radi!2017 spectacularly launches the seventh Creative Action Week

Last Wednesday, 11 October, passed under the sign of radi!2017 in Riga and throughout Latvia. A spectacular opening event at the Creative Industries Centre “DarbaVieta” launched the seventh Creative Action Week, bringing together radi!2017 initiators, partners, supporters, media representatives and other interested parties. The event’s central question was “Is Latvia a user-friendly country?”, on which opinions were expressed not only by Latvian but also by foreign industry experts, who cited various illustrative examples and encouraged a thought-provoking discussion among all those present.

At the opening event, Culture Minister Dace Melbārde welcomed the guests with an inspiring address, stressing that when we talk about Latvia as a user-friendly country, it is important to think not only about the recipient of a product, but also about the way and place in which these services are created for society, thereby highlighting the importance of co-creation spaces in modern society. The floor was then given to the initiators of radi!2017, Agnese Kriķe, Head of Programmes at the British Council in Latvia, as well as the partners: Baiba Moļņika, Head of the UNESCO Latvian National Commission, Gilles Bonnevialle, Director of the French Institute in Latvia, French fashion designer Claire Eliot, Jānis Gailītis, Project Manager of the Design Department at the Art Academy of Latvia, and Liene Pērkone, Head of the LIAA Creative Industries Business Incubator, as well as radi!2017 strategic partner and supporter Ilze Gailīte-Holmberga, Senior Adviser at the Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture, who informed the guests about the Partnership’s Cultural Forum, to be held on 18 November in St Petersburg, where the achievements of radi!2017 will be presented to representatives of 11 countries from the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Russia.

“If we look at the United Kingdom’s experience in the field of creative industries, we can see that it has promoted both economic and cultural development by bringing together partners with different backgrounds to achieve common goals. Every year, the Creative Action Week radi! also involves cooperation with foreign experts, giving representatives of Latvia’s creative industries the opportunity to hear about the experience and knowledge of other countries, as well as to share their own equally valuable discoveries. The creative work we carry out together with radi!2017 helps develop skills that are essential in the 21st century among both young people and adults, thereby bringing about positive change in society as a whole,” comments Agnese Kriķe, Head of Programmes at the British Council in Latvia.

The creative opening event continued with a presentation of the radi!2017 concept and a detailed overview of this year’s Creative Action Week events, delivered by the event’s moderator, Līva Stūrmane. Immediately afterwards, those present heard the perspective of experienced strategic marketing and communications expert J. Margus Klaar (J. Margus Klaar), Sweden, on the topic “Latvia as a User Friendly Country”. His informative and humorous presentation examined Latvia as a country that is understandable and friendly to its residents. During his presentation, Margus stressed that the greatest problem in public administration is precisely the lack of information that residents encounter every day. However, by making thoughtful and forward-looking decisions based on society’s primary needs, this situation can be successfully resolved quite quickly.

In the afternoon, the second part of the event began with an expert debate addressing the previously raised question of whether Latvia is a user-friendly country. Four Latvian and foreign representatives of the creative industries—usability and user interface design expert Līga Letiņa, representative of the creative industries platform FOLD Jeļena Solovjova, internationally recognised expert in cultural policy and creative industries strategies Ragnar Siil, Estonia, and Margus Klaar—examined the various perspectives represented in an engaging and concise manner, convincingly arguing both “for” and “against” the proposed hypothesis. In the end, they concluded that although Latvia is still only at the beginning of its journey towards an ideal governance system, a positive trend of progress can already be observed here. Finally, at the end of the opening event, guests were invited to learn about the story and opportunities offered by the co-working space “DarbaVieta” during an informative tour led by its manager Kristīne Jansone.

A video recording of the radi!2017 opening event can be viewed on the radi!latvija Facebook page.

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