As various internal migration processes continue within Latvian society, researchers from the LLU Faculty of Economics and Social Development will begin a study of newcomers in rural Latvia, analysing their importance in promoting demographic growth and their integration, with particular attention also being paid to international students as a specific social group of newcomers.

The study is part of the State Research Programme "Letonica for the development of a Latvian and European society" project "New solutions for the study of demography and migration processes for the development of a Latvian and European knowledge society" (VPP-LETONIKA-2021/4-0002), the joint implementation of which has been agreed upon by the University of Latvia, Rezekne Academy of Technologies, and LLU.

"Like other post-Soviet countries, since the 1990s, Latvia has also been facing various challenges in demographic processes: a decline in birth rates, an increase in mortality, and emigration. We know that a prerequisite for the development of any territory is the quantitative and qualitative renewal of society, but we are seeing the ageing of our population and a decrease in the number of inhabitants. Consequently, attracting new residents, especially in regions with negative demographic trends, is crucially important," says the LLU group's scientific supervisor for the project, Associate Professor Ženija Krūzmētra of the Faculty of Economics and Social Development.
Photograph by Konsta Punkka used