. In my mind's eye I see it as a workshop, where people are busy making the joints between east and west.
It has taken time, but at last the issue of Baltic Sea co-operation is starting to attract the attention of EU policy-makers - especially in view of the planned enlargement to include Eastern states. Over and above that, the concept of the "Northern Dimension", which was frist introduced by the Finns during their Presidency of the EU Council, puts the active inclusion of north-western Russia firmly on the EU agenda.
Sometimes people must just dare to dream their dreams. We have a dream that one day the Baltic Region will again be what it once was - a region of tightly meshed cultural and economic links. But making dreams come true involves hard work. And I may say that Hamburg is working very hard for the new Baltic region.
We are, for example, deeply involved in the international Baltic Sea politicial process. And, for next year, we are looking forward to hosting the full-scale conference of Baltic Council foreign ministers.
V. Ladies and Gentlernen,
for decades the world seemed to have forgotten the Baltic. Now it is a "Sea of Opportunities" - for all of us.
It is up to us now to see that we make more out of our Sea. Henry Ford once said, "Getting together is a start, working together means success." I believe that is a good motto for this conference. And on that note, I shall close by wishing you a successful congress here in St. Petersburg.