On Thursday, 16 October, the central event of Social Entrepreneurship Week will take place – the conference “Social Entrepreneurship in Latvia – Growth, Creativity, Cooperation”, bringing together social entrepreneurs, policy makers, municipal representatives and experts from Latvia and abroad.
The conference invites participants to view social entrepreneurship as a strong driver of development where creativity, innovation and community engagement generate sustainable change. Currently, more than 270 social enterprises are active in Latvia, addressing societal challenges, creating jobs and strengthening local communities.
The conference will be opened by the Minister for Welfare, Reinis Uzulnieks. The Director of the Labour Market Policy Department at the Ministry of Welfare and Chair of the Social Enterprise Commission, Imants Lipskis, will provide an overview of recent trends in social entrepreneurship development in Latvia. Zane Ruģēna, co-founder of the movement Free Riga and Executive Director of the creative factory Veldze, will highlight the importance of creativity and innovation in business. Edgars Čerkovskis, Director of the study programme Circular Economy and Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Economics and Culture, will present an analytical overview of active social enterprises in Latvia. Linda Golde from the Mārupe Tourism and Business Support Agency will share insights on the role of municipalities and available support instruments.
The conference will also feature experience stories from Latvian social enterprises — SIA BenefitPro, SIA Sajūtu Māja and SIA CareLat, who will share their challenges and success stories. International guests Simona Simulyte, founder of the social enterprise ChangeMakers’ON and one of Europe’s Top 100 Women in Social Entrepreneurship 2024, and Tim van Wijk, founder and manager of the social restaurant Pirmas Blynas, will share inspiring examples from abroad.
The day will conclude with a dynamic and interactive “empty chair” panel discussion “Be Entrepreneurial, Be Creative!”. The discussion will feature sector leaders and experts – Kristīne Segliņa (ALTUM), Regita Zeiļa (Director of the Social Entrepreneurship Association of Latvia), Diāna Lapkis (Head of New Door), Edgars Čerkovskis (University of Economics and Culture) and Ilze Kupča (founder of the social enterprise Dabas saldumu maģija). The aim of the discussion is to jointly explore how to foster the growth of social entrepreneurship in Latvia, strengthen cross-sector cooperation and promote creative thinking in business.
The Ministry of Welfare invites everyone interested to follow the live broadcast of the conference from 10:00 to 15:00 with sign language interpretation on Delfi TV and the Facebook page of the Ministry of Welfare, where it will also be possible to post questions and comments during the event.
The conference “Social Entrepreneurship in Latvia – Growth, Creativity, Cooperation” is organised with the financial support of the European Social Fund Plus project “Support for Social Entrepreneurship”.
