Closing conference of the project “Challenges of Regional Centres: Depopulation Control, Development – best practices” (DeCoDe) was held in Daugavpils City news
This year on November 14th-15th Daugavpils City Council as the Lead Partner of DeCoDe project hosted partners from seven countries: Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Romania, Italy, Denmark and Spain. This was the last meeting of the project. The project is implemented within the framework of the second strand "Democratic Engagement and Civic Participation" action 2.2 “Networks of Towns” of the European Union programme "Europe for Citizens". The project aims to create an international, sustainable network of European cities to share their experiences on depopulation processes and their impacts, and to find solutions to reduce depopulation.
On November 14th study visits to Daugavpils 13th pre-school educational institution and Daugavpils State Gymnasium were organized for international guests to learn more about availability of education in Latvia. In the afternoon, a meeting in Latgale planning region was held. Head of Administration of Latgale Planning Region Iveta Maļina-Tabūne, Deputy Manager of Latgale special economic zone Vladislavs Stankevičs, representatives from Development department and international guests participated. This meeting was a great opportunity to find out more about the development experience of Latgale region in the context of depopulation, as well as to talk about the activities addressing depopulation issues in a regional context in countries that are involved in DeCoDe project. Commissioner in front of the Demographic Challenge of the Government of Castilla La Mancha (Spain) Jesús Alique and General Director of Institutional Relations and European Affairs of the Government of Castilla La Mancha (Spain) Virginia Marco Cárcel gave a presentation about implemented activities in their region and development strategies.
On November 15th Conference “Challenges of Regional Centres: Depopulation Control, Development – best practices” gathered 110 participants – employees of Daugavpils municipality, representatives from state institutions, entrepreneurs, students and local citizens. Conference was opened by Mayor of Daugavpils City Council Andrejs Elksniņš. The following invited experts and lecturers took part in the event: Inga Goldberga (Deputy of 13th Saeima of Latvia, Head of Saeima Parliamentary Committee for State Government Administration and Local Authority, Member of Latgale Subcommission Of Saeima Parliamentary Committee for Human Rights and Public Affairs), moderator of the event Viesturs Celmiņš (urban planner, an anthropologist bringing human perspective to urban development, design and smart cities), Madara Straume (company SIA “Latvijas fakti”), Agnese Rubene (Europe for Citizens Contact Point Latvia, Ministry of Culture in Latvia). Two panel discussions were held to discuss the future of Europe in the context of regional development with the participation of all conference participants, who had an opportunity to express their views in online polls. The conference outlined the topicality of depopulation as a common challenge for the EU, as well as the role of different institutions in regional development.
During the final phase of the project, the information gathered during the project events will be summarized. The project is financed under the European Union programme “Europe for Citizens”. Implementation timeline: 01.03.2018. - 01.02.2020.
Information provided by the project coordinator J.Reča-Lāže
jolanta.reca-laze@daugavpils.lv
