The EUSBSR SUPPORT project was financed by Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme in 2017 to 2020 aiming at building capacity, individual and organisational among the key implementing stakeholders, namely Policy Area Coordinators (PAC) and Horizontal Action Coordinators (HAC). The group of implementing stakeholders are wider and the interdependency made it important for this programme to also target National Coordinators (NC), Policy Area Focal Points (PAFP)/members of steering groups, flagship leaders and line ministries/agencies with functions as Managing Authorities for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF).

Macro-regional strategies are relatively new collaboration structures in Europe where EUSBSR is the oldest launched in 2009. Most functions in these macro-regional strategies are new and in particular Policy Area Coordinators (PACs) and Horizontal Action Coordinators (HACs) can be viewed as new professions in the European cooperation. PACs and HACs are leading change in an environment defined by the three no’s.  No new institutions, no new funding and no new legislation. This calls for ingenuity and qualities such as ability to motivate people and to navigate in the cob-web of structures keeping still focus on the “bigger picture”. This project has invested inhancing these people’s capabilities, the core implementing stakeholders in EUSBSR.

The partnership of the project consisted of three partners:

• Nordregio - a Nordic Council of Ministers institution

• University of Eastern Finland

• Norden Association in Sweden

The Norden Association in Sweden has been the Lead Partner and besides this task hold the positions as Horizontal Action Coordinator HA Capacity and Policy Area Coordinator PA Education in EUSBSR.