CIVIC ENGAGEMENT FAIR was held on October 30, 2015, from 10:00 to 16:30 in Riga, Aspazijas Boulevard 5, UL Faculty of Economics and Management, hall on the 3rd floor (University of Latvia).
This event was an excellent opportunity for the volunteering organisations of Latvia to present their activity to a wider audience as well as probably attract new members. At the same time, it was a good possibility for the participants, UL Faculty of Economics and Management students, teaching staff and wider audience to learn more about the volunteering organizations and gain new contacts for further cooperation.
Latvian Civic Engagement Fair took place on 30/10/2015 at the lobby of the Faculty of Economics and Management of the University of Latvia (from 10:00 to 16:30, Aspazijas Boulevard 5, Riga). As it was anticipated in the project application the Civic Engagement Fair was organised for citizens to learn about different local volunteer initiatives in Latvia.
8 different NGOs (volunteering organisations) participated in the Civic Engagement Fair representing also different social groups or segments of the society (e.g. youth, general public, business orientation) and different active citizenship engagement profiles – Erasmus Student Network Riga organisation promoting students` mobility and cultural awareness and integration, DEMOLA Latvia/IT Cluster and JCI Latvia promoting youth education and practical cooperation with business sector, the Samaritan Association of Latvia and Latvian Red Cross promoting active citizenship and general public good, AIESEC Latvia, creative association “TREPES” (eng: STAIRS), organisation “Go Beyond” promoting active citizenship and personal, professional development of youth.
Lectures were organised during the Fair. One of the local aims of the event was to break the myth of volunteering being a `thing` for young people only and this was successfully achieved by inviting general public good and business cooperation orientated volunteering organisations where age aspect is of no concern such as the Samaritan Association of Latvia, Latvian Red Cross, DEMOLA Latvia/IT Cluster and JCI Latvia, as well as by promoting the event through press releases, social media presence and on national radio broadcast and television that well resulted in Fairs` audience being people of different age, too. The conference part of the Fair was devoted to exploration of experiences and perspectives of voluntary work in Latvia.
According to the feedback by the very participants, the NGOs, of the Civic Engagement Fair at the University of Latvia one of the main benefits for them, apart from promoting their activities to general public, was also a chance to get to know better other volunteering organisations in Latvia and share their experiences in many similar dimensions of their work, e.g. recruiting members, administrative issues, fundraising, cooperation with industry and other.
Overall the Civic Engagement Fair at the University of Latvia was a very successful event that brought together organisations and people interested in volunteering activities, facilitated and contributed to the public discussion about the growing topicality of active citizenship through volunteering as well as created a networking platform for the development of further cooperation among volunteering organisations, general public and academic environment.
As for the indirect impact, the Civic Engagement Fair facilitated and contributed to the public discussion about the growing topicality of active citizenship through volunteering by targeted communication with volunteering organizations, public virtual appearances in social media and through press release as well as through presence on national radio broadcast and television to reach wide circles of general public. The estimated number of audience reached through indirect impact most likely reached several thousand people.
University of Latvia has attracted more than 20 volunteers for the organisation of the Civic Engagement Fair later engaged in organising local volunteering initiative. More than 60 participants of general public, including students, seniors and representatives from different regional municipalities of Latvia that visited the Fair.
Project`s planned and implemented activities as well as its` results are being and will be disseminated to a wider general public through communication with volunteering organizations, public virtual appearances (at least 15 times in total) in social media (at least nine times e.g. on the Facebook, Twitter, Draugiem.lv), through press releases (at least four times e.g. on WEB pages and news portals) as well as through presence on national radio broadcast and television before the Civic Engagement Fair (from October 9 till October 30, 2015). The information is being disseminated in English, Latvian and Russian languages.
The Civic Engagement Fair at the University of Latvia was itself an innovative approach mainly due to the fact that it brought together the main and impactful actors of the organized civil society – NGOs (volunteering organizations), academic environment, representatives from different regional municipalities of Latvia and the general public that visited the Fair. As a result the Fair can undoubtedly be considered as `good practice` for facilitation and contribution to the public discussion about the growing topicality of active citizenship through volunteering.
Contact presons - project coordinators Romāns Putāns (t.29442854, Этот адрес электронной почты защищен от спам-ботов. Для просмотра адреса в вашем браузере должен быть включен Javascript.) and Olga Stariņeca ( Этот адрес электронной почты защищен от спам-ботов. Для просмотра адреса в вашем браузере должен быть включен Javascript.).
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