CONTENTS8 COOPERATION WITH GOVERNMENT 188.1 General 188.2 Cooperation within the <strong>Baltic</strong> 21 188.3 Cooperation with the Ministries of Education 188.4 Cooperation with the Ministries of Environment 188.5 Cooperation with authorities 18RECTORS CONFERENCE PRELIMINARY PROGRAM 19Interuniversity Agreement 23List of participating Universities and Institutions5
I.ORGANISATION AND FINANCING1. INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY1.1 The first years – televised educationThe proposal to create a co-operation between universitiesEast and West of the <strong>Baltic</strong> Sea was made with thethawing of the Cold War. Communication over the oldIron Curtain had been minimal for several decades. Theuniversities were only one of the many different groups,organisations and individuals, which saw it the sameway. Also on the governmental level activities to supporta cooperation between East and West were initiated.The <strong>Baltic</strong> <strong>University</strong> <strong>Programme</strong>, initiated by Uppsala<strong>University</strong>, started with a planning conference inKalmar in February 1991, hosted by the Swedish Teracom(managing the telecom infrastructure in the country)with the support from Sweden (Uppsala <strong>University</strong>),Finland (Åbo Akademi <strong>University</strong> and others),and Denmark (Copenhagen <strong>University</strong>). 33 universitiesparticipated. At the Kalmar conference an agendaconcerning the common water, the <strong>Baltic</strong> Sea, and itsenvironmental situation was developed, and the base ofa televised course on the environment with the <strong>Baltic</strong>Sea in focus was made. The response was overwhelming.After the conference a detailed list of contents of ten TVbroadcasts and <strong>booklet</strong>s was worked out. The first liveTV production was broadcast via satellite on October1st 1991.The BUP network grew quickly. In early fall 1991there were 70 and after the first year 84 participatinguniversities. A total of some 3,600 students were watchingthe live broadcasts on the environmental situationin the region. The first space-bridges awoke large interestand became dramatic events with hundreds of studentstaking part. The BUP in this situation continuedto grow and develop. Firstly, the environmental coursecontinued with new student groups, this time based onvideo-cassettes of the broadcasts and some follow up TVproductions. Secondly, BUP developed a new TV basedcourse, this time on the societies in the region, their histories,peoples and politics, called Peoples of the <strong>Baltic</strong>.Among the several issues that came out of this projectwas an open discussion on our common history withNazism and Stalinism and the rejection of the conceptof collective guilt. Another one was the introduction ofthe concept of a “security community” for the growingcooperation between the countries in the region, a termto be widely used during the following years.1.2 Consolidation of the <strong>Baltic</strong> <strong>University</strong> <strong>Programme</strong>In 1995 an agreement was made between Uppsala <strong>University</strong>and Sida (the Swedish International Develop-ment and Cooperation Authority) on a three year fundingof the basic organisation, the secretariat at Uppsala<strong>University</strong>. At this phase of the development of the <strong>Programme</strong>some 130 universities participated, about 2000students studied courses yearly, and research activitiesstarted. This included the establishment of a network oflaboratories working the Geographical Information Systems,GIS, and a research conference in history/politicalscience in which academics from 9 countries, includingthe three <strong>Baltic</strong> States, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus andRussia met together with colleagues from the Nordiccountries for the first time.In 1995 the BUP focus on questions of developmentof the region and the role of universities became longtermpolicy. Concern for the environment and the socialeconomic and political development fused in the conceptof sustainable development (SD). It was also themain topic in the United Nations <strong>Conference</strong> in Rio in1992, and was rising on the political agenda worldwide.SD had been a topic in the <strong>Baltic</strong> <strong>University</strong> environmentalcourses already in 1991. During 1995 and 1996a basic course on the subject was developed with 10 TVprograms and books. The material for this course, A Sustainable<strong>Baltic</strong> Region, was introduced at a conferencein Kaunas in January 1997. It immediately received alarge interest. About 2,500 students registered for thecourse the first year, a figure that has since increased tosome 4,000.In 1996 and 1997 regular meetings between representativesfrom the participating countries to discuss theprogram led to the organisation of centres in these countries.In parallel a board for the <strong>Programme</strong> was created atUppsala <strong>University</strong>. With these efforts the BUP receivedthe structure it still has. The educational work continuedwith the development of interdisciplinary specialisationcourses on master level. Thus Sustainable Water Management,was organised first in 1998, and the SustainableCommunity Development course started in 2001.1.3 The role of the <strong>Baltic</strong> <strong>University</strong> in a changing regionSeen over the last 15 years the development in the <strong>Baltic</strong>Sea region, not the least for higher education, hasbeen extraordinary. The number of students in highereducation has increased by about a factor of two to four,different for different countries. The research capacitiesof the universities have increased, and institutions of theacademies of sciences in some countries have becomeuniversity departments. The financing of the universitieshave, however, not improved much, and a large numberof private alternatives have been created. A process ofaccreditation of these is ongoing.
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