Together We Grow – Final Conference of the Liveability Project in Riga

02 December 2025

On November 12–13, 2025, the Liveability Project came to a close with the Final Conference at the Latvian Railway Museum in Riga.

Technical details

Held under the motto “Together We Grow”, the event brought together project partners, associated organisations, and members of the Liveable Cities Network for two days on the future of liveable urban environments. Throughout the conference, moderators Viesturs Celmins (Urban and regional planner, anthropologist, and managing director of VEFRESH) and Jonas Büchel (Co-Funder at Urban institute, Riga) guided presentations, discussions and reflections.

Day one opened with speeches from Māris Sprindžuks (Deputy Chairman of the Riga City Council, Dirk Scheelje (Managing Director of Heinrich Boell Foundation Schleswig-Holstein) and Marta Kotello (Chairperson of the Riga City Council Traffic & Transport Committee). Afterwards, Tina Saaby (Director of the Danish Town Planning Institute) and Renāte Lagzdiņa (Director of the University of Latvia Botanical Garden) presented successful initiatives positioning Copenhagen and Riga as liveable cities. Throughout the day, project partners showcased results and initiatives—from the Liveable Design Approach and Charter to the Training programme, as well as an introduction to the Practice Guide. Participants also exchanged experience from neighbourhood pilots, focusing on neighbourhood centres, third places and youth involvement. The Liveability Partner Cities were joined by their respective Twin Cities (Gothenburg/SE, Liepaja/LV, Vilnius/LT, Umeå/SE, Krosno/PL) to present and discuss their achievements and plans for future activities. The day ended with an outlook on sustaining the network by Hauke Siemen (REM Consult) and a joint dinner in the museum.

On day two, international participants explored the Grīziņkalns and Sarkandaugava neighbourhoods, discovering local initiatives that strengthen liveability, including the NGO-led Riga Neighbourhood Alliance community centre. In parallel, local attendees engaged in the dedicated Liveability Charter workshop, guided by Mārtiņš Eņģelis (Urban researcher, spatial planner and Riga city councillor). The group reconvened in the afternoon for the Liveability Talks, which showcased stories and solutions highlighting the role of people, nature, public spaces, communities and youth involvement, in fostering wellbeing and belonging. One of the highlights was the contribution from the Young Urban Planners of Gothenburg, Sweden. Eight young adults shared their perspectives and presented their visions and ideas for future urban and regional planning through different projects.

Closing the conference and reflecting on the past days underlined the importance of joint efforts, co-creation, trust and adaptive, flexible and holistic approaches in creating solutions for liveable cities.