Latvia 2016 report

Within the 1st project a specialized digitisation equipment for the National Archives was purchased to support capacity of digitization process and digitisation guidelines for archives were developed. Within the 2nd project the digitisation-related project activities are big scale and include complicated digitisation of number of museum exhibits. As part of the project the technical support to museums in digitisation processes was provided in the form of “mobile digitisation teams”. In the 3rd project information systems for access and presentation of newspapers, books and harvested web pages were developed, as well as digitisation infrastructure was substantially expanded, including scanning equipment, software for text and layout recognition of text materials, and servers and storage equipment. Within the 4th project the existing platform for management and preservation of digital objects was upgraded, a unified search interface and an app were developed to access both digital and physical collections of the library, a specialized web interface for access to the digitised maps, dedicated interfaces for access to the digital resources for children and for visually impaired, as well as a service for digitisation on demand, a service for collection of digitally born materials, a service for remote access to the digital materials, a service for transformation of texts in fractura typefaces and a language corpus of digitised materials were developed, as well as 365 maps digitised. As to both audio-visual projects, 10% of materials deposited in Latvian TV and Latvian Radio archives were digitised. 4200 hours of audio materials and 3818 hours of audio-visual materials were made available either through the safe virtual private network of public libraries or through the joint state portal of e-services latvija.lv. As the part of the project 18 Latvian feature and animation films were digitized and made accessible online through the portal www.filmas.lv (due to the copyright users can access films through the safe virtual private network of public libraries).

The following business support activities will be carried out by the operator of the incubator: financial and consultative support to start-up and develop creative businesses, business promotion events and premises. Eligible costs for creative businesses in the incubator: cost of services; lease of premises, maintenance and utility costs; equipment purchase cost of EUR 5 000 per beneficiary; remuneration and state social insurance costs; purchase costs of materials and raw materials.

It is planned to establish two VECC in Riga – Riga School of Design and Art and the National Arts School, merging Riga Dome Choir School and J. Rozentals Art School, because in Riga there is the biggest critical mass of CCI companies and creative potential, as well as the largest segment of the labour market. Ventspils Music School (VECC) has been set up in the city of Ventspils. It has a well-developed educational practice places and a network of cultural industries’ institutions. Joining Liepaja Art and Design Secondary School with E,Melngailis Liepaja College of Music, Liepaja Music, Art and Design Secondary School (VECC) in Liepaja will be created. Liepaja is a city with strong artistic and educational roots and ancient cultural traditions. There are good labour market conditions for professional musicians and performing artists, as well as further education opportunities. Uniting Rezekne Art and Design Secondary School with J. Ivanovs Rezekne Music Secondary School, Rezekne Music, Art and Design Secondary School will be created (VECC). Rezekne city has marked the creative industries as one of the primary factors of urban development in its development strategy. Rezekne purposefully designs labour market for CCIs. On the basis of Cesis Music Secondary School it is planned to establish VECC Cesis Music Secondary School in the city of Cesis, because Vidzeme region is proud of the fact that it is the cradle of the Song Festival, and Cesis city and its environs are the festive traditions continuer. For many years, it holds an annual Cesis Art Festival and has a new concert hall. Valmiera city, nearby Cesis, is also historically formed as the CCI center of Vidzeme region. There is an active cultural life and festivals taking place in Valmiera. The region has a high concentration of business, providing internships and labor market opportunities, so there is a plan to create a VECC on the basis of Valmiera Art School.

SCCF provides financial support and promotes balanced development of creative work in all sectors of culture and art and encourages the preservation of cultural heritage according to the Cultural policy guidelines “Creative Latvia 2014-2020”. It also facilitates the development of international relations and promotes Latvian art and culture worldwide. The SCCF announces and administers culture projects’ competitions several times a year, allots lifelong grants for culture and arts workers and gives financial support to short term educational, creative or scientific travels abroad. There are also programmes within the SCCF dedicated to children and youth, as well as regional programmes and support programmes for professional culture NGOs. The SCCF is managed by the Council of the Foundation, its activities are ensured by its director and the culture projects are evaluated by experts of 8 branches: Literature, Music and Dance, Theatrical arts, Film arts, Visual arts, Cultural Heritage, Traditional Culture, Design and Architecture, Interdiscliplinary.

For the audiovisual sector, the conference "Strengthening the European Audiovisual Media Market for the Development of the European Identity” took place in Riga. The Presidency held the ministerial-level and expert debates on how to guard against hate speech, propaganda and spread of misinformation campaign in the media room. Audiovisual Ministers gave a strategic vision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive review process and agreed on the need to think about both the creation of the rapid reaction mechanism and on the mechanism for increasing efficiency, including the need to strengthen the EU's independent regulators and their cross-border cooperation. In the copyright field, Ministers from various industries also gave guidelines on copyright framework development in the future in response to the European Commission's Digital single market strategy. In a number of high-level expert events the need to create conditions that promote quality content creation and cultural diversity was highlighted, as well as providing for the mechanisms to ensure appropriate remuneration for authors and other rights holders. The promotion of cultural heritage material re-use in education and the creative industries was also emphasized. At the same time the need to think about how to prevent improper geographical blocking practices in order to facilitate consumer access to content was recognized. In the field of social integration, the Presidency continued the work on a Council proposal for a Directive on equal treatment of persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.

The overall programme for Riga 2014 was divided into six ‘topical’ lines – these lines represent themes that helped shape the different activities attached to the ECoC programme. Six lines are as follows: 1)Freedom Street: Issues of power and freedom, as well as commemorating the centenary of World War I – exhibitions, art and music events, theatrical tours, literary readings, open-air cinema, digital laboratories and trade fairs. 2)Survival Kit: Ancient skills and modern knowledge in various cultural forms – creative workshops, seminars, research projects, interactive ecological events, art in public spaces, fairs, competitions, talent shows, performances, discussions. 3)Road Map: Visions of city development – excursions, bicycle routes, open house days, interdisciplinary events, creative areas in the urban environment, circus performances, happenings in unusual places, anthropological documentary films. 4)Amber Vein: The historical Amber Route from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and new European networks – interdisciplinary expeditions, presentations, international photography campaigns. 5)Thirst for the Ocean: Intellectual themes, spirituality and wisdom – international conferences and exhibitions, multimedia events, concerts and cinema. 6)Rīga Carnival: Celebrations, festivals, seasonal rites, concerts, traditional and unusual events and interactive games. The Road Map line contained 117 projects that aimed to stimulate wider participation and was the line with the highest number of projects among all theme lines. Many of the projects that fell under this line took place in places and for people that did not usually experience culture. The Road Map line contained the neighbourhoods programme that ensured ECoC activity was to be found also in industrial zones of Rīga as well as in neighbourhoods and community spaces that traditionally had little in the way of a cultural offer.

The most recent intergovernmental cooperation programmes signed are with Poland (2013-2016), Israel (2013-2015, new programme in process), Wallonia (2014-2016), Flanders (2015-2017) and China (2016-2020). Interministerial cooperation programmes signed in recent years are with the Baltic States (2015-2018), Belarus (2013-2015, new programme in process), Azerbaijan (2012-2014), Armenia (2015-2018), Russia (2013-2015) and Uzbekistan (2014-2016).

The Government-approved guiding principle of NDP2020 is an “economic breakthrough” and it has three priorities – “Growth of the National Economy”, “Human Securitability” and “Growth for Regions”. The following individual measures are set in NDP2020 related to culture and creative industries: 1)By developing a specialised assistance instrument, support the creative industry to develop culture-based investment and promote partnerships between culture, science and business in boosting the export capacity of businesses in the creative industries and the international competitiveness of the country; 2)Support for design projects of the creative industries that ensure the development of new products for export and their implementation in production; 3)Support shaping national identity, through traditional and innovative culture (contemporary art, traditional art, film, literature) by promoting cooperation among different social groups; 4)Promotion of opportunities for social integration, including learning Latvian language, information on basic rights, education, health, employment, culture and other areas; 5)Promotion of return migration and preservation of the identity of Latvian nationals living abroad, including development of the global network, events in Latvia, availability of education and culture abroad and support measures to promote return migration; 6)Developing the required infrastructure of Riga for the performance of the functions of a regional metropolis (including in tourism, culture, science and raising of investment); 7)Development of an integrated selection of export oriented tourism, cultural, health and natural capital infrastructure products and services; 8)Support to the activities of cultural institutions, local businesses and traditional artisans by developing products and services on the basis of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Regional policy paradigm recognizes the importance of creativity and innovation in the regional development especially fostering competitiveness and visibility of territories and well-being of inhabitants. It also recognizes the part that creative industries and quality urban environment plays in the development of creative cities. Cultural diversity and creative clusters are the driving forces behind the innovation and creativity in the cities. Using their respective cultural and creative industries, cultural heritage and creative potential, cities start to become more aware of their distinctiveness and develop their own style and brand thus becoming more competitive. To highlight good examples of both business development and other creative initiatives in promoting the development of the regions, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development annually awards Creativity Prize to municipalities. Riga as the capital city has the widest range of cultural, sports, etc. range of services. Cultural heritage preservation and restoration related to these services is an issue throughout the whole country, however Riga possesses nationally important cultural infrastructure, used both by the inhabitants of Riga and whole Latvia, as well as by tourists. At the same time part of this infrastructure is in poor technical condition and/or with a limited capacity to host national and international events. Regional policy recognizes the need to invest in the reconstruction and development of multifunctional objects for the purposes of culture, sports and other national and international events and tourism development. Thus it would be possible to attract more visitors and increase their average spending in Latvia, which is an important contribution to the Latvian economy and also provides an incentive for the CCI and tourism businesses, thus contributing to entrepreneurial activity and GDP increase. Riga has significant potential to attract foreign tourists, given that only Riga and Stockholm in Northern Europe has well developed air transport centers.

The target groups of media policy are: media professionals and media owners; information and communications technology professionals; employees within education system employees; communication and media studies program developers and students; diaspora; municipalities; media users; media and their audience researchers; law enforcement bodies. One of the lines of action in media policy is the "Diversity of media environment” which is fully in line with the aims of the Convention to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions. It is planned to implement activities that focus on media diversity. It also refers to the principle of sustainable development. Particular attention is given to the press as a form of culture preservation. Media policy planning documents express support for the 1st Guiding Principle of the Convention respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Media policy principles emphasize freedom of expression, as well as prohibition of discrimination. Media policy planning document content is in tune with the principle of equal access - it is planned to provide support for socially significant content creation for people with disabilities, as well as diaspora audience - is planned that the competition for funding will be open to the media, regardless of their platform, including Internet media. Similarly, the guidelines include a reference not only to the significance of the media content in Latvian language, but also to the Latvian media in minority languages, which is important for the Latvian culture and socio-political environment.

The diversity and accessibility of cultural education in Latvia is quite unique. There are sixteen secondary vocational institutions of cultural education, operating under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, in eight different towns of Latvia. Eight of them educate future professionals in the field of music, four are focusing on art and design, whereas one of them is a vocational dance school. All sixteen secondary vocational schools which offer cultural education can be distinguished by their high educational standards, and many of their graduates eventually become excellent performing artists. The alumni of the aforementioned schools can regularly be seen on theatre and concert stages both - in Latvia and abroad; their professional ability can be observed in person – in art and design exhibitions; the outstanding achievements of the students and graduates are promoted in the media. After the graduation, some of the students choose to prove themselves in other professions, therefore never becoming professional musicians, artists, designers or dancers, nevertheless, what they do become is part of the society, which, while working in other professional areas, create the demand for high-value culture, which plays a significant role in the development and improvement of the local cultural environment. And yet, the evaluation of the operation and achievements of the existing cultural institutions has lead the Ministry of Culture to the conclusion that the secondary level programmes of cultural education do not sufficiently promote the creativeness and self-sufficiency of the students or their desire to invent and collaborate with other communities and areas of speciality. This is where RaPaPro creative partnerships’ program intervenes in the traditional educational process.

In order to ensure access to diverse cultural education services it is envisaged to draw up, within the scope of the programme “Latvian Rucksack”, museum pedagogical and cultural educational programmes regarding contemporary art, dance, cinema, music, heritage, literature, design, architecture, etc., and to ensure their accessibility to children and youth throughout the territory of Latvia. A special interinstitutional working group has been set up involving the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, National Centre for Education of Latvia, Latvian Association of Local and Regional governments, as well as experts from educational institutions and cultural organizations. The working group has set up project implementation principles, including equality in access, involvement of all pupils, full Latvian cultural and artistic offer coverage, regularity of events, traditional and contemporary balance, direct link to the learning process, contributing objectives of the national education standard, coordinated action of education and cultural institutions, local responsibility and promotion of a sense of belonging etc. 9 areas of intervention are defined: music, theatre, literature, visual arts, architecture, cinema, design, dance, including contemporary dance, cultural heritage/regional studies. With the Ministry of Education and Science the main negotiations are about connection of the program with the direct teaching process, reducing administrative barriers to learning outside of school and further education of teachers. It is planned to launch a pilot project in 2017/2018 school year, and in 2018 it is foreseen to officially launch the initiative as a special gift to Latvian society in Latvia’s centenary.