Riga - European Capital of Culture 2014 candidate

The “Mobile Centre” is Riga’s proposal for promoting andenhancing communication in 2014, serving as the messengerof the European Capital of Culture (ECC). Since the yearwill also mark the 10 th anniversary of Latvia’s accession tothe European Union, communication between Riga andother cities of Latvia and Europe will play a very importantrole in the Capital of Culture project, strengtheningEuropean values. Since Latvia is one of the easternmostcountries in the EU, the “Mobile Centre” as the messengerof the Riga project is vital to society psychologically,emphasizing the equal importance of the zone often consideredperipheral to the continuing development of theEuropean Union. The ‘Mobile Centres’ will create a spacewhere citizens of Riga, Latvia and Europe will find a forumto communicate the values important to their towns.The Riga project for 2014 envisages the decentralisation of culturalevents and the broad participation of the public in the EuropeanCapital of Culture programme not only in the environs of the capitalbut throughout Latvia and with a European dimension extendingto other EU countries.To more effectively attain these goals, small groups of messengersas well as larger ‘messenger units’ will spread the project’smessage through their visual design. These Capital of Culturemobile centre units will play a significant role beyond merely marketingthe project symbolically.the University, work-related travel and attendance at major events.The ‘Mobile Centres’ will bring other towns closer to Riga as anintegral aspect of the Capital of Culture project’s aim to embodyEuropean values, emphasising the cultural and historical links betweenRiga and other towns and offering visitors the opportunityto express their ideas, abilities and know-how.Riga has invited other towns in the region to follow the exampleof Sigulda and declare their readiness to participate in developingthe European Capital of Culture programme’s “MobileCentre.” Formal letters of agreement have been submitted byJūrmala, Daugavpils, Jelgava, Kuldīga, Dobele, Tukums, Limbaži,Staicele, Aloja, Salacgrīva, Balvi and Ventspils. Cēsis and Liepāja,also competing to become the European Capital of Culture, haveagreed in writing that they are prepared to cooperate in individualprojects if Riga is chosen as the ECC in 2014.At the European and Baltic Sea region levels, the focus will beon Sweden, Latvia’s ECC partner state in 2014, as well as on thetowns of the “New Amber Road”, a Riga initiative. The sayingpassed down since Swedish rule in the 17 th century – ‘the goodold Swedish era’ – will be the motto of an exhibit on wheels aboutthe current and historic ties between Riga and Sweden.The movement of the project from the centre of the city to theperiphery is the primary way in which Riga will inspire cooperationwithin the capital, the region, and throughout the country.Implementation of the “Mobile Centre” project in Riga’s outlyingdistricts will involve developing an expanded infrastructure,decentralising the city’s cultural facilities through development(the construction of a new cultural centre in the Latgale District,reconstruction of the philanthropist Augusts Dombrovskis’ early20 th century ‘palace of culture’ Ziemeļblāzma (“Northern Lights”)and the renovation of the historic district that surrounds it, andthe transformation of the Central Market’s warehouse area into a‘creative district’). The ‘Mobile Centres’ will have a long-term effecton urban development, serving as a platform for people-to-peoplecommunication and cultural activities as well as strengtheningneighbourhood identities.As a capital, Riga has intimate ties to other Latvian towns. In anage of rapid mobility, everyone in Latvia has developed a personalconnection to the capital – relatives, friends, children studying at136 137