The Eurobaltic Civil Protection Project will establish the Eurobaltic programme for Civil Protection initiated by the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS).Societies are increasingly vulnerable to civil crisis such as natural and man-made/technological disaster or their combination, sometimes called complex disasters. These risks endanger positive economic, social, health-related and environmental developments, that is, sustainable development as a whole. To face these safety challenges, the project aims at creating networks among national, regional and local authorities as well as non-state organisations, research institutes and enterprises.It will improve abilities in protecting human life and the environment as well as cultural heritage. The project will support sustainable development of Safe Communities in the Baltic Sea Region and promote safe industrial development and cooperation on spatial planning and sustainable land use management, thereby also contributing to the mitigation of risks for cross border effects of accidents.Taken together, the Work Packages face the whole spectrum of contemporary challenges to Civil Protection. These include planning systems that take safety issues properly into account; the role of non-state actors; transnational, cross-sector and multi-level cooperation; IT technologies; and training systems. The activities include research, surveys, pilot projects, workshops, seminars, training and exercises and action plans and handbooks. Achievements: Volunteer Fire Brigade Seminar, Helsinki, Finland, April 2003Polish-Russian Seminar and Rescue Exercises, Ketrzyn, Poland, June 2003Pilot Project on cross-sector co-operation in Rezekne District, Latvia, and Karlskrona Municipality, Sweden, started in August 2003 with a Kick-off meeting in Rezekne. Further meetings in Karlskoga and Rezekne, October 2003 and June 2004 respectively.Civil Protection Expert/Steering Committee Meeting, Riga, Latvia, August 2003Meeting of Civil Protection Directors-General, St Petersburg, Russian Federation, September 2003Oil Spill Training Course, Karlskrona, Sweden, September 2003 and a planning meeting for Nemunas oil spill exercise (NOSE 2004), Klaipeda, Lithuania, December 2003. NOSE 2004, Oil Spill Exercise, conducted on Nemunas river and in Klaipeda, Lithuania, June 2004Polish-Lithuanian Rescue Cooperation Seminar, Wigry, Poland, October 2003Safe Community Workshop, Stockholm, Sweden, November 2003112 workshop, Vilnius, Lithuania, December 2003Cooperation between Karlstad University and St. Petersburg University on high level education and training on risks management initiated and planning meeting in Karlskoga/Karlstad, October 2003Safe Community Workshop, Skövde, Sweden, February 2004International Conference “Cultural Heritage in the Face of Threats in War and Peace Time”, Warsaw, Poland, May 2004Towards 112 Cross Border Cooperation Seminar, Saariselkä, Finland, May 2004International Rescue Services and Civil Protection Forum - on Cross-border Co-operation and Mutual Assistance in case of Transboundary Hazards, Czestochowa, Poland, May/June 2004Seminar in Arboga, Sweden ”Flood Threats to Cultural Heritage” 23-25 September 2004Seminar in Trondheim, Norway ”Lessons Learned from Disasters, Near Accidents and Exercises 9 September 2004Seminar in Porvoo, Finland ”Regionalisation of the Rescue Services” 2-3 September 2004Civil Protection Expert Meeting, Helsinki, Finland 30-31 August 2004Meeting of Civil Protection Directors-General, Vilnius, Lithuania 15-17 September 2004Seminar in Tampere, Finland “IT and Decision Support Systems in the Civil Protection and Emergency Management” 31 August - 2 September 2004Meeting of Directors/Principals of Civil Protection Colleges, Warsaw, Poland 15-17 November 2004Workshop in Karlstad, Sweden ”University Cooperation in the area of Risk and Safety Education 21-23 October 2004Oil Spill Table Top Exercise in Botkyrka/Stockholm, Sweden ”Prestige-Accident in the Stockholm Archipelago” 2-4 December 2004