On 23 August 2023, the second meeting of the Convention of Regional Development Advisors to the Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Māris Sprindžuks, took place. Representatives from all five planning regions and the Latvian Association of Local Governments participated in the convention, providing an opportunity for direct discussion on regional development challenges and potential solutions, as well as ensuring a permanent information link with municipalities across the entire territory of Latvia.
Representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science (IZM) and the Ministry of the Interior (IeM) were also invited to the second meeting to discuss matters related to the school network reform and the creation of a unified public order (State Police, municipal police) network. Other current developments in the work of the planning regions were also discussed, including a request for funding to strengthen the capacity of the planning regions, among others.
At the meeting, an IZM representative provided information on the planned school network organisation process, aimed at ensuring quality education and equal opportunities for acquiring educational programmes regardless of a student's place of residence, as well as improving the management of the education system’s infrastructure, human capital, and financial resources. There was also a discussion on the validity, relevance, and implementation of the proposed quality assessment criteria for educational institutions, their link to the school accreditation process, an effective funding model for educational institutions, and the division of responsibilities between the state and local governments when implementing the new model. It was noted that some progress had been made in the consultation process between the IZM and local governments regarding a shared understanding of the situation and the creation of appropriate solutions. However, the solution for the secondary school stage remains fundamentally unresolved, including its link to the vocational education system under the purview of various ministries. The Minister invited the IZM to continue the dialogue with the involved partners and pointed out that it is essential to find a mechanism for the coordinated management of school network organisation, while also evaluating other aspects essential for territorial development – such as mobility opportunities, the quality of service infrastructure, etc.
During the meeting, in a discussion with an IeM representative, the participants reviewed a proposal to create a unified state and municipal civil protection platform, establishing a consolidated model for an infrastructure facility monitoring system, which was supported by the IeM. This would allow for the timely anticipation and preparation for various risks and enable prompt responses to them, including informing the public; such a platform would be useful both in ensuring public order and in implementing civil protection measures. Consequently, an agreement was reached on future cooperation between the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM), the IeM, and the planning regions regarding the organisation of the public order network.
The Convention of Regional Development Advisors is part of the Ministry’s strategy to strengthen planning regions as an effective platform for making planning decisions between sectoral ministries and municipalities in each region, developing and implementing regional policy focused on the cohesion of regional socio-economic development through the collaborative use of state and municipal resources, opportunities, and the coordinated use of development-promoting instruments available in the country.
The goal of establishing the convention is to ensure a regular exchange of information between the Ministry and the planning regions regarding the development, implementation, monitoring, and coordination of regional policy, to mitigate depopulation processes and foster economic growth, as well as to improve the availability and accessibility of services in the regions.