Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia in collaboration with the trade fair “Environment and Energy” organize an international conference "Nordic-Baltic Energy and Climate Challenge" to be held at Altum Conference Hall, Riga on 18 October 2018.
The goal of this conference is to highlight the joint Nordic-Baltic potential to cope with climate change and energy challenges and to strengthen the Baltic Sea region when it comes to competences and know-how to work with climate-related issues. Circular economy and smart mobility are increasingly popular concepts which also feature in the new EU economic models, as they can offer a better framework for environmentally friendly economic activities.
Nordic and Baltic cities are comparatively modest in size, but they seem to be offering exactly the kind of balance between nature and urbanity that the interconnected modern world needs. For the average-sized cities to become attractive for modern living, they must constantly change. Cities that generate waste and CO2 emissions will stay in the past – replaced by future cities that are willing to make their own contribution to solving the challenges of climate change and environmental pollution.
Director of the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Latvia Stefan Eriksson emphasises: “The Nordic Council of Ministers is extensively working with issues of circular economy and bio-economy, which provide future platforms for zero waste and renewable economies. Another topic closely related to this is mobility, since almost everything that we consume or experience involves some part of mobility. At the conference on Oct 18 we want to look at the issues of both circular economy and mobility, and see where these themes intersect. We would like to look upon these aspects through cities, that can be drivers for solutions when it comes to waste, CO2 emissions and social and environmental inclusion. The conference will have a focus on the perspective of medium-sized cities instead of megapolises, which is of special importance for the Nordic-Baltic region, and we are glad for the participation of mayors from several Latvian municipalities.”
The event is targeted to policymakers, municipality leaders and business representatives. The timing of the event is in accordance with the annual exhibition “Environment and Energy”, which takes place at Kipsala International Exhibition Centre from 19–21 October 2018. The exhibition opening will be followed by cluster presentations and B2B networking.
The conference is organized by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia in cooperation with the exhibition "Environment and Energy", Smart City Cluster, Embassy of Norway in Latvia, Embassy of Sweden in Latvia, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Cleantech Latvia and EEA programme (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway).
