On the invitation of our BRESE Project Partner, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia, a number of local Stakeholder came together in Riga for their first Meeting in Latvia. The Stakeholder Group consists of representative of a number of Ministries from both Latvia and Lithuania, e.g. the Ministry of Welfare of Latvia, the Ministry of Social Security and Labour of Lithuania and the Ministry of the Interior of Lithuania. Additionally, the meeting was attended by a representative from the projects’ advisory partner University of Latvia and two representatives from “Enterprise Lithuania”, a non-profit agency working on promoting social entrepreneurship in Lithuania (under the supervision of the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation of Lithuania). 

During the Meeting the local stakeholders received insights in the project, its objectives, tasks, the Kick off event, and progress made during the first semester. For the upcoming Semesters also planned activities were presented. An important part of the meeting was also the emphasis on the stakeholders' important role in the implementation of the BRESE project. In doing so, also the stakeholders' vision for their potential contribution to our project and their expectations were discussed.  

Last but not least, there was also room for the presentation of a Latvial social Enterprise: The “RB Cafe”, a Latvian social enterprise, which is the first cafe in the Baltics where the majority of staff employed are people with disabilities, gave the participants insights in their work. The company’s primary objective is to integrate people with disabilities into the Latvian labour market, reducing historical myths and stereotypes.  

Read more about the first local Stakeholder Meeting in Riga on the website of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development.