The successful cooperation in the strategic partnership STRING links Schleswig-Holstein with the regions Hamburg, Skåne (South Sweden) and the two new Danish regions Zealand and Capital Region Denmark (Hovedstaden). The STRING partnership has become the central framework for co-operation in the growth region South Western Baltic Sea. Its focus is on the topics of research and science, biotechnology, regional policy, maritime economy, climate protection and renewable energies.
In 1999 STRING started in the awareness of global and regional competition with other regions for the best local conditions. Regional politicians from Germany, Denmark, and Sweden initiated the long-term interregional co-operation. The aim is to jointly develop the potential of the partner regions and, in the light of the global and rapidly changing economy, work out joint strategies.
The STRING co-operation can be divided into three phases:
• STRING I 1999 – 2001: Inventing New Geography • STRING II 2002 – 2004: Implementing New Geography • STRING III since 2004/2005 The co-operation will receive additional stimulus from the construction of the Fehmarnbelt Bridge which was agreed between Danmark and Germany in September 2008.
Two new co-operations were set up in the Fehmarnbelt region yet, the “Fehmarnbelt Business Council”, which consists of representatives of business organisations from Sweden, Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg, and the “Fehmarnbelt Committee”, a common body of the Fehmarnbelt forums from Ostholstein in Germany and Zealand in Denmark.
Both actors are STRING partners in organizing the conference “Building New Bridges in the South Western Baltic Sea Region” which will take place in the Hanseatic City of Lübeck on 2nd and 3rd June 2009