In the recent years, Latvia has become one of the popular destinations across Europe to pursue a higher education degree, launch a business or seek an employment. In the past two years, the number of foreign students enrolled in the major higher education institutions of Latvia has doubled, however after completing the studies, most of them decide to leave Latvia. Although the number of foreign students has increased (according to The Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LTRK), 60% of the medium and large scale enterprises in Latvia lack highly-skilled and educated labour force.
The forum Integration Dialogue is scheduled to take place in Dobele, Latvia from 14th to 18th September 2018 to identify problems faced by foreign nationals in Latvia, ideate and propose effective interventions, build impact-oriented long-lasting partnerships with local civil-society-led organisations and public authorities and develop a concrete Call for Action addressed to 16 political parties running for the 13th Parliament Elections.
Through role-play, research, case-studies, field visits, hands-on learning methods participants will enhance skills of advocacy for social change, critical thinking, negotiation, problem solving and cultural intelligence for leadership, as well as interact with some of the major stakeholders - political visionaries, NGO and grassroots practitioners and private sector representatives.
In close cooperation with industry experts and grassroots practitioners, the participants in the 5-day forum will develop the following:
- Call for Action - a concrete recommendation and problem statements of the identified issues faced by foreign nationals in Latvia addressed to 16 political parties running for the 13th Parliament Elections;
- National and international projects developing sustainable interventions in response to the identified issues, as well as raising awareness of the issues faced by foreign nationals in Latvia.
The project Youth Integration Dialogue is coordinated and organized by the not for profit organization Make Room Europe in cooperation with Shelter Safe House and think tank Providus. The forum is financed with the support of European Commission’s Erasmus+ programme administered in Latvia by the Agency for International Programs for Youth.
Contacts:
Miks Celmiņš, project coordinator
e-mail: miks@makeroomeu.com, phone: +371 27422525
http://makeroomeu.com/integrationdialogue/
