The fifth and final meeting took place on May 27, 2020 in Riga, Latvia. Originally this meeting was planned on March 31 also as a final dissemination event – a seminar with ca 100 participants – SMEs. It was planned to invite the target audience – rural tourism and training sectors’ representatives as well as environment protection and sustainable rural development stakeholders. It didn’t happen as planned due to the emergency situation in the world caused by COVID-19 virus, disseminating results on-line. Instead the meeting took place in LCTA office participating only project partners. They discussed and evaluated all tangible project outcomes (printable handbook versions, an on-line training tools and on-line check lists in all three partner languages). They discussed activities which have been done in order to disseminate project results. The budget and ideas for the next project were discussed as well.

As summer approaches and thoughts linger on Latvia's beautiful nature, delicious food and its people, but it is not yet allowed to leave our homes, we invite you to get acquainted digitally with the places and opportunities offered by "Flavours of Livonia", with hope that soon they can be visited for real!

"Flavours of Livonia" - it's not just dining in a pub! It is an opportunity to meet our own hosts - food producers and providers, who are amazingly versatile, able to produce their own products, receive tourists, feed and entertain them, all in accordance with local food growing and cooking traditions. Most of the Livonian-era food traditions have survived to the present day, alternating with traditional Latvian cuisine, and these flavors can be tasted thanks to entrepreneurs who respect local food and traditions, using locally grown food ingredients, take care of the environment around the and are proudu of their delicious food!

The brochure introduces the long-distance hiking route FOREST TRAIL, which passes ~ 1060 km through the forests of Latvia and Estonia, from Riga to Tallinn. In Latvia, FOREST TRAIL runs through the Gauja National Park, the Northern Gauja Forestlands and Veclaicene. In Estonia, FOREST TRAIL runs through the Haanja uplands, the Setomaa un Peipsimaa regions and further along the coast of Northern Estonia - to Tallinn. The route along the Estonian part includes the Lahemaa National Park and the coast of Northern Estonia, which is the land of the most impressive rocks, waterfalls and clints in the Baltic States. You will recognize FOREST TRAIL as Mežtaka in Latvia and as Metsa Matkarada in Estonia.
The FOREST TRAIL includes all the typical forest types and wildlife elements of the Baltic States - plants, beasts, fungi, etc.
The FOREST TRAIL is divided into 50 one or two-day hiking sections, each of which is ~ 20 km long. You can choose any section of the hike. The brochure includes a map of the hiking route.

Available languages: Latvian, English, Estonian, Russian, German

>>> Brochure (PDF)

We have started a new project "A model for sustainable tourism in Central Asia: Building capacities, creating awareness, introducing technology" (MOST).

The project aims:

• to promote a new and well-structured model for sustainable tourism in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan that can contribute to preserving and strengthening local culture, heritage and traditions, while also protecting the natural environment;
• to support tourism companies mainly in Uzbekistan, but also in Tajikistan and Kazakhstan to adopt (SCP) practices by providing appropriate knowledge and ICT tools;
• to support regional and local authorities to plan and implement policies that assist the development of sustainable tourism;
• to raise awareness regarding sustainable tourism and consumer awareness about sustainable consumption;
• to strengthen the dialogue between authorities, SMEs and end users as concerns SCP.

The sauna tradition is thought to originate somewhere in northern Europe around 2,000 BC and has remained an important part of cultural life to this day in many countries including Estonia, Latvia, and Finland. The locals indeed like to debate who now has the best saunas, but the truth is that their building techniques and traditions have evolved mostly in parallel for the past few thousand years, which is why saunas are a way of life and in many ways, the history of sauna is really a history of us. In addition to the sauna traditions the countryside provides a varied ambience of heritage – numerous national parks, contrasting coastlines, historic sites, varied landscapes, rich wildlife, charming small towns full of history and peaceful milieu.

Visiting all three countries in one trip is very easy – relatively short travelling distances between and within the countries due to their small size, no border formalities since all are in EU, the same time zone, the same currency and similar climate.

Sauna brochure (EN)

Sauna brochure (JP)

Work is underway on the Silver Travelers project, which aims to close the existing gap in the provision of modern technology learning in the rural tourism sector facing new market challenges. This will be achieved through the development of mobile learning and labor market training materials for key professionals.

Europe's population is getting older. The situation of demographic change is similar in all project partner countries - Turkey, Austria, Spain, Italy and Latvia. The growth rates for travellers over 65 years have been increasing over the years and are even higher than in other age groups. The tourism industry needs improvements based on the new educational methods and tools that this project wants to offer. It targets vocational training and higher education staff, tourism educators and rural tourism companies.

You can find out more about the project here: https://silvertravellers-eu.com

Baltic Coastal Hiking is a long distance hiking route part of E9 along the coast of the Baltic Sea. The hiking route starts at the Lithuanian-Latvian border in the village of Nida in Latvia and finishes at the Port of Tallinn in Estonia. The total length of the route is 1200 km, of which 580 km are in Latvia, and 620 km in Estonia; the route can be taken in both directions and Tallinn can also be a starting point. The route is divided into days and difficulty levels, which allows you to choose the most suitable distance for yourself. Join Baltic Coastal Hiking whenever you want, take a break whenever you like and return when you feel it is the right time for hiking! More information www.coastalhiking.eu.

>>> VIDEO.

Creative workshops offered by the “Sauleskalns” crafts house allow children and adults to discover in himself talents as a craftsman and artist. Professional teachers help to create wonderful stuff that pleases yourself and others.

“Puzurs” is a traditional Latvian room decoration for Christmas. It is made from straw, and its’ light, airy form and precise geometry is fascinating. This decoration really brings festive feeling.
The crafts house also offers workshops in gingerbread baking and making traditional Christmas to help everyone get prepared for Christmas celebrations.

“Mazsālijas” is a guest house on an organic farm. The farm breeds fallow deer and trout, grows vegetables and fruit, makes wine. The hostess offers a 4 hour food workshop for small groups of visitors to cook a meal together in a friendly atmosphere. During the food workshop visitors will learn how to cook a meal on a firewood stove from the home produce – vegetables, trout, and fallow deer meet. The food workshop includes cooking a three-course meal: a starter (fallow deer tartar, salted trout), the main course: trout fried on butter with steamed vegetables, fallow deer meet with rosemary and potato gratin, a dessert: cream cheese with strawberry sorbet.

According to an old Latvian belief, nine dishes should be served for the festive Christmas meal. The hostess at “Vīnkalni” country house will teach visitors how to cook three Latvian traditional dishes:

‘Biguzis’ – a traditional country dessert with rye bread, whipped cream and fresh berries. Its ingredients are rye bread, cranberries or lingonberries, honey, cinnamon and whipped cream. Mature rye bread is crushed or grated. Cranberries are squeezed in juice, diluted with water, sweetened with honey and poured into bread. When the bread has sucked into the liquid, it is topped with whipped cream.

Fresh cheese – made from cow's milk adding various herbs and spice (cumin, hemp, greens).

Buns and cakes. It is said that in Latvian folk tradition round cakes and buns in the form of a crescent were baked to honour the Sun and the Moon. Today they are often baked for celebrations and festivities. The traditional Latvian buns ‘pīrāgi’ are made from yeast dough, are 5-13cm long in a curved form like a crescent. They are filled with bacon and onions or with cottage cheese or apples.