The Baltic Sea Basin is an area of intensive, and intensifying agricultural production. There are about 36 million units of cattle, 67 million units of pigs, and 190 million units of poultry in the region. (Gren, I.-M. et al., 2008: Cost of nutrient reductions to the Baltic Sea - technical report). Intensifying and concentration of animal production has resulted in environmental problems caused by manure based nutrient surplus and water eutrofication in some regions. Whilst animal manure is still considered mainly as an environmental problem, agriculture uses substantial amounts of non-renewable nutrients and energy. Indeed, manure must be considered as a resource instead of a problem. It is calculated, that manure contains 981 000 ton of Nitrogen and 281 000 ton of Phosphorus, currently not utilised properly (BalticSea2020 report "best available technologies for manure treatment"). The Baltic Sea Strategy Priority Area 9 Flagship project Baltic MANURE is turning the perception of manure and intensive animal husbandry from an environmental problem into an opportunity for business innovation. The project develops and utilizes the high potential and know-how for innovative solutions for manure management, such as production of renewable energy, organic fertilisers and other added value products. Innovation potential of SME's in the region will be improved by joint efforts of the institutions and countries involved through conferences, fairs and B2B events. Common norms for manure quality are required in order to develop sound and coherent policies and regulations, which may stimulate business development in the field. Close scientific cooperation and technological insight are needed also to address the challenge of more efficient phosphorous recycling. Life Cycle Analysis is used to assess environmental aspects of different manure handling technologies and as a basis for recommendations.Project Objectives:• To establish a needed manure knowledge forum by transnational R&D efforts, communication and business innovation• To evaluate the existing systems and technologies for animal housing and manure processing in the Baltic Sea Region• To evaluate the existing norms for manure in relation to animal housing and technologies to reach sustainable fertilization, with a special emphasis on Phosphorus• To perform sustainability analysis of new technologies Achievements: Baltic Manure studied sustainable manure management, built up business contact networks, and contributed to policy development. As an example of combining the three dimensions, the project co-organised three conferences under the label “A Greener Agriculture for a Bluer Baltic Sea” together with other BSR Programme projects and the WWF. The first conference was in Stockholm 2011, the second in Copenhagen in 2012, and the third conference in Helsinki in 2013 (with additional organisers: HELCOM, CIEC and NJF). The conference continues after the project period and enhances policy dialogue between agri-environmental stakeholders.For research, examples of existing manure handling technologies aiming at reduced environmental impacts of manure have been reported. Recommendations for animal feeding have been given as feeding strategies directly affect manure quality and its nutrient content. Economic analyses of manure separation technologies have shown potential for improved manure use.Phosphorus (P) use of manure was studied and the results published as reports on the project website. A manure and soil P database was created. The project proved that agricultural use of recycled P-fertilizer products and a site-specific and demand-driven nutrient management are valuable contributions towards resilient P-utilisation in the BSR.National scenarios with ideas on how to implement manure energy potential as biogas in the BSR were created. The results show the importance of both technology development and steady and well-directed support mechanisms in ensuring successful harnessing of manure energy. The different BSR countries are in very different stages in this process.Alternative technology chains were assessed with Life Cycle Analysis to evaluate environmental consequences of manure handling. Reference scenarios (business-as-usual) were built, covering 5 countries and 4 animal production types.All reference scenarios and life cycle inventory reports as well as the actual LCA reports were finalised and made available on the project website. Moreover, all data used for the LCAs was made available to all as a large databank. A manure tool for simple assessment of the environmental impacts of different manure management choices was also created and planced on the project website.Baltic Manure was a broker of new technologies and latest research insights for companies and scientists. Business plans were made for different manure handling solutions. The business forum at website holds opportunities for business contacts. The project enhanced business networking by organising manure technology match-making events at Poleko fair, Poland, in 2011, at World Bioenergy conference, Sweden, at Agromek Fair, Denmark, in 2012 and with national seminars and field visits. The project presents annual Baltic Manure Handling Award to highlight novel manure handling technologies.