Inter-Academy Cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region

The Baltic Sea Region saw the foundation of the national academies of sciences within over 200 years. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was founded in 1739 and the Latvian Academy of Sciences − in 1946. Well before a complete set of national academies of sciences around the Baltic Sea were established, the international collaboration emerged between individual scientists and universities and other organizations in marine research due to practical considerations (maritime transport) and in exploration of marine ecosystem. During the first period of independence of the Baltic States, from 1935, the Conferences on Intellectual Cooperation (altogether 6) were organized where the intellectuals of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Finland, took part and occasionally participants from Sweden and Denmark attended, too. From 1990 onward close contacts were established between the academies of sciences of the Baltic States and the Nordic countries. The academies of sciences around the Baltic Sea entered into bilateral agreements aimed at enhancing mobility of scientists and facilitating scientific networking. The delegations of the three Baltic academies of sciences met annually to discuss the topical problems and issues of research cooperation and their role in the science community. In 1996, the geography of participating academies was extended beyond the southern part of the Baltic Sea Region, and the delegations of the Nordic academies started attending. In 1999, the 7th Baltic Conference on Intellectual Cooperation, a revitalized tradition of the pre-WW2 conferences, was held in Riga and from this year onward convening of these events is the privilige of the academies of sciences and they take place every second year alternately in Riga (1999), Tallinn (2001), Vilnius (2003), Helsinki (2005) and Riga (2007). Also, since 1999, the Medals of the Baltic Academies of Sciences have been awarded for 32 contribution to fostering cooperation among the scientists in the Baltic region and to carrying out joint research. Hitherto, this special international award of the Baltic academies of sciences has been awarded to nineteen scientists. During the latest ceremony in 2007 the Medals of the Baltic academies of sciences went to Olof G. Tandberg (Sweden), M.Saarnisto (Finland), R.Pullat (Estonia), A. Silins (Latvia) and Z.R. Rudzikas (Lithuania). Thus, the academies of sciences contribute in a variety of ways to the development of regional scientific cooperation of the Baltic and Nordic countries