On 23 September 2026, the BES – Baltic EnerShift project participated in the Interreg South Baltic Programme Annual Event 2026, held in Palanga, Lithuania. This year’s event focused on capitalisation and provided projects with a practical opportunity to explore how their results, knowledge and solutions can generate lasting impact beyond the project lifetime.
Around 100 participants attended the Annual Event, including 74 representatives from 35 projects implemented within the Interreg South Baltic Programme. (Fig. 1)
The event opened with a welcome address by Šarūnas Vaitkus, Mayor of Palanga. This was followed by Monika Jurczyk, representative of the Managing Authority at the Polish Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy, who spoke about the future of the Programme, and Małgorzata Skolmowska, Head of the Joint Secretariat, who provided an update on its current implementation.
From project results to lasting impact
The central part of the Annual Event was the TakeUP Capitalisation Workshop, moderated by Katarzyna Sempołowicz-Lipska, Communication and Capitalisation Officer at the Joint Secretariat, and Belén Benzaquén, Project Officer (Fig. 2)
The interactive workshop was designed to help South Baltic projects consider how their results can be further used, transferred and scaled up. Participants worked with the Seven Essentials approach developed by the Interreg North Sea Region Programme, using practical exercises and a dedicated workbook to identify opportunities and concrete next steps for capitalisation.
BES representatives worked at a joint table together with colleagues from the DecarbonDHS and BaltWreck projects, supported by facilitators from the Interreg South Baltic Programme (Fig. 2). The format created space for exchanging experiences between projects, discussing common challenges and looking for opportunities to strengthen the uptake of project results.
Capitalisation as an important part of Baltic EnerShift
For BES – Baltic EnerShift, the discussion was particularly relevant. The project supports the transformation of district heating systems in the South Baltic region towards more efficient, sustainable and resilient networks through advanced digitalisation, innovative technologies and cross-sectoral cooperation.
BES is developing and testing digital services in three key areas: sector coupling, grid optimisation and customer integration. These solutions are intended not only to demonstrate innovative approaches within individual project activities, but also to provide knowledge, tools and experience that can be transferred and applied by district heating operators and other stakeholders across the South Baltic region.
The project therefore places strong emphasis on knowledge transfer, training, stakeholder engagement and the scalability and replicability of its solutions. In this context, capitalisation is closely connected with the long-term ambitions of BES: ensuring that the experience and solutions developed within the partnership can contribute to the wider transformation of district heating systems.
One of the key messages from the workshop was that capitalisation should not be treated as an activity reserved for the end of a project. Planning for the uptake and further use of project results should begin early and continue throughout implementation, involving the whole partnership.
Cooperation across projects and borders
Beyond the workshop itself, the Annual Event provided an important opportunity to strengthen connections between projects and organisations from across the South Baltic region. The open exchange of experience highlighted one of the strengths of Interreg cooperation: projects working on different challenges can learn from one another and identify opportunities to extend the reach and impact of their work.
The day concluded with the celebration of Interreg Cooperation Day, including the interactive Projects Karaoke session and an evening programme reflecting the local culture of the Lithuanian coast.
BES thanks the Interreg South Baltic Programme, the Joint Secretariat, Managing Authority, facilitators and fellow projects for the valuable discussions and inspiring atmosphere in Palanga.
The experience provided useful input for the next stages of Baltic EnerShift and reinforced an important principle for the project: developing innovative solutions is only the beginning — their long-term value depends on making sure that knowledge, tools and good practices can be shared, adopted and scaled up across the region.
