Project: BALCA – Building Capacity for Baltic Climate Action
BALCA is an EU-funded initiative that enhances the capacity of local actors and citizens in Sweden, Poland, and Lithuania to collaborate on climate action. Through citizen-led action groups and cross-border cooperation, the project transforms climate awareness into practical, everyday choices.
Project information
Project manager
Juan P. Velásquez
Other project members
Main Partner – Alvesta Municipality (Sweden):
- Peter Johansson, Alvesta Municipality (overall coordination)
- Martina Svensson, Alvesta Municipality (project management / communication)
- Jenny Fröberg, Alvesta Municipality (financial and administrative coordination)
Project Partners:
- Marzena Ulas, Gryfino Municipality, Poland
- Lidia Pająk-Kalińska, Gryfino Municipality, Poland
- Representatives from Tczew Municipality, Poland
- Representatives from Tauragė District Municipality, Lithuania
- Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Vilnius Tech), Lithuania
Collaborating Partner:
- Jedwabno Municipality, Poland
Participating organizations
Linnéuniversitetet (Sverige)
Alvesta kommun (Sverige)
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Lithuania)
Tczew Municipality (Poland)
Gryfino Municipality (Poland)
Tauragė District Municipality (Lithuania)
Jedwabno Municipality (Poland – associated partner)
Financier
Interreg South Baltic Programme 2021-2027
Timetable
1 September 2025 – 28 February 2027
Subject
Informatics (Department of informatics, Faculty of technology)
Research group
Interaction Design Research Group
Knowledge Environments
Linnaeus Knowledge Environment: Digital Transformations
Linnaeus Knowledge Environment: Mobilisation and leadership of sustainable transitions
More about the project
BALCA (Building Capacity for Baltic Climate Action) is an international partnership within the South Baltic region that seeks to strengthen local capacity for climate action. It focuses on how collaboration, participation and behavioural change can help transform sustainability goals into tangible practices.
The project brings together municipalities, universities and civil society organisations from Sweden, Poland and Lithuania. Its core idea is to create citizen-led action groups that enable working-age residents to co-design and implement local solutions for reducing their carbon footprints — particularly in transport and consumption.
Research shows that motivation, not only knowledge, is a key barrier to sustainable behaviour. By actively involving citizens in defining and implementing local actions, BALCA encourages ownership, responsibility and long-term engagement.
BALCA’s participatory design approach integrates local knowledge with scientific support from Linnaeus University and Vilnius Tech. The project also builds on cross-border peer-learning workshops, enabling partners to exchange experiences and adapt successful methods to their own contexts.
The project runs in three phases:
- Start-up – establishing citizen-led action groups and digital tools for collaboration.
- Implementation – co-creating and testing local climate-friendly pilot actions.
- Evaluation and dissemination – producing a multilingual community toolkit that shares best practices for other local actors across the South Baltic region.
Ultimately, BALCA contributes to the goals of the European Green Deal and the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) by making sustainable living easier, more accessible and community-driven.
The project is part of the research in the research group Interaction Design Research Group (IDRG), in the Linnaeus Knowledge Environment: Digital Transformations and in the Linnaeus Knowledge Environment: Mobilisation and leadership of sustainable transitions