The integrated, cross-border, cross-territorial and macro-regional planning paradigm is recalibrating the world and planning practice all around the globe. The Baltic Sea Region (BSR) has become one of the exemplary models of macro-regional practice in the European Union (EU) context. It is recognized as a flexible entity due to its activities, actors and informal institutions (Purkarthofer et al., 2021). Since the
first initiatives of the Helsinki Commission for integrated Baltic sea management around 1980, many strategies and organizations have been developed. Also, the spatial vision for the Baltic Sea Region is being updated. Indeed, the BSR has entered a new chapter of development with a new generation of Interreg projects.

However, the planning of the BSR is pictured as the highest authority conformative planning. On the one hand, there is a struggle to integrate different stakeholders, planners, ministries and citizens, to name a few. On the other hand, the linkages between the strategic documents and their local implementation could be stronger and more visible in a surrounding environment.

The project aims to carry out the planning framework for the BSR. The patterns for cooperative planning, design and principles inform what systemic solutions and actions are required to achieve the region’s performative, integrated, cross-scalar planning. The framework is applied in 4 scales: district, city, regional and macro-regional strategies and visions. The emphasis is given to the ports, cities and their regions as the main catalysts for cross-border cooperation. These units are crossed by sustainability, manufacturing and shipping lens. Here the macro-regional planning meets local target design and implementation.

The framework of Meta-territory is introduced as a synthesis between theories of soft space and territoriality. Meanwhile, strategic-spatial planning frames the project, so these theories inform the cooperation framework. Moreover, a mix of scientific methods has been used to determine the complexity between different scales, time-frames and society. The exploratory research is based on semi-structured, static, dynamic and proactive methods. Finally, the method of pattern language defines the cooperation framework.

The project is expected to inform and inspire planners, decision makers or citizens about their capacity to act and the necessity of complex and integrated planning. Nevertheless, geopolitical uncertainty might occur if the macro-regional planning practice is sufficient enough to ensure the presence of public goods and safety and sustainable development simultaneously.

In the Netherlands, the organic sector is one of the key pillars of the economy. Currently, the country holds the role of the second biggest exporter of food globally, having 94.5 billion in value of goods exported in 2019. In South-Holland itself the organic sector contributes to the regions’ budget by 16%. Most of the production is happening in large greenhouse clusters known as the Greenport. However, the organic sector produces a considerably huge amount of waste and pollution. It also forms drosscapes in outdated lands of infrastructure. Drosscapes and the organic patch system of the landscape are two individual systems that do not work in synergy with each other. They both create different kinds of waste (environmental, social, economic and solid), not contributing to circular sustainability. Therefore, the main question is how they can be combined with the organic sector, improving the performance of the agro-industry and reducing waste. The project answers this question by looking at the sector through a strong sustainability concept which includes the key values such as the circular and knowledge-based economy and a wide range of participants. The strategy of the region is based on four main principles. First, the goal is to bring drosscapes back into the organic system. Second, the sector has to be combined locally. Third, potential stakeholders and R&D companies have to be involved more widely and from different fields. Finally, spatial diversity has to be improved in order to make the organic sector in South-Holland circular. The strategy is based on scenario planning. The detailing of the strategy focuses on diverse system clusters of production making relations between local and compact. Additionally, the small scale examples are based on knowledge and innovative technologies, being considered a potential export product, contributing to the food geopolitics, but most important - to South Holland’s sustainability. Patch structure in the concept is used as a method, in which clusters are able to close smaller loops of production before they become connected to the regional circular system. As a result, the main sector of the export would become knowledge of farming and adaptation to climate change in the region. The strategy can be applied in different scales and locations while reaching circular economy by implementing local drosscapes into a system. Policy makers can make the best use of drosscapes in a practical way by applying the strong sustainable concept and similar strategy in their region.