On June 1st 2026, the Interreg South Baltic Programme organised a Sustainable Energy Day ahead of the 2026 edition of the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW).
The Sustainable Energy Day – Innovation workshop “From idea to cross-border project application” was hosted by Gdańsk University of Technology
The event was warmly opened by Professor Dariusz Mikielewicz, Vice Rector of Gdańsk University of Technology, who expressed his familiarity with the Programme and its value for the region.
Welcoming words were followed by Małgorzata Skolmowska, Head of the Joint Secretariat of the Interreg South Baltic Programme, who presented the Programme area, priorities and thematic measures and emphasised the value for the city of Gdańsk hosting an international secretariat representing coastal regions from five EU Member States.
More than 30 students took part in the workshop despite the intensive exam period and benefited from topic-specific knowledge and training provided by Programme administrators and project practitioners.
Students benefited from a targeted presentation by the Interreg South Baltic Programme Project Officer, Kyriakos Kourtidis, supervising 10 projects (14.6 M EUR ERDF) under the measure “Supporting transition towards green energy” (Measure 2.1) of the Sustainable Priority of the Programme (Priority 2). The students received a first impression of the extent of Programme support, its environmental legal basis, and supported actions ranging from decarbonisation, wind, biomethane, green maritime technology and energy communities.
Following this, representatives of projects from the Lead Partner institution presented their projects’ overall goals, current achievements, and planned course of implementation.
LoCaGas – Low Calorific Gas for Green Power Production project was presented by Robert Aranowski.
BioSolFarm – South baltic farms- a part of renewable energy systems andRe-Farm – Resilient Farm-based Green Energy Communities projects were presented by Iwona Kopczyńska.
WAW – Watt a Waste was presented by Wiktor Sobczyk.
The highlight of the event was the interactive activity “Develop Your Own Project Proposals”. Through a World Café session, students worked side by side with project lead partners, researchers, university professors and energy professionals and developed their own cross-border project ideas addressing renewable energy production. Targeted feedback from project practitioners ensured that the ideas developed were implementable and realistic, while the creativity of the students gave the proposals actual colour and demonstrated sustainability sensitivity.
As a special prize, three students won fully funded trips (travel and accommodation covered by the projects) to participate as target groups in future project meetings with LoCaGas, Re-Farm and WAW – Watt a Waste.
Organisers concluded that today’s younger generation is very sensitive about the environment, and this will prove very positive for the future, as the younger generation will be called to shoulder the energy transition and climate neutrality of the Baltic Sea region in the future. The Interreg South Baltic Programme noted with satisfaction that the programme area flourishes with potential.
At the same time, the Interreg South Baltic Programme happily announces that our project LoCaGas is presented at the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW), from 9 to 11 June 2026, in a collaborative stand organised by Interact, bringing together 14 Interreg Programmes and projects working on clean energy (more info here).
The Interreg South Baltic will remain “united by the sea into action for blue and green future” as our moto dictates now and in the future!
Photos: Gdańsk University of Technology and Joint Secretariat of the Interreg South Baltic Programme.