On 21 April the first selection process of the neighbourhood community development programme came to a close, with the first 60 neighbourhood communities out of a total of 225 applicants approved to take part. Neighbourhood communities in 40 of Latvia's 42 municipalities will receive mentor support, knowledge and funding for their initiatives through the “Safe Communities” programme.
The communities approved to take part in the programme can be viewed here.
Communities were selected for the programme in two rounds. The first assessed how well each community fitted the programme, while the second consisted of interviews that allowed the applicants to be got to know in greater depth. Competition in the selection was considerable – 88.9% of the applicants, or more than 200 communities, passed the first round and went through to the next stage.
Such a large and varied field of candidates for 60 places in the programme also meant difficult decisions for the regional selection committees – each had to choose 12 neighbourhood communities to admit from its own region. As Uldis Dūmiņš of Zemgales NVO atbalsta centrs, who together with his team decided on the selection of 58 communities, acknowledges:
“Selecting the communities was genuinely challenging. The applicants were highly motivated, and my colleagues and I had to make difficult decisions, taking into account the programme's conditions, the number of places available and the need to ensure balanced geographical coverage across all regions of Latvia.”
150 hours of emotion, laughter and surprises in the community interviews
At the same time, the interview process revealed just how varied communities invested in their neighbourhood and in the development of the people living there can be, and it served as a reminder that people's activity cannot be judged solely by the public projects they carry out. The interviews were also an opportunity to get to know communities that have been doing important work in their neighbourhoods for years but often go unnoticed because they do not attract public funding. After 34 interviews, Maija Jankovska, a representative of Kurzemes NVO centrs, says:
“We thoroughly enjoyed the interview process – there was laughter as well as tears of emotion. There is enormous diversity – from communities that have long known exactly what they are doing and from whom one can only learn, to brand-new initiatives in places where until now it had seemed that ‘nothing ever happens here’.” Liene Liepiņa, a representative of Valmieras novada fonds, likewise acknowledges that the interview process was a great source of inspiration: “Communities in Vidzeme are built by fantastic people. As long as there are people like that, the countryside has a future,” says Liene, noting at the same time her surprise that neighbourhood communities in the rural areas of Vidzeme have proved to be more active than those in the towns.
The programme as a springboard for new neighbourhood communities
Several representatives of emerging neighbourhood communities acknowledged in the interviews that the chance to take part in the programme – and the fact that it was open even to communities still in the making – had been decisive in their decision to start looking for like-minded people in their neighbourhood and to take responsibility for developing the community. Sandra Feldmane, community coordinator at Latvijas Pilsoniskā alianse, shares an example from Saulkrasti municipality:
“It felt as though nobody would apply in the first call, yet it was proved once again that sometimes the initiative of a single person is enough. One resident, having moved to Saulkrasti, had spent two years thinking that the neighbours ought to be brought together and got going. He got to know a local activist whom almost everyone knows – and now, as the emerging Zvejniekciems community, they are already part of the programme!”
Other communities expressed a similar feeling in the interviews – they can see that taking part in the programme will provide not only practical support, visibility and confidence in their plans, but will also encourage other residents of the neighbourhood to join in and to believe that being part of a neighbourhood community matters, given that its activities are supported and believed in even by people they have never met.
Meanwhile, a representative of the Jaunburtnieki neighbourhood in Mārupe municipality said in the selection interview that the access the programme offers to new methods, experience and opportunities for developing their work in the neighbourhood is particularly valuable:
“There is no need to reinvent the wheel. The “Safe Communities” programme is like a wheel that has already been invented – jump on and off you go!".
“Have yours bloomed yet?” – a sense of belonging planted together
In Latgale, the interview process highlighted the added value of the programme for the regional NGO support centres' cooperation with the public. As Oskars Zuģickis, coordinator of Dienvidlatgales NVO atbalsta centrs, explains:
“Applications to the programme in Latgale came from associations and communities as well as from thematic residents' interest groups. Although geographical belonging is an essential prerequisite for taking part in this programme, our contact with the communities gave us valuable information about how active the communities in the Latgale planning region are, and introduced us to many activists we had previously known little about. It is deeply satisfying to receive calls from communities full of joy and hope at having been accepted into the programme."
One of the communities approved for the programme in Latgale – the Dubuļi community from Rēzekne municipality – highlights the power of small, symbolic events that help to strengthen a sense of belonging: “Inspired by the programme's launch event, I headed home, and when I met up with my community we planted daffodils. On each little pot we wrote what we believe a community is. Everyone went home with their own pot, and after a while the daffodils began to bloom in them. Later, when we met, we would ask one another: "Have yours bloomed yet?" It is precisely these small, seemingly simple surprises that really matter.”
Summing up the conclusion of the first selection process, Inese Puriņa, head of the “Safe Communities” programme, acknowledges that the greatest satisfaction lies in knowing that the choices made in designing the programme were the right ones and match the needs of society today:
“It is gratifying to realise that for most participants the main motivation for taking part in the programme is the chance to gain knowledge, contacts and experience, and much less the chance to receive financial support. That confirms how important it is to inspire and support people in building relationships with one another in the neighbourhood where they live, and this matters equally in large cities, in small towns and in rural areas.”
It is this feeling – of creating and growing together and taking joy in small but meaningful changes – that the programme's organisers wish for all communities: both those beginning their participation in the programme this spring and those the programme team looks forward to welcoming in the coming selection rounds. The next of these runs from 21 September to 21 October 2026.
The “Safe Communities” programme will run in Latvia from 2026 to 2029 and is implemented by Latvijas Pilsoniskā alianse in cooperation with its regional partners – Dienvidlatgales NVO atbalsta centrs, Kurzemes NVO centrs, Valmieras novada fonds and Zemgales NVO centrs. The programme forms part of the project “Strengthening societal resilience and promoting community self-organisation”, which is co-financed by the European Union and the Latvian state.