On Thursday, June 27, Riga City Council, the University of Latvia, Riga Technical University and Riga Stradinš University signed a memorandum of cooperation to jointly develop the "Knowledge Mile" area, attract both Latvian and foreign students, and promote Riga as a European centre of innovation and knowledge city.
The centre of Riga and Pārdaugava are becoming a unique student centre that forms a single "Knowledge Mile", as the largest universities of Latvia - LU RSU, RTU - are located a short distance from each other and are already strategically connected geographically. This is an excellent prerequisite for the development of science, urban environment and entrepreneurship in this territory, therefore, by signing the memorandum, the Riga City Council together with the universities agree to work purposefully to promote Riga as a centre of innovation and knowledge not only in the Baltic States and Northern Europe, but also on a global scale.
Vilnis Ķirsis, Chairperson of the Riga City Council: "Every city must be able to define its own economic identity, and with this agreement on in-depth long-term cooperation with Latvian universities, Riga declares knowledge to be its mark of identity. We are a city that wants to earn with knowledge, to create competitive solutions and products both in Riga and Latvia, and in Europe and the world, which create and will create added value, make cities and countries wealthier, and life more comfortable and prosperous for our people. I hope that over time, other Latvian centres of knowledge and excellence will join the memorandum, for example the National Library of Latvia, because the result can be achieved by many working towards one goal."
One of the priority areas envisaged by the cooperation memorandum is the attraction of Latvian and foreign students. To implement this, convenient, safe, sustainable and accessible public transport and micro-mobility infrastructure are needed. It is important for students to be able to freely access universities from neighbourhoods and from regional and international transport hubs, as well as to move freely between educational institutions. The parties also undertake to promote students' stay in the public outdoor space by developing the city's parks, squares, waterfronts. In order to ensure this, the municipality is already building new infrastructure, for example, a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists over the Kīleveina Ditch was opened last year, the Mūkusala Street promenade is being reconstructed, a bridge over the Zunda channel is planned to be built in the next few years, and special attention is paid to the construction of new bicycle paths. While universities are ambitiously introducing new technologies and developing academic centres.
Rector of Riga Technical University Tālis Juhna states that "Knowledge Mile is primarily a study and science space where three strong universities can cooperate, which complement each other, creating new knowledge, ideas and innovations and thus helping Riga and Latvia to develop. However, the space in which knowledge is produced is equally important. RTU is included in the Knowledge Mile with its vision - to become an island of innovation that constantly changes and develops, and for its realization the support of the municipality and targeted cooperation both in the direction of the RTU Ķīpsala complex regional planning and in the closer cooperation of Riga City Council's joint-stock companies with researchers for the new technologies and solutions needed by the city are decisive development, as well as building the interest and awareness of Riga children about STEM."
"The 'Knowledge Mile' connects not only our three universities in Pārdaugava. It is a road that is intended for all residents of Latvia and Riga, because it connects the historical heritage of our capital with our vision of the future. Riga is like a living laboratory where future applications are experimented and tested, developing modern higher education and the city as one of the most modern study environments. We, the three science universities, and our great strategic partner - the city of Riga - must together create a comfortable, safe and innovative solution-based knowledge road, which has the capacity to solve much bigger challenges than just this one mile. Our future is children and young people, so the next step would be to integrate the city's schools in this knowledge mile. This is our duty - to make science accessible to children, young people, residents of Riga and Latvia," said the Rector of the University of Riga Gundars Bērziņš at the memorandum signing event.
Rector of Riga Stradiņš University Aigars Pētersons: "Through mutual cooperation between Riga City Council and science universities, we can fully and modernly develop international knowledge, excellent research, innovations, technology transfer to industry and support for competitive business. One of the most significant contributions of Riga Stradiņš University to the capital is more than 3,000 foreign students, who are mostly young people from the most economically developed countries of the European Union. We invite the Riga City Council to continue the successful development of the city's infrastructure in the area of the Science Mile in recent years. It would be important to improve bicycle and pedestrian routes, modernize public transport stops and carry out other environmental improvement projects. They are important for our students, teaching staff, and researchers from Latvia and abroad."
Special attention will be paid to research and creation of innovations in order to increase the capacity and competitiveness of educational institutions, while scientists, new talents and technologies will help Riga to find the most effective solutions in non-standard situations. So far, Riga has cooperated with universities to develop the city's "Digital Twin", in architecture and urban planning, road maintenance, and the fruits of this work can be appreciated by everyone in Riga.
In order to implement such important and priority research and pilot projects for the city, scientists will have access to both the necessary infrastructure and laboratories. The municipality will provide a "green corridor" for the implementation of these projects, as well as support and promote cooperation with the startup ecosystem.
In order to increase the competitiveness of young specialists, it is important that the universities are informed in time about the priority employment sectors determined by the municipality, and that the municipality promotes the employment of students, attracting investments and international companies to the city, which need a highly educated workforce.
Quality practical training is equally important, therefore Riga, as the largest employer in the city, undertakes to provide university students with internships in its institutions, as well as to support measures to promote new discoveries and innovations in areas relevant to the city.
Universities and Riga City Council will meet regularly to discuss and evaluate the effectiveness of the work done and the progress towards achieving the goals.
Information was prepared by: Tatjana Smirnova, Project Coordinator of the Department of External Communication of the Communication Department of the Riga Municipality e-mail: tsmirnova11@riga.lv.
