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Participants of the Cooperation Committee visited Ventspils and Liepaja

The 11th Cooperation Committee Meeting of the Norway Grants programme “Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation and Environment” took place on the 22nd of September this year. The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development as a Programme Operator in cooperation with a partner, the Norwegian Environment Agency, and the involved parties discussed the progress of the implementation of the programme and the planned activities until the end of the programme. Mrs. Hilde Berit Eide, the Deputy Head – Counsellor at the Mission of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway in Latvia participated in the meeting of the Cooperation Committee for the first time.

A day before, on the 21^st of September, the participants of the meeting and cooperation partners visited the remediation sites of two open-call projects in Ventspils and Liepaja, where they were getting acquainted with the completed and ongoing remediation works.

First, the site of the remediation project in Ventspils on the coast of the Baltic Sea was visited. The project is implemented by the Ventspils Freeport Authority in cooperation with the project partners, Ventspils High Technology Park and the “International Development Norway”. During the project’s visit, the participants got acquainted with the works already completed and the remaining work, and the used methods of remediation. A filtering barrier, extending 300 meters along the coast of the Baltic Sea and reaching a depth of 8 meters, has been installed. The pumping out of a floating layer of oil products continues, and during monitoring of the process, a significant reduction of the oil layer can be detected.

The participants of the meeting had also the opportunity to visit the premises of the project partner “Ventspils High-Tech Parks”, where climate lessons are held in the “Future Class” within public awareness compaign. The participants had an opportunity to participate in the “Future Class” using various interactive tools to learn more about climate change.

Further, the participants went to Liepaja and visited the Karosta Canal, the site where the remediation works took place. The project is implemented by the Liepaja Special Economic Zone Authority and a donor project partner, the Norwegian Water Research Institute (NIVA). Public awareness and informative activities are implemented by the project partner, the association “Baltijas krasti”. During the visit, the project promoter presented the area to be cleaned, used methods of remediation, and achieved progress in the remediation works. The participants had an opportunity to observe the remediation works in action – an excavation of polluted sediments and suction of polluted sediments using a specialized suction dredger. The representatives of the project were also informed about the objects on the shores. Everyone was delighted by the sunny and unusually warm day of September in Latvia.

On the 22nd of September, the members of the Cooperation Committee Meeting of the Norway Grants programme “Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation and Environment” got acquainted with the progress of the programm’s implementation and financial progress until September 2023, as well as the activities that still need to be continued and completed in the pre-defined and open-call projects. Planned activities within the framework of the Bilateral Relations Fund were discussed, as well as publicity activities and the first ideas for the closing event of the programme next year.

Before leaving to Riga and the airport, all participants of the meeting had the opportunity to get an insight into the cultural environment of Liepaja, taking a walk along the Liepaja Promenade, Kūrmājas Prospect to the sea, accompanied by an interesting narrative by the guide of the city’s tourism centre.

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