BSR Cultural Pearls – for more resilient cities and regions

The BSR Cultural Pearls project co-funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme and led by the Council of the Baltic Sea States, aims to enable Baltic Sea Region’s municipalities and regions to increase their social resilience through utilising their local cultural assets in an innovative way. The project tackles challenges that specifically affect cities’ social resilience impacting their quality of life.

The project supports municipalities, local and regional public authorities in developing a ‘Cultural and Social Resilience Uptake Programme’ to overcome barriers linked to enhancing social resilience. This programme consists of three key components: 1) to inspire municipalities and regions to create a “culture and resilience action plan” 2) to support public authorities in the implementation of the action plans with a “peer-mentoring /co-learning programme” 3) to showcase and recognise outstanding cities with the “BSR Cultural Pearls Award”. Additionally, the project includes a repository of good practices on increasing social resilience through culture and local assets.

The tools and resources of the project are useful to increase civic engagement through connection and shared values, build social cohesion, stimulate the creative process with various actors in the local ecosystem, and provide inspiration and visibility. This culture-driven social resilience project was approved in September 2022 and contributes to EUSBSR’s Policy Areas Culture, Tourism, and Spatial Planning. REM Consult has successfully supported the project development of this innovative initiative and since May 2023 is contracted to assist in project and financial management.