Good practice:

Local community action groups – platforms of coastal development

Coastal challenges are specific to the areas are not limited to administrative boundary of a single municipality, therefore it requires the involvement and cooperation among various municipalities located on the coast.To address issues related to development of coastal municipalities, the platform involve relevant stakeholders and actively steer fishing cultural heritage protection and promotion activities, community action groups are developing joint inter-territorial or transnational projects and pool additional resources to address development issues important to the coast, where the municipalities and its inhabitants benefit, but do not require direct municipal resources. Project results are usable by municipal institutions. Examples of cooperation results worth noting are:
• Facilitating cooperation among coastal museums and local history centres;
• Transfer of knowledge and methodology about protection, documentation and promotion of fishing cultural heritage of communities involved;
• Maintaining regular contacts with local fisrmen and their families in planning projects and events;
• Documenting fishing cultural heritage, i.e., lamprey catching traditions and knowledge;
• Eat Local Fish initiative;
• Organization of lamprey and other fish and sea festivals;
• Preservation and promotion of Vidzeme coastal fishing traditions;
• Participating in development of local plans and services;
• Preparation of joint projects in above noted areas.

All cooperation projects were implemented with a financial support of European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.

Various target groups are involved in all cooperation projects, which have also increased the level of knowledge about traditional cultural heritage on the coast. In co-creation several products development:
Code of good practice for innovative forms of local heritage promotion
Guidelines for "Sustainable Coastal and Dune Management"
Fishing Heritage Experience Stories documented
A website has been developed, which summarises the stories of Vidzeme coastal fishermen, digitized objects

Mobilization and involvement of target groups and beneficiaries
Development of quality projects
Integration of project results

Local action groups are important players in community development
Capacity to involve various stakeholder municipalities, entrepreneurs and various groups of the population on local level.
Cooperation scope has no limits.
Groups attract additional funding for development initiatives, also attract appropriate specialists and mobilize people to work together.
Groups can and do offer their capacity to achieve goals where municipalities and businesses lack resources, thus complementing the efforts of the areas concerned.