Nordic and Latvian mayors will come together on Saturday, July 2, during the conversation festival LAMPA in Cēsis (Latvia) in order to talk about cities of the future – i.e., cities with no cars, self-sufficient in green energy and full of high-rise structures where people live and move freely.
Six local governement leaders – trendsetters, visionaries and doers from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Latvia – will talk about innovations in their cities and regions as well as share their visions of the future. Latvia will be represented by Cesis Mayor JANIS ROZENBERGS and Valmiera City Mayor JANIS BAIKS, whereas the Nordic countries – by Bornholm Mayor WINNI GROSBØLL (Denmark), Aust-Agder Region Mayor JON-OLAV STRAND (Norway), Pori Mayor AINO-MAIJA LUUKKONEN (Finland) and Motala Mayor ELIAS GEORGES (Sweden). The discussion will be moderated by Latvian former Minister of Economy Daniels Pavluts.
What will future cities look like in our region? What challenges can we expect with increased concentration of population, increased numbers of cars, increased demand on resources and growing immigrant communities? And what real options are available today, as we are moving into the future? A two-hour discussion will offer examples of good practice and focus on how to create synergy between the community and the local government, how to build future cities in tight cooperation with society, ensuring that the cities meet our future needs.
If you are familiar with smart urban planning and gentrification, come and share your opinion! If you are not familiar with these ideas – come and listen, get inspired and become part of the change.
Discussion is organized by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia, the Embassy of Sweden, the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the Embassy of Finland and the Embassy of Denmark.
Before the discussion all interested journalists are invited to a coffee hour, which will offer an opportunity to meet the participants and ask questions. The coffee hour will take place at 14:45-15:45 at the Conference centre of the Cesis Castle manor 3rd floor, Pils laukums 9. If you are interested, register by contacting the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office adviser Maija Kale, ph. +371 26114496, maija@norden.lv.
