We will look for answers on 10 April in Valmiera, at the conference “Education with a Purpose: Curiosity – Profession – Employee”
On 10 April, Valmiera will host the national conference “Education with a Purpose: Curiosity – Profession – Employee”, bringing together entrepreneurs, education experts and representatives of national and local government to discuss the quality of education, its links to the needs of the economy, and the development of knowledge throughout life. It is organised by the association “Latvijas Koks”, with support from AS “Latvijas Finieris”, SIA “4PLUS”, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences and the Latvian Forest Industry Federation, while Valmiera Municipality, AS “Latvijas valsts meži” and the Employers' Confederation of Latvia are the conference's information partners.
The association “Latvijas Koks”, part of the Latvian Forest Industry Federation, is holding this inspiring and practical conference in Valmiera together with Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences for the second year running. “For our organisation, the central theme is the growth of people and, with it, of society as a whole. By bringing together creative, critically minded specialists who seek solutions, we aim to develop synergy between education, science and business,” says Sigita Alksne, board member of the association “Latvijas Koks”. “This year the aim of the conference is to bring together educational institutions, businesses and the public sector in order to encourage closer cooperation and to prompt the joint creation of purposeful educational content based on the demands of the future labour market, as well as to seek solutions for a systematic approach to building pupils' interest in the bioeconomy sectors and broadening their knowledge of the importance of these sectors to the Latvian economy.”
A career choice begins with curiosity
Alongside digital skills and knowledge of STEM subjects – so badly needed by the engineering and technical professionals who are currently in acute short supply in Latvia – cognitive, collaborative and work-efficiency skills such as analytical thinking, leadership, creativity, adaptability, self-awareness and empathy are also vital for today's and tomorrow's employees. If we wish to maintain Latvia's competitiveness, we must act without delay to ensure that this combination of skills is both comprehensively integrated into school curricula and available to employers and employees through convenient lifelong learning solutions.
Dace Namsone, head of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Educational Innovation at the University of Latvia, agrees that purposefully developed knowledge geared towards the future labour market, and the learning content that follows from it, can no longer be merely a standardised product of the education system. How can we ensure that, through cooperation between schools, businesses and local authorities, the curiosity of Latvia's young specialists is nurtured right from the first year of school? At the conference, Dace Namsone is ready to set out a detailed vision: “Choosing a career in STEM is bound up with pupils' interest, understanding and sense of belonging. That is why teaching pupils to think and to do – to ‘be a researcher and an engineer' – and to learn effectively becomes more important at school than anything else. Involving entrepreneurs in cooperation with schools and local authorities can help pupils gain that sense of belonging through learning experiences in a ‘real' life setting, helping them overcome the constraints of the digital age and build positive relationships with their surroundings and with society.”
A skilled workforce – the driving force of the economy
At the same time, as lifelong learning and retraining become an integral part of the labour market, companies must think not only about training new specialists but also about the continuous development of their existing employees. Rapidly changing technology and automation demand flexibility and the ability to acquire new skills throughout life, particularly given that the labour market of the future will be dominated by middle-aged specialists. Latvia will have to find a balance between educating the local workforce and attracting highly qualified specialists from other countries, in order to maintain competitiveness and foster economic growth in the regions.
“Future competitiveness depends directly on how quickly our society acts – including the state and the social partners,” says Kaspars Gorkšs, Director General of the Employers' Confederation of Latvia and one of the conference's speakers. “Our answer to economic stagnation must be a more highly skilled workforce, and for that we need to understand that digitalisation across all sectors will be one of the preconditions allowing the workforce to work more productively and more intelligently. Without forgetting today's security challenges, we finally need to create a single platform for organising the adult retraining process from the individual's point of view rather than the state's.”
Māris Būmanis, board member of AS “Latvijas Finieris”, will also speak at the conference about the need for closer cooperation between business and education: “To ensure that new professionals enter the labour market, and that existing employees can build on their competences through lifelong learning, we need to forge closer ties and look for synergies between educational institutions at various levels and companies, as well as employers' professional organisations. Cooperation with the education ecosystem and its various levels is not, however, only about attracting new employees. The education system also values and expects our involvement as entrepreneurs – from its point of view, as clients – in improving its performance and evaluating its work.”
Learning throughout life
It is clear that in this dynamic age of technological and knowledge development, people must at every moment know and be able to do more than they did the day before. That is why, in the 21st century, a single diploma earned in one's youth is no longer enough – everyone has to learn, and will have to keep learning, throughout life. Does the current education system provide opportunities to acquire the varied, up-to-date skills and knowledge that make it possible to create higher value-added products and services? Is the education system, and higher education institutions in particular, ready to change and adapt so that it can proactively address the mismatch between skills and the challenges set by the labour market? What has already been resolved, and what is missing from what the education system offers in support of the country's economic competitiveness? How does one choose what to study and where, and what will genuinely prove useful? At the conference we will seek answers to these questions together with Agnese Dāvidsone, Rector of Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, and Mārcis Auziņš, professor and chair of the council at the University of Latvia. He reminds us of a simple but noteworthy truth: “When the doors of formal schooling close, the real joy of learning is only beginning. That is the time not only to acquire new skills and professions, but also to learn for the sheer joy of it – without knowing which "dot" of knowledge will connect with the rest in the future and turn out to be decisive.
The conference will take place on 10 April in Valmiera at Cēsu iela 4 (the conference hall of Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences), from 10.00 to 16.00.
Registration for participation: https://www.latforin.lv/konference-2025