The European Green Belt is an ecological backbone of Europe, running through much of the continent from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea and following the route the former iron curtain. The Green Belt initiative started as a grassroots movement when the former military blocks collapsed. The aim was to save the natural assets that had grown alongside the iron curtain. The Baltic Green Belt project aims at closing the longest "missing link" in this network: The southern and eastern Baltic coast. Here, regional Green Belt activities are still relatively scarce, if at all existent. This “Baltic Green Belt” is unique in that it marks a long seaside stretch in the otherwise predominantly continental Green Belt. The vision of the European Green Belt initiative is to create a global symbol for transboundary co-operation in nature conservation and sustainable development. Activities are usually rooted in the former border regions. People previously separated by the iron curtain now co-operate to form economically and ecologically sustainable landscapes. One key factor is the preservation of the green heritage of 40 years of the iron curtain. The Baltic Green Belt project adopts this approach and brings together a set of diverse partners engaged in sustainable economy and ecology development. The partnership consists of NGOs, scientific institutions, public authorities and economic stakeholders and thus excellently mirrors the Green Belt approach of successfully integrating a wide set of actors and supporters. Activities of the BELT project focus on improving the ecological situation of the coastal strip on both sides of the waterline, while promoting social and economical aspects of sustainability to secure economic prosperity. Thus, the project will also contribute to the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, the HELCOM Recommendation 15/1 “Protection of Coastal Strips” and the EU Recommendation “Implementation of integrated coastal zone management in Europe”. A significant part of the project work is dedicated to dissemination and related activities. One reason is the novelty of the Green Belt and it’s approach in the Baltic Region - the "product" and the idea have to be intensively communicated. Furthermore, sustainable coastal development is a relative complex issue that all related actions demand good and thorough justification. The other reason is the implementation into politics, policies and programmes is crucial for the Green Belt’s success. Therefore, an own work package with notable activity of almost all project partners has been dedicated to this task. The approach is backed through pilot projects addressing some typical Baltic Green Belt issues on an exemplary basis, again with a notable dissemination part to facilitate transferability. Achievements: First and foremost, the project has established a vivid partner network under the umbrella of the European Green Belt in a region that was previously devoid of Green Belt activities. The Baltic Green Belt has closed the last gap within the European Green Belt. The durability of the network and the willingness of partners to continue cooperating was jointly demonstrated by signing a memorandum of understanding with the majority of project partners as well as associated and even outside parties who decided to joint the initiative. Throughout three years, the Baltic Green Belt project has fostered the transnational collaboration of environmental NGOs, universities and authorities for a sustainable development of the coast, e.g. by jointly organising events for knowledge exchange, joint education of junior coastal planners, and collaborating in scientific analyses and political statements.The project has furthermore contributed to the protection of the environment and natural resources by increasing awareness among the general public and decision makers and by preparing offers for alternative developments, e.g. by educating more than 800 farmers in environmentally friendly farming practice and by providing soft tourism guides and information material. Within the project, a number of studies have been carried out which evaluated the implementation of international agreements for coastal nature protection along the Baltic Green Belt, identified barriers and success factors of sustainable coastal development and compiled tangible lessons learned for transnational knowledge transfer. The results can be found in the Synthesis Report as well as additional reports published for free-access download on the project website.Overall, the project has contributed to the implementation of major political programmes such as the HELCOM Baltic Sea action plan for the protection of the Baltic and the the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea by local and regional examples of improving general practice in preserving natural zones and biodiversity, by participating in the public discussion of international policy documents, by participating as a speaker of environmental concerns in individual regional planning processes and by educating local residents, children, students and even professionals in (environmentally, economically and socially) sustainable regional development.