The demographic and economic situation in all parts of the South Baltic (SB) area calls for actions towards a more integrated labour market. Common challenges in this area are shrinking and ageing work forces and a lack of highly-qualified workers. In addition, the Southern and Eastern parts of the area have to cope with high overall unemployment. Improving qualification of workers and unemployed people is one way to reinstate a balance in the labour markets.The focus of the SB Professionals project will, however, lie on another approach: increasing cross-border labour mobility and improving match-making between employers and employees. Joint actions are required to promote the South Baltic area as an attractive place to live and work in and to increase labour force mobility (especially with regard to the removal of restrictions on the right to work in any EU country since 1 May 2011). There is a need for providing better information to employers, employees and placement officers about future demands in the labour markets and to give job orientation in the SB area in order to balance the demand and supply as well as to enhance market transparency. On the regional level, the partner regions have started first employment campaigns (e.g. www.mv-professionals.de). Such campaigns could effectively be implemented also on a cross-border level. The project work plan starts with an analysis of the labour market situation and of barriers to labour force mobility, continues with an exchange of good practices and tools and implementation of pilot actions (e.g. virtual cross-border promotion portal www.sb-professionals.eu, e-learning curricula Intercultural competences, South Baltic EURES declaration, Career Days). The project will a) bring together labour market stakeholders, b) develop cross-border job information and promotion concepts helping to meet regional labour market demands, c) develop strategies for making the SB labour markets more accessible by initiating internships and exchange co-operations and d) develop joint concepts and measures to build the capacity of labour market actors to deal with cross-border job placements. The 9 partners (PP) - local/regional authorities, business development agencies, universities and training institutions - together with 15 associated organizations (AO) - job centres, chambers of commerce and industry, academic institutions - will be able to use and transfer their gained knowledge in their daily work, make use of collected experiences by employing new recruiting tools and using contacts and networks. The project will help to facilitate a continuous exchange of information between labour market actors (job centres, industries and chambers, universities and qualified employees) which will help to match job seekers and labour market entrants with businesses in need of skilled workers and thus to offset current and coming labour shortages. Achievements: During the project life time the following meetings have taken place: 1) Kick-off in Rostock (January 2012), 2) Component Meeting (February 2012), 3) Project Meeting Palanga (June 2012), 4) Working meeting in Rostock (17/07/2012) focusing on activity 3.2 involvement of LB, PP3 and PP6, 5) 3rd Core Group Meeting in Szczecin (22/11/21012) combined with a cross-border workshop (activity 3.2), 6) Working meeting in Gdansk between Polish partners concerning activity 4.1 and 4th partner meeting in Gdynia connected with the cross-border conference on labour demand activity 3.3 in Gdynia (11-12 June 2013), 5th partner meeting took place in Stralsund, Germany combined with a workshop on Exchanging good practices on labour market tools to increase cross-border labour mobility (23-24 October 2013), 6th partner meeting in Guldborgsund, Denmark combined with a workshop Labour Market Mobility in the South Baltic Area (29-30 April 2014). Another meeting took place on 4th December in Rostock (following the Final Conference).The project website (www.sb-professionals-project.eu/) was launched & is continuously updated. It includes contact information on the project partners and associated organizations, so visitors can easily make contact with them, project activities and outcomes, as well as information about upcoming (project) events. The cooperation with other EU-funded projects & related initiatives (like ERB) is still ongoing. Furthermore, the partners presented the SB Professionals project at external events. Additionally, the partners finalized certain activities and are implementing future activities: - Finalisation of overview report Analysis of the South Baltic Labour Market (accessible via the SB Professionals Website)- Finalisation of the case studies (DE-PL, PL-LT) on barriers for labour mobility (accessible via the SB Professionals Website) and conduction and documentation of cross-border workshop in Szczecin (21/11/2012)- Finalisation of study report focusing on labour demand in the following sectors: maritime economy, maritime tourism, health care tourism and wellness. Study results have been presented at cross border public conference in Gdynia (11 June 2013)- Conduction of cross-border workshop on exchanging good practices in Stralsund (23/10/2013) and on Labour Market Mobility in the South Baltic Area in Guldborgsung (29/04/2014)- Cross-border action plan with policy recommendations prepared and start of developing regional labour market action plans- Launching and promotion of Job Portal www.sb-professionals.eu in December 2013, including the links of the knowledge data base (3.2)- Finalisation of promotion concepts- Conduction of career days in Rostock (May 2013, June & December 2014) and Klaipeda (April 2014)- Development of e-learning curricula and conduction of webinars- Cross-border model agreement between universities and companies has been finalised. Companies have been contacted and conversations with local stakeholders took place- Members of the Euroregion Baltic and representatives of other important stakeholders involved in the ERB cooperation met on the 28th October 2014 in Gdańsk, Poland for the 5th Annual Forum of ERB Stakeholders entitled Labour mobility, higher education and youth cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region – addressing common challenges. The event was organized jointly with the South Baltic Professionals project and hosted by the Office of the Marshal of the Pomorskie Voivodeship- Organisation of the Final Conference of the SB Professionals project "Workforce Demands and Mobility in the South Baltic Region" in Rostock (3 December 2014)- Preparation & distribution of final brochure: "MOVE! Making Labour Force Mobility a Reality in the South Baltic Region. Highlights and Insights into the INTERREG IVA Project SB Professionals".