Best project awards in Latvia

Official Title:

Country:

Latvia

Region:

Liepāja

ID:

GPM013-LV01

Description

Context, needs, opportunity:

The Liepaja FLAG (which is also a LAG) operates in a coastal area with an economy that is strongly dependent on agriculture and small-scale fisheries.

An important challenge for the FLAG is to ensure the involvement of the local community and to promote awareness of its activities. Another challenge is to ensure that potential beneficiaries propose a sufficient number of good quality projects, which are in line with the local strategy.

The best project awards aim to:

Disseminate information about (F)LAG support and ensure community involvement;
Showcase examples of good projects that can inspire and encourage potential beneficiaries;
Collect data on results and promote accountability among project promoters for achieving results.

The idea of the competition is to achieve these objectives in a “fun” way.

The competition was organised each year between 2010 and 2014, to identify the best projects supported by the (F)LAG. The next event is foreseen for 2017. There are five categories of awards for LEADER projects:

Local government of the year
The most successful rural business
The most active organisation/NGO
The best youth initiative
The project of the year – in terms of improving the quality of life in the F/LAG area

And three categories for fisheries CLLD:

The best tourism development initiative
The most successful fisheries business
The project of the year – in terms of the development of the fisheries area

Any member of the community can nominate a project, and three nominations are then selected as best projects for each category by a committee of 13 (F)LAG members. Projects are awarded on the basis of the following criteria:

Results achieved, impact in the area
The quality of the partnership behind the project (stakeholders, sectors involved)
The contribution to the goals of the (F)LAG strategy

Main achievements:

The awards improve the visibility of (F)LAG work and serve as inspiration for other project promoters, while also providing the FLAG with an opportunity to collect data, analyse results and impacts of projects and promote accountability among project promoters.

The awards ceremony is also an important social event, which helps to strengthen community cohesion. Each event has attracted around 120-160 participants and involves all local authorities.
The ceremony takes place in a different location every year, and there is a growing interest from the eight local authorities that are part of the F/LAG to host the event.

Transferability:

Potentially all FLAGs could organise such project competitions.
It would be particularly relevant for FLAGs in areas where it is difficult to attract good quality projects or for FLAGs that would like to raise the profile of their work among the fisheries community and sector.

Lessons:

It is important to find the right time for the awards ceremony (one event was organised just before Christmas and generated less interest because of the busy schedule of participants during this period).
The end of January/February proved to be a better time. Events like this, and the momentum generated by the selection and nomination process, help to foster a sense of belonging in the FLAG/community, as it entails considerable contact between nominees, FLAG members (local authorities and other stakeholders) and the FLAG management.

Resources

Skills:

Communication
Project management
Media management

Financial resources:

The two managers of the LAG/FLAG devote a large share of their working time to this initiative for the two months before event. Beyond the time of the mangers, direct expenses linked to this event (catering, rooms etc.) do not normally exceed €2000 (the philosophy is to keep the costs down and find all opportunities to draw on the assistance of volunteers and the resources of the local authorities that host the event). The event is promoted on the website of the F/LAG, on social media and in local newspapers.