International organizations and cooperation networks

Union of the Baltic Cities, UBC
http://www.ubc.net/

The Union of the Baltic Cities is bringing together 106 cities from 10 countries in the Baltic Sea region. It was founded in 1991 in Gdansk (founded by 32 cities, including Riga) to promote cooperation between the cities of Western Europe (Germany, Scandinavia) and Eastern Europe. UBC's work is organised in 7 commissions: Planning cities, Sustainable Cities, Safe Cities, Youthful Cities, Smart and Prospering Cities, Cultural Cities, Socially Inclusive and Healthy Cities. Riga participates in the following commissions: Planning cities, Youthful cities, Sustainable Cities, Cultural Cities, Safe Cities. UBC Local Security and Public Order Task Force was formally approved during its first meeting in Riga 14.10.2010 On the basis of this Working Group, a Commission on Safe Cities was set up.

European Forum for Urban Security, Efus
http://efus.eu/en/

The aim of the European Urban Safety Forum is to develop and promote the exchange of experience, good practice and information between European cities that are members of Efus. To achieve these goals, Efus Member Cities have the opportunity to participate in various conferences, training programs related to a safe urban environment, to see the latest research and publications on the Urban Network website, and to participate in projects co-financed by the European Commission. Since Riga City Municipality is a member of Efus, Riga Municipality Police has an opportunity to be a part of information and experience exchange processes that are focused on the Riga City public policy and safety improvement, thus making it more favorable to the business environment. 

Union of Cities THE HANSA   (Städtebund DIE HANSE) 
http://www.hanse.org/de

Union of Cities THE HANSA is an active network of towns and cities that historically belonged to or had active trading connections with the association of merchant towns known as the Hanseatic League. The “new” Hanseatic League or the Hanseatic League of modern times was established in 1980 in the Dutch town of Zwolle and consequently the historical tradition of Assemblies of the Hanseatic towns (Hanseatic Days) was renewed. 1981 the participation of the Riga City in the Hanseatic League of modern times was approved, ensuring the participation in the annual Hanseatic Days of modern times.
In September 2000 Riga officially joined the Union of the Cities THE HANSA by signing its Articles of Association, established for the first time in the Hanseatic history. This network unites 194 towns and cities from 16 countries and its goal is to foster the cooperation among member towns and cities in order to make contribution to their economic, social, cultural and tourism development. Each year the International Hanseatic Days are being hosted by a different member city. Riga is traditionally represented at the Hanseatic Days by the Riga City Council delegation, culture group and young delegates. Riga participates in the HANSA Commission and Assembly of Delegates Meetings, Economic Forum and Youth Hansa program as well as HANSEartWORKS exhibition. Riga is also an active participant of the Hansa market, providing promotional stand with information about tourism opportunities and annual major events.
The city of Riga is a member of the HANSA Commission and represents all  the other Latvian Hanseatic cities (Cēsis, Koknese, Kuldīga, Limbaži, Straupe, Valmiera and Ventspils). The 41st International Hanseatic Days take place in Riga on August 19th-22nd, 2021.

Network of major European cities EUROCITIES

http://www.eurocities.eu/

In November 2002 Riga became an official member of EUROCITIES, cooperation network of major European cities. Today this network brings together the local governments of over 140 of Europe's largest cities and over 45 partner cities, covering 130 million citizens across 39 countries. It was founded in 1986 with the goal to develop cooperation among cities in the areas of economics, social affairs, environment, transportation, culture, education, information as well as to foster protection of the cities’ interests in the EU and make up a sustainable vision for future development. Through six thematic forums, a wide range of working groups, activities and events EUROCITIES offers its members a platform for knowledge, ideas, experience exchange and innovative mutual problem solving on European scale.
Riga has been engaging in the most of EUROCITIES forums, especially actively in Culture forum, Social affairs forum and its Migration and integration working group, Economic development forum and Metropolitan areas working group. The participation in EUROCITIES projects is a very significant possibility of the membership – more than 50% of the project costs are being covered by the EU within the framework of financed programs.

Baltic Metropoles Network, BaltMet
http://www.baltmet.org/pub/

The Baltic Metropoles Network (BaltMet) was founded in 2002 and includes 11 metropolises of the Baltic Sea region: Berlin, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Malmö, Oslo, Riga, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Tallinn, Vilnius and Warsaw. The main objective of the operation of the BaltMet network is to take advantage of cooperation in order to promote international visibility, competitiveness and balanced development of the Baltic Sea region. This network is a voluntary institution which combines members with common interest, a forum for sharing experience and knowledge, and provides opportunities for achieving individual and common objectives and interests. The main focus of the network is on the realization of joint projects.
In the framework of BaltMet, several projects of programmes financed by the European Union have been introduced, in which Riga City has been both a leading partner and one of the partners of the project.

The Network of European Metropolitan Regions and Areas,  METREX
http://www.eurometrex.org/

METREX is a European network of metropolitan regions and territories and it was founded in 1996 during the Glasgow Metropolitan Regions Conference together with the local West Scotland municipality and the support of European Commission. Around 50 large city regions are members of the union and its goal is knowledge and experience exchange between experts – politicians, officials and their advisers on the topic of urban planning (spatial planning and development on metropolitan level), as well as collaborative action in a mutual interest field. 

Activities of the City Development Department of the Riga City Council in the METREX Union were started in 1997 with an invitation to participate in the conference organized by the Union. The METREX conference and the general assembly take place once every two years.

The Organization of World Heritage Cities, OWHC
http://www.ovpm.org/
 

The Organization of World Heritage Cities was founded in 1993.
On 12 June 1998, when the declaration “Second Budapest document” on the establishment of the OWHC Central and Eastern European Secretariat in Budapest was signed, Riga joined the Organization of World Heritage Cities. The Organization comprises more than 300 cities from all over the world, having on their territory a site inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Its purpose and activities are focused on the implementation of the World Heritage Convention and constitute a collective knowledge base and provide an exchange of experience on the development of historic cities in cities and specific sites of the World Cultural Heritage, as well as on issues of balanced urban management in the context of the preservation of cultural and historical heritage.

 The International Committee for Conservation of the Industrial Heritage, TICCIH
http://ticcih.org/

The International Committee for Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH) was founded in 1999. It is a worldwide organization that is responsible for the industrial heritage and its goals are to foster international cooperation regarding the conservation, preservation, research, documentation, interpretation and further exploration of the industrial heritage. Riga city municipality has joined TICCIH in April of 2003 with a goal to foster conservation of the industrial heritage valuable for Riga, as well as to attract investments to develop industrial heritage sites.

The League of Historical Cities
http://www.city.kyoto.jp/somu/kokusai/lhcs/

The first World Conference of the Historical Cities took place in 1987 in Kyoto; within its framework the Historical Cities World Conference Council with its head office in Kyoto was founded. It`s trusted role was to organize future conferences. In 1994, when Kyoto held its fourth conference (in the meantime conferences also took place in other cities), the Council was disbanded and the League of Historical Cities was found. It aimed to preserve historical values of the cities.

The League of Historical Cities organizes the annual Historical Cities World Conference, which has fostered a constructive dialogue on the preservation and development of historical cities between its members. Riga has officially started working in the League of the Historical Cities since 2007 after the invitation to participate in the conference organized by the league.

International non-profit association “Union of Gastronomic cities” (Délice)
http://www.delice-network.com/

Founded in 2007 in Lyon, France, Délice currently has 32 cities on 4 continents, which share the view that promoting quality food, local seasonal products, culinary heritage contributes to a citizen-friendly urban environment and has a positive impact on the urban economy. Nowadays, cities play an important role in providing quality and varied food for both residents and visitors. The aim of Délice is to promote cooperation between representatives of the Association's cities (municipal specialists, tourism and hospitality industry, chefs and young talents) in order to share experiences, learn from each other and implement joint thematic projects.

European cities association of sustainable energy policy (“Energy Cities”)
http://www.energy-cities.eu/

„Energy Cities” is an association of European local municipalities that promote sustainable energy policy. It was founded in 1990 and it represents 1000 cities from 30 countries. The Riga municipality has joined “Energy Cities” in May of 2011 in order to promote Riga’s image and foster information and experience exchange in the areas of sustainable energy policy implementation.

WHO European Healthy Cities
http://www.euro.who.int/

Riga has joined the WHO European Healthy Cities network in July of 2013, in accordance with the public healthcare plan of 2012 – 2021 “Healthy Rigan – Healthy Riga” introduced by the Riga City Municipality.

International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals (CIFFT)
http://www.cifft.com

The International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals was founded in Vienna, Austria in 1989 to promote the economic development of the audiovisual industry and to reward its best performance, related to the presentation of world destinations, tourism products and services in films and video. CIFFT is the most important network in this area, bringing together a total of 17 film festivals from different countries around the world.
Since 2008, the Riga City Council has organised the International Tourism Film Festival “Tourfilm Riga”. In 2009, a decision was taken unanimously at the the General Assembly of CIFFT in Vienna to host the Festival “Tourfilm Riga” as a part of the International Committee on of Tourism Film festivals. Consequently, since 2009, the Festival “Tourfilm Riga” has been a member of CIFFT and is organised once a year. Thanks to participation in the CIFFT network, the Festival “Tourfilm Riga” has gained international recognition and assessment, the winners of the Festival highlight in the mass media of their countries not only the awards obtained, but also provide information on the festival and Riga City, thereby promoting Riga's global awareness. Involvement in the CIFFT network provides an opportunity to cooperate with other festivals, gaining the experience, ideas, innovative solutions, and providing information on the latest trends in promoting destinations in the audiovisual industry.

European Film Commissions Network (EUFCN)
http://www.eufcn.com

80 European film commissions from 24 countries are united in the International Film Commissions Network. One of the first stops for foreign filmmakers looking for transparent information on filming and collaboration opportunities in Europe is the EUFCN Representative Film Market, brochures and website. The City of Riga participates in EUFCN member meetings. Participation in the meetings is combined with participation and work in the film markets organized during certain film festivals, as well as work on the Latvian market stands.

European network of regional film funds (CINE-REGIO)
http://www.cine-regio.com

The network brings together 37 regional film funds from 15 European countries. CINE-REGIO members are offered consultations and information about the activities and development of regional film funds, as well as consultations on the European Union legislation in these areas; interests of the funds are being lobbied in various European Union institutions; mutual co-production projects are being promoted.

Many meetings within the framework of the network are taking place throughout the year; however, the most important meetings are organized during big festivals (such as Berlin and Cannes).

European Social Network, ESN 
http://www.esn-eu.org/home/index.html

The European Social Network was created to explore innovative solutions and improve the quality of social services. It brings together institutions that create, manage and implement social services with a view to achieving knowledge transfer and cooperation on social issues between European cities. Riga City has been officially active in the ESN since 13 December 2014.