The Baltic Sea, a large inland sea in Northern Europe, is today surrounded by nine countries: Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany. These countries are moulded by their different histories, cultures, languages and traditions. But together, they form a distinct, unique, diverse, and yet united European region - the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). This rather small region has a remarkable history. It has always been an area of encounters, of communication, cooperation, but also of confrontation. In former times, the idea of being a "region" was often turned into the urge for power. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Denmark and Sweden competed for dominance in the region. In the contest for the "dominium maris Baltici" (the hegemony of the Baltic Sea), Sweden became a great European power, and the Baltic Sea almost a Swedish inland sea. In the 18th century, Russia became Sweden’s major opponent and by the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian Tsar had become the most powerful monarch in the region. In the 20th century, the dividing line of the Cold War ran right through the Baltic Sea, separating East and West.

But it has also always been the idea of a united region and the spirit of cooperation that defined the (self-)conception of the region and continues to do so today. The Hanseatic League is an apt example for this early cooperation across the Baltic Sea. Established in the 13th century, this association of trading guilds turned the region into an integrated trading area and brought an era of economic growth until its downfall in the 17th century. Today, traces of this important phase in the Baltic Sea Region’s history still can be found in many cities around the Baltic rim. The powerful idea of uniting the region also became visible in the medieval Union of Calmar that united Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the 15th and 16th centuries.

In modern times, especially since the end of the Cold War, new perspectives and opportunities have arisen. The Baltic Sea Region is united in peace, striving for welfare and democracy, and cherishing close contact between all the states around the Baltic rim. A great number of institutions and cooperation initiatives on political, economic, cultural and societal levels make the Baltic Sea Region community a living reality.

Cooperation and exchange are also what define the higher education infrastructure in the Baltic Sea Region. There are more than 1,000 higher education institutions in the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. Among them are both some of the oldest, very traditional universities in Europe, e.g. the University of Copenhagen (founded in 1479) and very young, modern institutions, like Soedertoern University College (established in 1995). They have each grown in their respective academic culture, but there has always been a great deal of cooperation and exchange between them. As early as medieval times, students and scholars were used to academic mobility and scholarly exchange. Academic relations between the countries grew even more intense in the course of the professionalisation of science and research in the 19th century.

After the era of division and enmity, which ended in 1990 when the Cold War and the division of Europe came to an end, the tradition and ideas of exchange of knowledge grew stronger again and have since then been turned into many concrete partnerships, exchange agreements, joint study programmes and international projects.

Today, the countries in the Baltic Sea Region are the best examples of knowledge-based societies. The standard of knowledge and education is far above average. Nowhere else can the role of universities in developing an area by enhancing the economic, cultural, and societal progress be better observed than in this small region in the heart of Europe.