The Baltic Sea Pharma platform (BSR Pharma) brings together projects and stakeholders from the whole region to assist knowledge-sharing, increase effectiveness, streamlining activities and support regional policy development.
A flagship of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region
The Baltic Sea Pharma platform is a flagship under PA Hazards during the period 2017-2050. The flagship is targeting both human and veterinary pharmaceuticals.
Activities mainly focus on non-regulatory solutions, such as new technical and management options.
The main objective of the platform is to foster the implementation of physical measures within a reasonable time frame, e.g. by 2050, resulting in reduced emissions of pharmaceuticals to the Baltic environment.
The platform has been developed within PA Hazards and is managed by the coordinators of PA Hazards.
The platform is resting on three inter-linked columns
- Projects
Transnational projects targeting the emission of pharmaceuticals to the Baltic from different angles (advanced waste water treatment, waste management, procurement criteria etc.) provide the knowledge base and output of results. Currently four projects are clustered on the platform (see below). Other projects may be added.
- Supporting activities
Regional state of plays, extended stakeholder networks, task-oriented workshops and horizontal thematic analyses are examples of activities aimed at supporting project implementation and policy development in the region.
- Policy development
Outputs from the Pharma platform aim to support the development of regional and European policy on the issue of pharmaceuticals in the environment. They could include policy papers, regional guidelines, best practices and strategies. This work will be done in cooperation with Helcom’s Correspondence Group on Pharmaceuticals (CG PHARMA).
The platform projects
Supporting activities
Regional stakeholder conference
Policy Round Table
Pharmaceuticals in the environment, PIE, 10th – 11th December 2019, Lund, Sweden, back to back with the Morpheus final project conference
Workshop
Macro-regional workshop on Pharmaceuticals in the Environment (PIE)– Monitoring, consumption, technologies and policies. 19 September 2019, Stockholm, Sweden
The objective of this workshop was to jointly identify common challenges and solutions for pharmaceuticals and the environment in the Baltic Sea region, with a focus on pharmaceuticals in Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) systems.
Development of the platform
2011-2014 Flagship project on pharmaceuticals
Make the Baltic Sea Region a leader in sustainable management for pharmaceuticals was a flagship project under PA Hazards between 2011 and 2014.
Following the end of the project, PA Hazards decided to give the topic of pharmaceuticals in the environment increased attention. The decision was based on the general growing concern over potential environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals and the current policy movements within the EU, Helcom and globally. Also, more knowledge and coordinated actions were requested by many Baltic Sea countries.
The results and established network provided by the project was utilized to develop a strategy for PA Hazards’ work on pharmaceuticals in the environment in 2014.
2015-2016 Project development and joint process with Helcom
A strategic work to stimulate the development of new transnational projects was undertaken. In December 2015, a project development workshop, with funding institutions and policy makers present, was organized in Copenhagen.
Simultaneously, PA Hazards initiated cooperation with Helcom to produce a regional status report on pharmaceuticals in the Baltic environment. A Background report on pharmaceutical concentrations and effects in the Baltic Sea was published by PA Hazards in 2015.
In 2016, the Pharma platform concept was developed and accepted as a flagship of the EUSBSR. Helcom initiated a Correspondence Group on pharmaceuticals.
2017 Projects funded, platform launch and status report
Four project ideas presented at the stakeholder workshop in Copenhagen received funding by the Interreg South Baltic and Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme (see above).
The Baltic Sea Pharma platform was launched at the EUSBSR Annual Forum in Berlin.
A status report was published by UNESCO and HELCOM in 2016. The report was developed jointly by Helcom and PA Hazards. It served as a case study within the framework of UNESCO Emerging Pollutants in Water Series under UNESCO-IHP's International Initiative on Water Quality (IIWQ) Project on 'Emerging Pollutants in Wastewater Reuse in Developing Countries'.
Kick-off in Riga 22 November 2017
PA Hazards organized a kick-off meeting for the Baltic Sea Pharma platform in Riga 22 November, hosted by the Latvian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development. The kick-off meeting had three main aims:
- Facilitate contact and information exchange between PA Hazards projects addressing pharmaceuticals
- Inform relevant regional stakeholders about the projects and how they can contribute to policy development (and vice versa)
- Develop future platform work for added value and outreach
Presentations:
Contact PAC Hazards