SECON Stakeholder Group Meeting at Riga Planning Region
The 4th Stakeholder Group Meeting of SECON project took place on February 20, 2025 and was hosted by Jūrmala city branch of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency.
This ensured SECON outreach to several stakeholder organizations from Jūrmala. The stakeholders represented the Ministry of Welfare, Association of Social Entrepreneurship of Latvia, the municipalities of Jūrmala, Mārupe, and Ropaži, and social enterprises “Vilber’s”, “CareLat”, and “Safe Driving School”.
The agenda included three main items:
1) to discuss the Research report on “Social Economy Regional Needs, Attitudes and Perspectives” completed by SECON partners and the proposals for policy improvements. As already reflected in the report, the stakeholders once again emphasized the need for the following improvements:
- overcoming bureaucratic barriers, especially the ones related to support mechanisms
- reducing the burden of labour taxes
- strongly promoting socially responsible procurement
- clearly defining the roles of all levels of government and support institutions
- promoting awareness and understanding of the role of social economy: “see it as an investment and not as an expense”
- improving timely access to relevant information
2) the interregional learning event and experience exchange in Extremadura region of Spain. Stakeholders who visited Extremadura looked back on their experiences. Participants discussed the role of cooperatives and the diversity of cooperatives seen in Spain.
3) the forthcoming activities of SECON project, the role of Riga Planning region in the context of the Ministry of Welfare’s proposal for Latvia’s Social Economy Plan.
The stakeholders group meeting was also an opportunity for networking between social enterprises, municipalities, and central and regional government levels.
Prepared by Vita Žunda
Interreg Europe SECON project expert
Riga Planning Region
+371 29127527
