Today, 2 December 2021, the meeting of the Cooperation Committee of the EEA Regional Development and Culture Programme (Programme) took place. During the meeting, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (Programme Operator)) and the Ministry of Culture with the Norwegian Ambassador to Latvia – Kristian Ødegaard, the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities, the Norwegian Arts Council, the Financial Instruments Office and the Ministry of Finance, discussed the implementation, progress and highlights of the programme in the last six-month period.
Opening the meeting, the Ambassador of Norway to Latvia, Kristian Ødegaard, emphasized that the end of the year 2022 was particularly active in strengthening Latvian-Norwegian bilateral relations, as several intergovernmental meetings were taking place in both Latvia and Norway, which showed great interest in continuing co-operation, and there is active bilateral cooperation in this programme as well.
The Program Operator informed that the implementation of the pre-defined projects of the Programme is currently started, 17 online seminars have been organized with the participation of more than 400 people on topics such as business models and new business forms in the world, social networks, digital marketing, a strategic digital sales path and building long-term relationships between businesses and the municipality. Both the strategy of the pre-defined projects in organizing publicity events and creating content, as well as the successful use of social networks to disseminate the first results, were welcomed by the Committee.
The Open Call in the field of culture “Support for the creation of professional contemporary art and cultural products for children and young people” has also achieved the goal set this semester – 29 project received applications have been evaluated and 9 project applications have been approved for implementation. The diversity of areas of activity, covering cultural aspects such as the creation of new professional arts and cultural products in theater, dance and circus, the development of literature and cinema, and the involvement of children and young people aged 6- 18 years was emphasised. At the end of the discussion, Elita Cakule, Head of the International Projects Unit of the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities, a partner in the Donor Country Programme, said that the active discussion on the open Call showed how excited we are with the selected projects.
In the Small Grant Scheme “Support for the implementation of business ideas in Latgale”, project applications are being evaluated and it is expected that the first agreements on project implementation will be concluded at the beginning of next year. The challenges and next steps in the implementation of the Grant Scheme were actively discussed during the meeting.
At the end of the meeting, the successful bilateral co-operation and the first ideas for the progamme mid-term evaluation event, which is scheduled for next autumn, were discussed. The participants of the meeting also discussed the proposals of the initiatives of the Bilateral Cooperation Fund of the programme and considered the issues common to Latvia and Norway for the organization of bilateral cooperation and experience exchange visits in the upcoming years.
In conclusion, parties involved in the implementation of the programme acknowledged that they are looking forward to the first results of the programme’s business promotion, good governance and cultural projects, and welcomed the previous cooperation, which provided confidence in the successful implementation of the programme.
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