Integration monitor
Integration monitor is a daily Latvian press digest on ethnic minority and society integration issues. The Monitor reviews the biggest Latvian dailies: Diena, Latvijas Avize, Neatkariga (in Latvian language), Vesti Segodnya (in Russian language). In specific cases other information sources are used. Latvian Centre for Human Rights is not responsible for information published by the media.
March 2, 2015
- Programme "Ambassador of Latvia’s culture" implemented in 2014
Latvijas Avize writes about the programme "Ambassador of Latvia’s culture", implemented in 2014. Participants of the programme (25 representatives of minorities and majority population) took 64 academic hours of training on themes "Identity and culture", "Cooperation and dialogue in community" and "Culture projects development and implementation", in order to disseminate this knowledge throughout Latvia and facilitate cooperation of various different ethnicities as well as understanding of Latvia’s culture and its interaction with cultures of Latvia’s minorities. Latvijas Avize interviewed some of the graduates. Dmitrijs Trofimovs of Russian students’ corporation "Fraternitas Arctica" shares this knowledge with other members of the corporation. They also developed a project "1918-2018.Future" with travelling exhibition about the participation of ethnic minorities in Latvia’s war for independence. Natalija Ketnere, the editor of local Russian language weekly "Nedela Ogre", collected and published materials about Ogre as vacation town and its prominent personalities – Orthodox Christian pastor Georgijs Tailovs (politically repressed during Stalinist era), painter Karlis Hunu, opera singers Pauls Sakss and Elfrida Pakule. Jazeps Dobkevics, culture worker in Kraslava and representative of Latvia’s Polish union "Strumien", is grateful for the new information and highlights that Kraslava is a place benevolent to different cultures, as there are two Latvian schools, one Russian and one Polish school, as well as music and arts schools. He also believes there are stereotypes in the society about the students of Russian schools, which are untrue. Olga Rozko of Slavonic culture society "Rodnik" is grateful for new methods and new contacts, which are helpful in her work and cultural activities. The programme was developed by the Ministry of Culture, Latvia National Culture Centre and NGO "CultureLab".