STRING works through five platforms to unite member cities and regions:
- The Political Forum is the most senior level of decision-making in STRING. They meet three times a year to propose the priority areas and political agenda for the oranisation.
- The Steering Group consists of high-level representatives from the member regions. Together with the Secretariat, they meet up to four times a year to decide the operational approach STRING will take with its priority areas.
- The Contact Group is the daily point of contact for members. The group is staffed by civil servants appointed as STRING representatives. They are appointed by the member regions and have responsibility for preparing agenda items for the Steering Group and keep the day-to-day contact with the Secretariat on administrational issues.
- The Secretariat comprises of seven staff members overseen by a Managing Director. They are the permanent body within the organisation responsible for the implementation of the priority areas, and lobbies at all levels of government to promote the benefits of our work. They also bring together the public, private and academic sectors to feed into our work and share their knowledge. Contact the STRING Secretariat here.
- Working Groups have been established by STRING. They research, develop and promote new cross-border infrastructure and green growth ideas for the regions.
Katrine Kildgaard (R)
– CHAIR OF STRING
Member of the Copenhagen City Council
Lars Gaardhøj (S)
President of the Regional Council, The Capital Region of Denmark
Sadek Al-Amood (F)
Vice chair of the Committee for Regional Development and Transport, The Capital Region of Denmark
Vegar Andersen (AP)
Political adviser to the Vice Mayor for Business Development and Ownership, City of Oslo
Siv Henriette Jacobsen (AP)
Majority leader/politician at Østfold fylkeskommune
Kristina Jonäng (C)
Chair of the Regional Development Committee, Västra Götalandsregionen
Bijan Zainali (S)
Second Chair of the Regional Development Committee, Västra Götalandsregionen
Carl Johan Sonesson (M)
First Governor of Region Skåne
Louise Eklund (L)
Deputy Chair of Regional Development Committee, Region Skåne
Yvonne Augustin (S)
Member of the Regional Council, Region Skåne
Andreas Schönström (S)
Deputy Mayor of the City of Malmö
Axel Josefson (M)
Mayor and Chair of the City Executive Council, City of Gothenburg
Karin Pleijel (MP)
Deputy Mayor and Member of the City Executive Council, City of Gothenburg
Per Stané Persson (S)
Vice Chair of the Regional Growth Committee, Region Halland
Helene Andersson (C)
Chair of the Regional Growth Committee, Region Halland
Christian Orsing (M)
Deputy mayor and committee chairman of urban planning in Helsingborg
Jan Björklund (S)
Member of the City Council, Helsingborg
Michael Nielsen (C)
Member of the Regional Council, The Region of Southern Denmark
Stephanie Lose (V)
Chair of the Regional Council, The Region of Southern Denmark
Karsten Uno Petersen (A)
Member of the Regional Council, The Region of Southern Denmark
Lars Lindskov (C)
Member of the Regional Council, Region Zealand
Werner Schwarz (CDU)
Minister of Agriculture, Rural Areas, Europe and Consumer Protection, Schleswig Holstein
Claus Christian Claussen (CDU)
Member of the State Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein – Chair of the Economic Committee
Almut Möller (SPD)
State Secretary and Plenipotentiary to the Federation, the European Union and for Foregin Affairs, The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
Ulf Kämpfer (SPD)
Mayor of Kiel
Jeppe Grønholt-Pedersen
Head of Division, The Finance Department, City of Copenhagen
David Jens Meinke
Director of Regional Development, The Capital Region of Denmark
Birgitte Leolnar
Head of Unit, Mobility, Climate and Education, The Capital Region of Denmark
Maria Korner-Westin
Head of Unit EU and International Relations, Region Skåne
Rune Bakkevoll
Special Advisor, International Relations, Viken County Council
Stefan Musiolik
Head of Unit “Baltic Sea Affairs”, Ministry of Justice, European Affairs, Consumer Protection and Equality, Land Schleswig-Holstein
Thorsten Augustin
Head of Department for European Affairs, Land Schleswig-Holstein
Bo-Josef Eriksson
Head of Regional Development, Region Halland
Carsten Krabbe
Director of Regional Development, Region Zealand
Lene Madsen Milner
Head of Mobility, Fehmarn & Administration, Region Zealand
Micael Nord
Business Director, City of Malmö
Charlotte Beijer
Regional Developer, Västra Götalandsregionen
Jørgen Bjelskou
Director of Regional Development, The Region of Southern Denmark
Max Falk
Infrastructure Strategist, Västra Götalandsregionen
Henrik Levin
Head of Department, City of Gothenburg
Anita Lindahl Trosdahl
Chief Adviser, International Office, City of Oslo
Mikael Kipowski
Head of Department Strategic Community Development, City of Helsingborg
Corinna Nienstedt
Director General of the Office to the State, The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
Markus Heilig
Head of Department International Cooperation, The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
Wolfgang Schmidt
Head of Foreign Affairs, City of Kiel
Jarl Zinn
Senior Consultant, The Finance Department, City of Copenhagen.
Eva Christina Jacobsen
Consultant at Centre for Regional Development, The Capital Region of Denmark
Hait M. Barki
Senior Consultant, The Capital Region of Denmark
Nicklas Attefjord
Regional Development Officer, Västra Götalandsregionen
Stefanie Wodrig
Head of Baltic Affairs Desk, The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
Carin Peters
Business Development, Region Skåne
Lars Ekberg
Policy Advisor, City Hall, City of Gothenburg
Anita Lindahl Trosdahl
Chief Adviser, International Office, City of Oslo
Kenneth Ekberg
Senior Advisor, City of Malmö
René Lønnee
Chief Advisor, Region Zealand
Rune Bakkevoll
Special Advisor, International Relations, Viken County Council
Ulrika Bertilsson
Head of Analysis, Region Halland
Susanne Grahl
Advisor, Ministry of Justice, European Affairs, Consumer Protection and Equality of Land Schleswig-Holstein
Helle Knudsen
Chief Consultant, The Region of Southern Denmark
Angelica Nilsson
Head of Unit Society and Infrastructure in Department of Strategic Community Development, City of Helsingborg
Wolfgang Schmidt
Head of Foreign Affairs, City of Kiel
Thomas Becker
Rebecca Rosenquist Elliott
Aida Uhac
Julie Jo Nygaard
Emilia Cullborg
Viktor Erik Gruwier Zeuthen
Marie Fløystad Dahl
Meriel Ott
Karen Parly Inselseth
Simon Schultz Christensen
Our history
STRING (South Western Baltic Sea Transregional Area – Implementing New Geography) was formed in 1999 as an EU Interreg A project to stimulate the construction of the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link.
In 2008, Germany and Denmark signed a State Treaty on the construction and operation of the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link.
In light of this, the cooperation between the STRING members changed towards promoting regional development, along with further infrastructure projects and the stimulation of green growth in the region between Western Scandinavia and Northern Germany.
In the last two years, we have seen five new members joining our organisation.
Today, we stretch from Hamburg to Oslo, consisting of 15 members across eight regions and seven major cities in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.