Every year poses challenges to Europe – to politicians, social workers, historians, academics and of course, our citizenry, with different backgrounds. Can we meet those challenges, and can we say that we live in harmony today, and if not, can we identify the formulas for attempting this. Although patterns and reasons for immigration differ from region to region, many European states are faced with a similar problem – large social groups that are not well integrated within a community. While the causes and history differ, the problems are similar, with divided information spaces, insufficient integration in the educational systems and different perceptions of history. In the Baltics this is exacerbated by the closeness of Russia and recent history. In many “old” European Countries social inequality is the major challenge. How do we balance individual freedoms, which include the right to live in a separate, parallel society, with the need for the participation of the entire society in a democratic community based on common values for the effective functioning of democracy? How do we combine the diversity of society, openness to this diversity with the rights of the host nation to the preservation of its cultural space? Are identities exclusive or complementary? Will people of the 21st century naturally have several identities? Experts from various European countries will try to find answers to these and other questions in an international conference “A Harmonious Europe (?) - Integration policy in Europe in the 21st century” taking place in Riga May15 -16 in “Splendid Palace”, Elizabetes iela 6.

Starting April 15 the weekly Television Magazine Nordic Way/ Ziemeļu Puse will be back on the air for the sixth season. This time hosts Gustavs and Marta will explore the delicate topic of gender equality. The Nordic Style on the Latvian TV Channel 7 at 21.25 on Mondays as well as its rerun at Saturdays 15:30 on Latvian TV Channel 1.

For an inside look into the shooting process, visit the web diary www.ziemelupuse.lv

15th Baltic Development Forum Summit will take place 29-30 May 2013 in Riga, Latvia and will be organized by the Baltic Development Forum and the Government of the Republic of Latvia. The Baltic Sea Region is again becoming the Top of Europe as it represents the area in Europe that is performing best. Baltic Development Forum Summit once again will offer a unique platform for debating important topical issues. At the Summit decision makers will have the opportunity to meet representatives from politics, business, academia and media from the 11 countries in the region, as well as regional organizations. This year's Summit will bring together more than 400 stakeholders and Region's decision makers to discuss: Read more >

Wonderwater Founder Kari Korkman curated Wonderwater Baltic Sea (formerly 16 Steps Closer), an exhibition inviting 16 Nordic designers – from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia – to present a vision for the future of the Baltic Sea in the hope of inspiring change. The designers of the exhibition share ideas and concepts about how to purify the Baltic Sea and make life on its shores more beautiful. The goal is to help the inhabitants of the Baltic coast become more responsible and considerate about the future. Among the  projects presented are the Sailing boat by Björn Dahlström (Sweden) and Light Box by Peteris Bajars (Latvia). Wonderwater Baltic Sea will run 12.12.2012-6.1.2013 at the Old Customs Warehouse, Helsinki.

The Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt presented the main programme points for the Swedish Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers 2013, entitled 'The Nordic model in a new era', at the Nordic Council Session in Helsinki. The programme focuses on five areas: social exclusion, competitiveness, a sustainable society, demographic challenges and the Nordic region in the world. The starting point for the Swedish Presidency in the Nordic Council of Ministers will be the Nordic social model, which has already made a successful contribution to Nordic growth, welfare and solidarity. Nordic social model is intimately linked to a number of key values, including democracy, transparency, social solidarity, tolerance of dissent, equality and individualism. In its Programme for the Presidency, Sweden has taken the initiative to four projects. Strong action against youth unemployment, development of sustainable mining, reduced emissions and workplace-based learning. The starting point for these projects is the belief that Nordic Co-operation, to an increasing extent, can be used to address the social challenges that Nordic countries are facing. Read more >

There could be a common intellectual property licensing environment, a shared agenda to boost research cooperation, a strategy on human development and a brand new branch of tourism – occupational tourism. These are just a few of the visions expressed by Baltic and Nordic experts in a newly published book titled 'More is better: Nordic-Baltic cooperation 1991-2031'. "Although it seems as if we here in Northern Europe have fared relatively well in the current gloomy economic times, we have every reason not to close our eyes to the fact that there is still much to do in the Baltic Sea region in order to create an economic basis for reducing the economic and social disparities between countries," states Halldór Ásgrímsson, Secretary-General of the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) in the foreword to the book, a project initiated by the NCM offices in the Baltic States. Read more >

On 12 November 2012 at 11.00 – 16.00 the European Commission, the Informal Baltic Sea Group and the Nordic Council of Ministers host a joint seminar "Cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region - Synergies between the Nordic Council of Ministers, EUSBSR and Baltic Sea regions" in Brussels, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Infomation Office to the EU, Boulevard Saint-Michel 80. The seminar addresses the experiences drawn from a number of cooperation areas and discusses how to increase synergies in the use of human and financial resources to accelerate cooperation in the Nordic and Baltic Sea Region.
The discussion will focus on the three new objectives for the Strategy: To Save the Sea, to Connect the Region, and to Increase Prosperity.