The Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments (LALRG) held a conference in Toulouse, France on February 9th, 2012 to present information about Latvia and the role of LALRG. LALRG is a voluntary public organization established in 1991 to represent the interests of Latvia's 119 municipalities and 9 cities. Main goals include representing members' interests, promoting cooperation between local governments, and disseminating information. LALRG advocates for rural local governments in negotiations with national and EU institutions and implements projects focused on territorial cooperation and development.

1. Launching conference
Toulouse, 9th of February 2012

2. Presentation of Latvian
Association of Local and
Regional Governments
(LALRG)

3. Latvia at a glance
Population (inhabitants) 2 067 887
Surface area (km2) 64 589
Density (inhabit/ km2) 34.8
% rural population 30
GNP per capita ~10000 EUR
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4. Local governments in Latvia
110 municipalities
(«novads»)
9 cities
Total number: 119
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5. LALRG
• Voluntary public organization, established in 1991,
from 2004 defined as association
• Recognized as the legitimate partner in
negotiations with the Cabinet of Ministers
• Has the right to appoint representatives to the
CLRAE and the Committee of the Regions EU
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6. Main goals of LALRG
• to represent members’ interests and protect
their rights
• to form common opinion regarding self-
governments’ proposals
• to promote cooperation between self-
governments
• to disseminate information for self-
governments
• to provide training for self-governments
• to promote cooperation with self-governments
abroad

7. Input of the LALRG in
development rural territories
• Advocacy of rural LAs interests in
negotiations with central government and
the EU institutions
• Implementing projects
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8. Advocacy
 In EU level: We request fair and equal system
of direct payments for farmers
 In national level:
• advocacy in negotiations with Ministry of
Agriculture
• work in councils and working groups in national
level
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9. Achievements in national level:
• Increase of investments for improvements
of infrastructure of rural LAs
• Legislative amendments which results with
the development of rural LAs
• Advocacy of individual rural LAs interests
in land ownership disputes

10. Types of Projects
• Development cooperation
• Territorial cooperation
• TWINNING

11. Territorial Cooperation Projects
• EgoPrise
• OSEPA
• Baltic Sea Challenge – Cities for a Healthier Baltic
Sea
• 4POWER
• Geomatics Rural Information Society Initiative
PLUS

12. Baltic Sea Region Programme
Egoprise – to promote the approach of
entrepreneurship in public service sector
Aim: to develop e-governance
solutions in order to provide
support for small and medium
enterprises in Baltic Sea Region,
evaluating existing situation,
available services for
entrepreneurs for reducing
administrative burden to business
development, as well as develop
new e-services.
22 project partners involved from 8
Baltic Sea region countries
Project duration: till December 2012

13. INTERREG IVC
OSEPA
(Open Source Software Usage by European Public
Administrations)
• Aim: to raise awareness to
benefits from using open
source software and identify
obstacles to its
implementation.
• 13 project partners from 11
EU countries
• Project duration:
till December 2012

14. INTERREG Central Baltic IVA
Baltic Sea Challenge–Cities for a
Healthier Sea • Aim: to promote voluntary
actions for water protection
among coastal
municipalities
• Partners: LALRG, City of
Helsinki, City of Turku,
Centrum Balticum
(Finland), Tallinn City,
REC, ERKAS (Estonia)
• Project duration: till April
2012

15. INTERREG IVC
4POWER – Policy and Public-Private
Partnerships
for Offshore Wind Energy
• Aim: to prepare EU (coastal) regions for off shore
wind developments by exchanging knowledge,
experience and best practices
• Lead partner - Provincie Groningen (NL)
• 12 partners from Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta,
Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, UK, Latvia
• Project duration:
01.01.2012-31.12.2014

16. TWINNING
,, Europe for Citizens” Programme
,, Small Towns for Sustainable Growth”
• Aim – to promote the active participation of local
entities and the cultural and employment cooperation
at local level
• Partners:
Municipality Town Network Casalbeltrame, Italy
Town Network Mühlberg, Germany
Consorcio Eurolocal, Spain
Regional Association of Municipalities, Bulgaria
LALRG, Latvia
• Project duration: till December 2012

17. TWINNING
,, Europe for Citizens” Programme
,, Winning in Twinning!”
Aim: to exchange best practices and to pool
experiences between different programme
stakeholders promoting active Europe citizenship
Partners:
LALRG, Latvia
Regional Association of Municipalities, Bulgaria
Association of Estonian Cities, Estonia
CEMR French Section, France
Local Councils’ Association, Malta
The Mountain Community Iezer Muscel Association, Romania
Downpatrick Twinning Partnership, United Kingdom
Project duration: till December 2012

18. LALRG in GRISI PLUS and its
expectations
1. LALRG as awareness raiser on geomatics
2. LALRG as promoter of the use of geomatics tools
3. LALRG as disseminator of good practises
LALRG expectations:
Better
quality of
life
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19. Thank you!
Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments
1 Maza Pils street, Riga, LV 1050, Latvia
Ph.: +371 6750832, mob.ph.: +371 29197601
E-mail: mudite.priede@lps.lv
www.lps.lv