The Hague to Host radi! week’s First Event Outside Latvia – an Interactive Seminar for Latvians Abroad

Next week, from 9 to 15 October, Creative Action Week radi! will take place for the seventh consecutive year. As is now customary, its extensive programme of events consists of various co-working, thinking and creative events organised in Riga and elsewhere in the regions; this year, however, radi! week will extend beyond Latvia’s borders for the first time. This Saturday, 7 October, the seminar “The Role of the Diaspora in Promoting the Export of Creative Industries in the Benelux Countries”, taking place at the Embassy of Latvia in the Netherlands, will bring together a range of creative-industry representatives who currently call the Netherlands, Belgium or Luxembourg home.

Throughout the day, local professionals of Latvian origin, diaspora activists, entrepreneurs and students from the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg will take part in interactive experience-sharing discussions, joined by representatives of the creative industries from Latvia. The seminar aims to promote the transfer of knowledge, entrepreneurship, initiative and cooperation across Latvia’s borders (“innovation diplomacy”), thereby strengthening Latvia’s overall human capital and excellence in Europe. This is a further step towards promoting networking among diaspora professionals in various fields and creating a platform for pragmatic cooperation with Latvia—with a particular focus on the creative industries: Latvian design, fashion, culture and architecture brands, as well as creative-sector IT solutions.

The upcoming seminar will give participants the opportunity to learn about current developments in the sector in Latvia and to discover the experience of brands that have successfully entered foreign markets, as well as to share their ideas, experience and contacts for promoting Latvian brands in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. This will help identify joint steps and projects to be implemented in the Benelux countries in the near future.

“Latvia’s strongest brand is its people, and creative-sector professionals demonstrate this most vividly, regardless of their country of residence. By connecting Latvian creative professionals, entrepreneurs and Latvian organisations throughout Europe, we want to create an open platform for pragmatic cooperation that would strengthen both the excellence of each participant and Latvia’s overall excellence at this symbolic time marking Latvia’s centenary,” comments event organiser and representative of the European Latvian Association (ELA) Elīna Pinto. This continues the work begun at the first European Latvian Congress this summer. The seminar will include discussions on creative-industry export opportunities, accounts of the experiences of students and entrepreneurs in the sector, and a practical guide to the markets of the Benelux countries. The event will conclude with an informal networking session and a visit to the Latvian design salon “Design Mind” in The Hague.

Anyone interested can register for the seminar by completing the electronic form here: http://www.visidati.lv/aptauja/1301228948/1/. The seminar is organised as part of radi!2017 week by the European Latvian Association, with the support of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, the Ministry of Culture, the Society Integration Foundation and the Embassy of Latvia in the Netherlands. The language of the event is Latvian.

The full calendar of Creative Action Week events, with more detailed descriptions and registration links, is available on the website http://www.radilatvija.lv/lv/notikumi. radi!2017 updates can also be followed on social networks Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. #radilv. radi!2017 publicity materials are available in the media folder: http://ej.uz/radi_mediju_mape.

Initiators of Creative Action Week radi! : the Ministry of Culture and the British Council in Latvia. Strategic partners: the Northern Dimension Partnership in Culture, the Latvian National Commission for UNESCO, the Danish Cultural Institute, the French Institute, the Goethe-Institut in Latvia, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, and the Art Academy of Latvia. Event partners: the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia, the Embassy of Denmark in Latvia, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Ministry of Economics, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Chancellery, the School of Public Administration, the Latvian Institute, the Riga City Architect’s Office, the creative-industry platform FOLD, the Riga Planning Region, the Vidzeme Planning Region, the Creative Industries Business Incubator, the Latvian Music Export Association, the Latvian Academy of Culture, the University of Latvia, Creativity Lab, The Red Jackets, Design Elevator, Urban Institute, NP Properties (Sporta 2), Biļešu serviss, the Social Entrepreneurship Association, the Valmiera City Council, the Valmiera Development Agency, the Liepāja City Council, the Liepāja Culture Department, the Liepāja Business Incubator and others.