The Riga NGO House reaches “out” to Riga’s neighbourhoods

The NGO House and NGOs offered various activities all day long. Both adults and kids could participate in educational and creative workshops, learn more about the NGO House, take part in competitions and games, receive consultations on integration issues, find out more about voluntary work, get acquainted with social support measures, get related to topical issues about environment protection, discuss European values and the future of Europe, explore cultural diversity and even visit the “Kingdom of Rabbits”.

The tent of the NGO House became very popular with visitors. The team of the NGO House explained its role and introduced visitors to its various activities. They were also informed about the civic participation opportunities and the importance of NGOs. Also kids could participate by drawing the NGO House of their dreams.

Other tents that attracted lots of visitors included the tent of the association “Festivāls Komēta”, which organises integrative culture and art projects, and the tents of the “Red Cross”, the “Blue Cross”, the “Cita Rīga” and the “Shelter Safe House”.

The visitors had a chance to visit the exhibition “NGO stories for Latvia’s Centenary”, which was created by the NGO House in cooperation with NGOs. The exhibition showed the stories of more than 40 NGOs, their foundation, values and mission, and their most important events and achievements.

At the same time visitors enjoyed a concert of amateur artist collectives representing the common and different aspects of various nationalities living in Riga. The performances of the artist collectives, operating under the framework of NGOs, included music, dance, circus and theatrical performances.

The main idea of the event was to introduce the visitors, representing different generations living in the neighbourhood, with the mission, operation and activities of the NGOs in a creative and attractive way, as well as to provide information about how to join an NGO and inspire them to get involved in the non-governmental sector.

The festival was organised by the education and culture institutions of the Bolderaja neighbourhood – Music and Art School, Children and Youth Centre, three secondary schools, the Latvian Sea Academy and the local library in cooperation with the NGO House.

The festival was focused on facilitating cooperation and tolerance between different generations living in the neighbourhood, on providing an opportunity for families to spend time together in purposeful activities and to create a bond between local people and Riga’s NGOs, implementing the event’s motto: “Take part! Get to know! Create! Relax!”.

The activity reached the objective stated in the Improvement Plan of the ACTive NGOs project – to organise the NGO House events in other neighbourhoods of Riga.

It turned out to be a wonderful festivity and a networking opportunity not only for the visitors, but also for the NGO House. The team of the Riga NGO House were encouraged to organise similar festivals in the future in order to promote its operation and inspire the community to become a part of the NGO world.

Written by

Zinta Gugane

Project Coordinator at the Riga NGO House