The Annual Forum of the Baltic Sea Region University Network was held on 14-16 May in St. Petersburg State University of Economics, St. Petersburg, Russia. The Forum provided a platform for effective networking and sharing of latest ideas for university cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region.

In the Forum’s Keynote speech Dr. Kazimierz Musial from University of Gdansk explored theory and practice of universities internationalization in framework of the Baltic Sea Region. Dr. Musial with his discussant Dr. Stanislav Tkachenko tried to figure out solid background for successful cooperation of regional HEIs.

The idea of the Forum was to let so called Lighthouses (institutions that help HEIs to start and deepen their cooperation) to share their knowledge and attract participants attention to the certain points of interest: global competitive enhancement of BSR universities (Irina Arzhanova, National Training Foundation), mobility in neighboring areas (Juha Ketolainen, CIMO), support provided by business of the Twin Cities (Gabrielle Kotschau, Hamburg Chamber of Commerce), double degree programs (Michael Kleineberg, DAAD) and Nordic cooperation (Daria Akhutina, NORDEN).

The Flagship of the Baltic Sea – the BSRUN was presented by its president Kari Hypponen who not only made overview of the networks past and present but also informed participants about current discussions on the future developments.

About 90 higher education professionals from Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia enjoyed fruitful discussions on topical issues of cooperation such as mobility, recognition of studies, double degrees and university-business partnerships. The special session dedicated to funding opportunities encouraged participants to find partners for new cross-border scientific projects.

The Organizing Committee sincerely thanks all participants of the Forum for their contribution.