State Research Programmes are research programmes funded from the state budget and initiated by the sectoral ministries. These programmes aim to create new knowledge, expertise and innovations, develop new solutions to contribute to the development of the specific field and strategic national development goals. Sectoral ministries define the goals and objectives of the State Research Programme of their interest and ensure the necessary funding from the state budget. Organization of project calls and evaluation of the research proposals is carried out by the Latvian Research Council. 

The Ministry of Culture of Latvia implements the State Research Programme ‘Latvian Culture: a Resource for National Development’ 2023–2026.

The general goal of the Programme is the development and effective use of Latvian culture for the sustainable development of Latvia.

The goal of the Programme is to develop a knowledge base for the current and historical processes of Latvian culture, the cultural and creative industries as agents of these processes, and the contribution of culture to the sustainable development of the country.

In order to achieve the goal of the programme, the following programme tasks are to be set:

1. develop a new knowledge base for the current trends in Latvian culture and creative industries (literature, music, theatre and dance, visual arts, design, architecture, audiovisual and film arts, interdisciplinary creative forms and cultural heritage, including traditional culture and crafts), including:

1.1. the accessibility of cultural products and services to the Latvian public, including access to contemporary cultural forms, as well as the role and interaction of the public and private sectors in shaping cultural products and services;

1.2. employment and income generation patterns and trends in the cultural and creative industries and the relevance of the provision of education at all levels for job market demand and trends;

1.3. the impact of digital technologies on cultural consumption patterns, the processes of creation and distribution of cultural content, and the generation of income from creative activities;

2. develop a new knowledge base for historical processes of significance for Latvia’s cultural and creative industries with lasting impact on contemporary culture, including cultural developments during the years of Soviet occupation;
 
3. develop approaches for assessing the social and economic impact of cultural and creative industries, in particular on the quality of life and on well-being, health, education, and social inclusion, environment and climate, and innovation, increasing the knowledge and understanding of the current and potential contribution of the cultural and creative industries to these fields and contributing to the sustainable development of the country.

The total funding for the Programme for the 2023–2026 is EUR 1,433,800.  The Programme is financed using state budget funds allocated as part of the Ministry of Culture state budget programme 20.00.00 ‘Cultural Education". 

Project leader: Dr.art. Rūta Muktupāvela

Project No: VPP-MM-LKRVA-2023/1-0001

Project implementation: 18.09.2023.-17.09.2026.

Project funding: 1 333 800.00 EUR

Funded by: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia

Project partners: Latvian Academy of Culture (LAC), Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (JVLAM), Art Academy of Latvia (AAL), National Library of Latvia (NLL), Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of University of Latvia (ILFA)

Contacts: Project coordinator and lead researcher Dr.art. Ieva Vītola, ieva.vitola(abols)lka.edu.lv

Project coordinator at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music professor, researcher, Dr. art. Jānis Kudiņš, janis.kudins(abols)jvlma.lv

Project “Cultural and creative ecosystem of Latvia as a resource of resilience and sustainability”/CERS (Nr. VPP-MM-LKRVA-2023/1-0001) is funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia in the framework of the State Research Programme “Latvian Culture – a Resource for National Development” (2023-2026). The State Research Programme is administered by the Latvian Council of Science.

The goal of the project

The goal of the projectis to create new knowledge based on an interdisciplinary research approach about the 1) manifestations of the resilience of the CCE in the current processes, especially by shedding light on the dynamics of the cultural offer and accessibility in the face-to-face and digital environment, as well as the employment and education processes of the sector; 2) the connection with historical processes, emphasizing and evaluating the role of the Soviet period to understand current culture and arts; 3) representations of the social and economic impact on the sustainable development of society. The goal will be addressed by application of three key meta-theoretical concepts: these of ecosystem, resilience and sustainability.

Summary

The project CERS (Cultural and Creative Ecosystem of Latvia as a Resource for Resilience and Sustainability) explores the arts and cultural values that are key for Latvia’s sustainable development and resilience and their contributions to cultural and creative ecosystem.

The project will explore the most important current and historical processes of Latvian culture, and the cultural and creative industries as agents of these processes.

Applying qualitative and quantitative research methods, horizontal studies and case studies, the project will analyse current tendencies in the cultural and creative industries (literature, music, theatre and dance, visual arts, design, architecture, audiovisual and film arts, traditional culture): cultural offer and access; employment and income generation patterns, the relevance of education supply to labour market demand and trends; the impact of digital technologies on cultural consumption patterns, on the processes of creating and distributing cultural content, and the generation of revenue from creative activities.

The project will develop a new knowledge base on the impact of historical processes, including the Soviet occupation period, on contemporary cultural, artistic and creative processes.
The social and economic impact of the cultural and creative industries will also be explored by increasing knowledge and understanding of the current and potential contribution and role of the cultural and creative industries in the sustainable development of the country. Particular emphasis is given to research methodologies, including the measuring of socio-economic impacts, artistic research, and digital methods.

The research quality, implementation and impact are based on the high capacity of the consortium of five research institutions (Latvian Academy of Culture, Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, Art Academy of Latvia, National Library of Latvia, Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of University of Latvia), evidenced by their scholarly output, international reach, the synergy of research, academic and artistic activity, and close functional connections with policy-makers and arts/cultural practitioners. The research project proposes an in-depth and interdisciplinary view of the cultural and arts environment, creating extensive impacts for policy, cultural sector and education.

Main activities of the project

Execution of the project has been divided into six work packages (WP) with particular tasks, deliverables, milestones and those responsible for implementation.

Work package 1: Current development trends in the cultural and creative industries: cultural offer and accessibility (contact persons: Anda Laķe (LAC) and Agita Gritāne (AAL))

The aim of the WP is to generate new knowledge on the creation of a diverse cultural offer, the groups of actors involved in the CCE (cultural and creative ecosystem), the linkages of these processes with the accessibility of culture and the potential for inclusive dialogue with groups at risk of exclusion from culture.

Work package 2: Current development trends in the cultural and creative industries: employment, revenue generation patterns, the correspondence of the education offer to labour market demand and trends (contact person: Ilona Kunda (LAC))

The aim of the WP is to generate new knowledge on employment patterns and forms of precarious employment in the CCSs (cultural and creative sectors) in general, in specific fields, and to compare these forms in the private and public sectors; to assess the correspondence of arts/cultural education offer to long-term labour market demand; to develop a methodology for measuring labour market demand to adapt it to the specificities of the CCSs and employment patterns.

Work package 3: The manifestations of digital technologies at different stages of the production cycle of the cultural and creative ecosystem and their impact on the patterns of consumption of culture (contact persons: Pauls Daija (NLL), Līga Vinogradova (LAC), Inese Sirica (AAL))

The objective of the WP is to generate new knowledge on the impact of digital technologies and the digital gap on people's cultural consumption habits, on the processes of creating, distributing, and preserving cultural content, and on the generation of revenue from creative work, in order to develop the digital maturity of operators in the CCE and to foster transformative resilience strategies in the sector.

Work package 4: Representation in the contemporary culture of historical processes that are significant for the Latvian cultural and creative sector (contact persons: Edīte Tišheizere (ILFA), Kristiāna Ābele (AAL), Jānis Kudiņš (JVLAM))

The objective of the WP is to develop a new knowledge base on the historical, including political-ideological, processes of the Soviet period that have a lasting impact on contemporary culture and are relevant to the resilience of the Latvian CCS ecosystem and the sustainability of society. This will be done by focusing on the processes specific to cultural and artistic sectors, as well as by identifying common trends in the manifestations of history in the context of contemporary culture.

Work package 5: Development of approaches for the assessment of the social and economic impact of cultural and creative sectors (contact persons: Ieva Zemīte (LAC), Baiba Tjarve (LAC), Liene Jākobsone (AAL))

The aim of the WP is to generate new theoretical and empirical knowledge on the current and potential contribution of CCSs to the sustainable development of society and country; to develop approaches for the assessment of the social and economic impact of CCSs, in particular on quality of life and well-being of citizens, health, education and social inclusion, environment and climate, and innovation.

Work package 6: Project Management and Synergies Across the Consortium (contact person: Ieva Vītola (LAC))

The aims and objectives of this work package are as follows:
1) to provide integration and synergies among partner’s research and academic activities to strengthen the competitiveness of the CERS interdisciplinary team;
2) to carry out the project within a set timeframe and financial framework.

Group of researchers JVLAM working within the framework of the project CERS:

Dr. Anda Beitāne, lead researcher in the project, professor, researcher

Dr. Jānis Kudiņš, lead researcher in the project, professor, researcher

Dr. Lauma Mellēna-Bartkeviča lead researcher in the project, researcher

Dr. Indriķis Veitners, researcher, professor

Mg. Edgars Raginskis, researcher, research assistant, PhD candidate

Mg. Kristiāna Vaickovska, researcher, invited research assistant, PhD candidate 

Bc. Inga Stankeviča, Mg candidate, researcher, student (2023/2024) 

The project consists of following research activities: 

* Representation of the traditional music in contemporary culture processes 

Lead researcher Dr. Anda Beitāne. 

Planned results: elaboration of the research and publishing in peer-reviewed scientific issue, or-ganization of an international scientific conference in JVLAM, research-related ummer school in Nīca.

* Subproject “Less researched processes and issues of music culture and creation during the Soviet occupation (1940s – 1980s) and transition period after the restoration of national in-dependence (1980s – 1990s)”

The subproject will consist of thematically interrelated studies elaborated by the group of re-searchers: Dr. Jānis Kudiņš (scientific leader of the subproject), Dr. Lauma Mellēna-Bartkeviča, Dr. Indriķis Veitners, Mg. Edgars Raginskis, Mg. Kristiāna Vaickovska, Bc. Inga Stankeviča and other students of JVLAM, who will join in the project gradually.

Main planned results of the subproject:

- three publications in the interdisciplinary internationally reviewed scientific compendium of articles published in English by all the project partner institutions; 

- elaboration of at least 8 research projects published in the thematic compendium of scientific articles in Latvian (JVLMA);

- at least 2 published articles in relevant scientific journals indexed at SCOPUS and/or Web of Science databases, indexed journals of the research field.

- organization of an interdisciplinary scientific conference dedicated to the research subjects of the subproject in JVLAM.

* During the project period, JVLAM will implement various horizontal cooperation activities with other four partner institutions, publish the articles for general audience, will join in re-search communication events and participate in international conferences in Latvia and abroad.