LIGATNE  VILLAGE-­‐STORY  OF  THE  PEOPLE  AND  THE  PAPER-­‐MILL  

Inese  Okonova  Culture  and  Tourism  Centre  of  Ligatne  Ligatne,  February  2013  LATVIA    

CASE  PRO

FILE  THE  CASE  IS  BROUGHT  TO  YOU  BY  

Culture  and  Tourism  Centre  of  Ligatne  Inese  Okonova  Inese.okonova@gmail.com;  kultcentrs@ligatne.lv  +371  28395513;  +371  2640  8806  

GENERAL  INFORMATION  ABOUT  THE  DESTINATION  

Ligatne  region  local  government  Culture  and  Tourism  Centre  of  Ligatne  Surface-­‐Ligatne  town:  7,4  km2  ;  Ligatne  region:  167,7  km2  Inhabitants-­‐  Ligatne  town:  1  000  inhabitants;  Ligatne  region:    4  045  

TOURISM  PROFILE  

Tourism  Arrivals:  ~  170  000  in  2012  Culture  and  Tourism  Centre  of  Ligatne  and  Gauja  Na[onal  Park    (whole  territory  of  Ligatne  is  a  part  of  the  na[onal  park)    

FOR  FURTHER  INFO,  PLESE  CONTACT  

Inese  Okonova  E-­‐mail:  inese.okonova@gmail.com  Phone:  +371  2640  8806    

WHERE  

WHAT  THE  CASE  IS  ALL  ABO

UT?  

WHY  –  THE  REASON  FOR  ACTION  

1815   Konrad   Kyber   and   Justus   Storch,   2   German  tradesmen  from  Riga  came  to  Ligatne  village  and  founded  a  Paper-­‐Mill.  1890-­‐[es    factory  is  owned  by  the  Mentzenforff  family  and  an  exemplary   workers’   village   and   a   developed   social   system   is  developed.  1960-­‐[es    industrializa[on  in  the  USSR  reaches  its  peak.  1  000  workers  are  employed  in  the  mill  1990-­‐[es     USSR   collapses,  majority   of   factories   in   Latvia   are  going   bankrupt,   unemployment   is   growing,   people   are   leaving  towns   and   heading   to   the   capital-­‐   Riga   and   abroad,   the   industrial  village   preserving   its   look   from   end   of   19th   Ct   is   undervalued,  wooden  architecture  considered  as    old  barracks.  

WHY  –  ISSUES  AND  CHALLENGES  

•  Paper-­‐Mill  facing  bankruptcy  or  major  changes;  •  Village  facing  modernizaVon  or  reconstrucVon  and  

preservaVon;  •  People  facing  moving  to  Riga,  emigraVon  or  adopVon  to  the  

new  environment  

HOW  

1.  Owners  of  the  Mill  takes  a  decisive  ac[on  and  change  the  raw-­‐material  used  in  the  produc[on  from  wooden  pulp  to  waste-­‐paper  moving  to  re-­‐cycling  .  

1.1.  The  Mill  gets  involved  in  the  tourism  development  allowing  guided  tours  in  the  produc[on  and  showing  both  the  industrial  heritage  and  also  nature-­‐friendly  solu[ons  of  nowadays.    

2.  Municipality  takes  a  decision  to  preserve  the  local  industrial  and  cultural  heritage  and  develop  tourism  as  one  of  the  priori[es.  

2.1.  Major  project,  co-­‐financed  by  ERDF  is  launched    to  build  two  tourism  trails  aimed  to  focus  on  cultural  heritage  of  Paper-­‐Mill  village;  2.2.  Tourism  informa[on  centre  is  founded;  2.3.  Local  people  are  trained  to  work  as  the  guides;  2.4.  Marke[ng    and  public  rela[on    ac[vi[es  are  commenced      

Successful  co-­‐opera[on  of  local  authority  and  private  business  

Local  community  benefits  from  tourism  development;  nature  benefits  from  eco-­‐friendly  produc[on  

WHY  SHO

ULD  BE  SHO

WCASED?  

RESULTS-­‐BENEFITS  

RESULTS-­‐RECOGNITION  AND  AWARDS  

In  2011  Ligatne  village  wins  the  European  Des[na[ons  of  Excellence  award.  Theme  of  the  year:  reconstruc[on  of  physical  sites.    

REFLECTION-­‐MULTIPLIER  EFFECT  AND  TRANSFERABILITY  

LESSON  LEARNED  

Success  of  each  individual  player    in  such  a  small  community  depends  on  the  efforts  of  others:  if  someone  is  successful,  we  all  are  winners,  if  someone  fails,  we  all  are  loosing.  Only  a  common  strategy  aimed  to  reach  long-­‐term  goals  is  going  to  be  successful!  

             Edgars  Viņķelis    offspring  of  the  Paper-­‐Mill  workers  in  4th  genera[on.  Craksman,  demonstrates  the  wood-­‐curving  skills  to  the  tourists  of  Ligatne  and  works  as  a  guide.  

1.  10  local  people  ge^ng    addiVonal  income  working  as  guides  in  Ligatne  village    

Rasma  Vanaga  (reVred)  Used  to  work  as  an  economist  in  Paper-­‐Mill,  ended  her  career  as  the  Deputy-­‐Director  of  the  Mill.  Since  2006  works  as  a  guide  in  Ligatne,  the  first  person  who  understood  the  poten[al  of  the  village  as  a  tourism  des[na[on.    

2.   number   of   tourists   visVng   tourism   informaVon   centre  increased  from  3  204  in  2010  to  11  459  in  2011  and  17  714  in  2012.    3.   2   new   cafeterias   opened,   winery   of   local   fruit   and   berry  wines   founded,   8   crafsmen   selling   souvenirs   to   the   tourists,  wood-­‐working  and  eco-­‐lifestyle  park  opened  to  the  public    4.   Paper-­‐Mill   of   Ligatne   conVnues   to   work   successfully   being  the  only  working  paper  producing  factory   in    Latvia  and  using  only  waste-­‐paper  as    the  raw-­‐material.    5.   Together  with   other  municipaliVes   lying   in   the   territory   of  the  Gauja  NaVonal  Park  a  tourism  cluster  is  founded  and  a  new  tourism  brand  «Enter  Gauja»  developed.  

Efforts  taken  by  the  local  government  have  given  the  local  people  trust  that  tourism  will  be  supported  and  a  chain  of  new  services  have  been  founded  connected  to  the  tourism  

Indra  Ramāne  (29)  mother  of  4  years  old  daughter  and  6  years  old  son,  used  to  live  in  Latvian  biggest  resort  town  Jurmala,  moved  to  Ligatne  in  2009,  works    for  tourism  informa[on  for  a  half-­‐[me  and  is  the  best  guide  in  Ligatne  for  children