Municipality/Region

Brocni, Latvia

Summary

The population of the town of Brocni, Latvia has historically been diverse, with more than 15% of residents having other nationalities—and this proportion is growing. Therefore, in the planning of development strategies for the area, one of the municipality’s aims is to create a multicultural environment with support for diversity and inclusive policy initiatives.

The municipality has implemented a variety of measures in this regard, helping to prevent fissures in society caused by ethnic prejudice. Work on social inclusion is ongoing and aims to adapt to the varying needs of individuals.

Areas of integration covered by practice

Fighting discrimination and promoting diversity

Background and purpose

The practices were put in place because, after the break-up of the Soviet Union, society split into two groups that often had hostile attitudes towards each other—native Latvians and those who came to live and work in Latvia as a result of the Soviet Union’s economic and political planning.

It was difficult to prevent conflicts in public places, in educational institutions among students and in workplaces among colleagues. This situation affected the academic achievement levels of students and led to a decline in the community’s cultural life, as well as other problems. For example, the health of many residents declined due to living for a long time in a degraded social environment. This in turn affected residents’ ability to maintain their previous standard of living. As a result of the emotional strain, many couples divorced, and the birth rate fell. Many families with children decided to leave the area altogether.

Timeframe

Certain activities began in 2009, but most of the investment and activities started in 2012 and are ongoing.

How does it work?

The municipality implements various projects and support programmes, the majority of which are oriented towards children, young people and socially active people who can have a significant impact on public opinion. Residents are actively involved not only in cultural and leisure events but also in the district’s policy planning and even in the physical development of the district through voluntary work and other activities.

Arts

The municipality provides 100% funding for amateur art collectives and groups interested in arts-related activities. This provides equal opportunities to residents—irrespective of their gender, nationality, religious affiliation or ethnicity—to spend their free time meaningfully and to come together in small groups to achieve a common goal.

The municipality’s choirs, dance groups, amateur theatre, folklore groups, crafts school and other groups have performed well in national shows and competitions and have been invited to participate in various international projects. Creative and artistic groups are actively involved in events that take place in the municipality, making them more interesting and entertaining for residents while increasing pride in the area and improving cooperation with less socially active residents.

Sports

Sports activities are another important element of the municipality’s efforts. The municipality organises sporting events and provides funding for the Brocni sports school for children. The city has also built a high ropes trail.

The municipality’s annual ‘Olympic Games’ have become a tradition. Teams of residents compete in various sporting events, while many sports activities are also organised for the public. For example, ‘Ghost Night’ includes a high ropes course for young people, walks for older people and races for families.

Centres for youth and the elderly

The city has created a centre for young people and one for the elderly. Each centre creates chances for people from those specific groups to meet while also working on various projects or taking part in different activities. In addition, the centres are involved in European Structural Funds projects that enable young people to participate in various exchange programmes and older people to participate in remembrance events for those who died in the Afghanistan war, victims of political repression or the ‘liquidators’ of the Chernobyl disaster, for example.

Multicultural festival

In order to popularise inclusive policies and encourage a positive attitude towards different cultures, the municipality organises a multicultural festival each year with festivities in the town and other public events. The programme for the festival is prepared carefully to ensure that the events are physically accessible to all residents and that the activities or expressions do not discriminate against any group of residents.

Targeted events

There is also a set of smaller measures directed towards specific groups. Examples are the ‘Little Footprints’ festival, when the municipality welcomes all families with children living in the district of Brocni, and ‘Parents’ Day’, when educational institutions invite students and their parents to take part in sports activities or other projects.

Inclusive work environment

In 2018, the municipality engaged in a programme to support an inclusive working environment. The programme’s goal is to find ways to facilitate and maximise labour market inclusion for individuals with different religious beliefs, language abilities or disabilities, single parents and other social groups who have difficulties in finding work, in being included in the workplace or in retaining a job when the working conditions do not permit balance between an individual’s physical capacity or home situation and customary workplace practices.

As part of this programme, the municipality first carried out a review of the working environment in the city’s own administration and institutions under its direction. The municipality also emphasises the importance and benefits of an inclusive working environment when it collaborates with NGOs and to businesses that operate in the municipality and other partners.

Results and evaluation

Each year, there is an evaluation of the results of projects, requests from residents for specific activities, residents’ satisfaction levels and other factors. These results enable the municipality to improve its action plans for inclusive policies and facilitate understanding of the activity areas.

Public surveys of residents have found that residents’ satisfaction with the district and its activities have increased significantly. The surveys are conducted through the municipality’s website as well as in paper format at public meetings. There is also an assessment of competitions or rankings made by other organisations, such as data from the competitions organised by the State, including contests for the most family-friendly municipality and a competition to find organisations that promote diversity.

An indication of positive results of the activities and policies implemented is the overall increase in the number of residents in the district in recent years, which is linked both to a rise in the birth rate and to the fact that many families first arriving in Latvia or returning to it after a long absence are choosing to live in this district.

Moreover, in recent years, there have been no recorded public disturbances or conflicts based on nationality, religion or intrinsic differences between individuals.

Funding

In addition to implementing individual projects, there are several activities in the municipality’s inclusive policies action plan that form part of the municipality’s budget. For example, in recent years, more than 15% (over EUR 1 million) of the municipality’s total budget expenditure has been channeled to cultural, religious and recreational events for residents, and 40% (over EUR 3 million) has been spent to ensure the work of educational institutions, including the maintenance and development of the sports school for children and young people.

The municipality seizes every opportunity to obtain European Structural Funds or resources from the national budget for individual activities. The following are a few of the projects that have been implemented in the municipality (including ongoing projects):

• Youth project ‘Social inclusion in youth centres’, financed by the EU’s Erasmus+ programme
• Project entitled ‘Creation of a family-friendly environment and promotion of civic participation in the district of Brocni’, financed by the Latvian national budget
• Project organised at the national level entitled ‘Raising the quality of youth work in your municipality’, part of the international project ‘Strategic Partnership “Quality youth work on municipal level”’
• Project entitled ‘Measures to promote the health of the local community and prevent illness in the district of Brocni’, financed by the European Social Fund
• Project entitled ‘Creation of a family-friendly environment and promotion of civic participation in the district of Brocni’, financed by the Brocni district municipality
• Project entitled ‘Mobile youth work in the district of Brocni’, financed by the national budget

Further information

Intercultural Festival 2018

Little Footprints Festival 2018

Promoting an inclusive work environment