To strengthen the relationship between the two countries, Latvia and Norway, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia as the Norwegian Financial mechanism 2009-2014 programme “Capacity-Building and Institutional Cooperation between Latvian and Norwegian Public Institutions, Local and Regional Authorities” Operator organized Programme’s Opening conference „Capacity building in territorial development and good governance: challenges and opportunities for balanced economic development” on 25 April, 2013 , which was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija, in Riga, Latvia. The target audience were representatives of local governments, planning regions, Programme area related public institutions and non-governmental organizations, as well as the Programme partners and Norwegian partners of pre-defined projects.
The aim of the conference was to inform the audience on the goals and planned results of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism programme and to strengthen bilateral links between Latvian and Norwegian institutions.
The conference was opened by Dace Grūberte, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia, by expressing appreciation to the representatives of Norway for providing support during the preparation and approval on the Programme.
The First Secretary of the Royal Norwegian Embassy Turid Kristin Lilleng in her welcome speech paid attention to the fact that Norwegian and Latvian municipalities face similar problems – insufficient financial and human resources and a variety of expectations from the inhabitants concerning municipal services. In order to deal with these challenges, municipalities may benefit from inter-municipal cooperation solutions as well as sharing knowledge among municipalities nationally and internationally.
Addressing the challenges posed by the Programme framework, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia Ilona Raugze pointed for the necessity of Latvian government and planning region development capacity building, increasing entrepreneurship activities in the regions and other challenges of the regional development and good governance at the national, regional and local levels.
The Senior Advisor at the International Projects Department of the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities, Bjoern Rongevaer introduced audience with the experience and capacities on territorial development planning and local governance in Norway.
On the second part of conference participants had an opportunity to take a part in panel discussions:
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In the 1st Session – “Efficiency of municipal services. How do we get there?” – participants analyzed current situation in local governments and had discussions about effective government services in Norway and about ways of implementing those solutions in Latvia;
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In the 2nd Session – “Promotion of entrepreneurship for local economic development. Tools and methods.” – participants discussed the issues of local governments’ support for entrepreneurship, as well as had an opportunity to hear on experiences of Latvian companies, regional and local governments;
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In the 3rd Session – “Integrated spatial planning for territorial development. Plans and follow up decisions.” – participants were given an opportunity to acquaint oneself with Latvian public possibilities to participate in the planning process, in decision making and solving the conflict situations in the field of environmental protection.