Latvia Transport Minister Anrijs Matiss said: “I want to emphasise that the greatest beneficiaries of this project will be the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian citizens, who will be able to easily travel to any Baltic country and other destinations in Europe in the near future.”

Two representatives from each country of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania have been appointed to the board of RB Rail – Anti Moppel for Estonia is chairman of the board, Ugis Magonis representing Latvia and Dainius Budyrs Lithuania. They will oversee the design, construction and marketing of the new 728km long railway line which will enable trains to travel at speeds not exceeding 240km/h achieving travel times of Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border of about 4 hours.

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“It’s coming home to its roots,” said Ian Taylor, one of the three Events Management students at the University’s Buxton campus who have been put in charge of the management of the conference from October 1 to 3.

Ian has organised the logistics, liaising with the organisers in Hamburg and the Arkwright Society, while Paulius Jakuitis from Kaunas in Lithuania is in charge of marketing. Chantel Scully, from Wakefield, is in charge of hospitality. Events include a gala dinner for delegates, tours of the Valley including some of its other historic mills, and the industrial heritage of Derby from railways to Rolls-Royce engineering. They are also in charge of an academic conference at Cromford following the ERIH event, and overseeing DerbyCollege students who are providing the catering. All Events Management students get involved in organising functions as part of the University’s real-world, hands-on style of learning, but working with so many different organisations has been a real challenge, said Paulius.

“This is how Derby gives that extra value compared to other universities offering similar degrees,” he said.

“I am delighted that at Cromford Mills we are able to work with the University in providing the opportunities for students to learn in a ‘real life’ experience,” said Sarah Mcleod, Chief Executive of the Arkwright Society.

“They have certainly given it their all and I am confident that they will be able to take new skills away from this project and use them in the workplace.”

ERIH was set up to develop tourism routes through Europe for enthusiasts of industrial heritage to follow.

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Originally Lucy Irvine moved from Scotland to Bulgaria because of the cheaper property prices. After 7 years she has learned much about both communities in her village – the small holders up the Bulgarian end; Turks and Roma in the maxla, or ghetto.

At first, she observed these lifestyles through typically expat eyes – from the terrace of her renovated home. She shopped in town, didn’t use the local bus, exchanged smiles but didn’t mix. Then, in 2009, her house burned down and everything changed.

When her Bulgarian neighbours learned she was camping in the ruin of her burnt out home, they brought blankets and food and offered space in their own modest homes. Maxla folk came too, with horses and carts. Her credit cards destroyed, she bartered dented woodstoves for help with clearing the rubble to find the remains of her computer (which they never did) and a bicycle for carting away the smoking remains of furniture. She worked with the Roma men and women combing the ash for keys. Scorched photos of her children were brought to her by sympathetic mums, and in return she listened to their own tales of joys and sorrows.

On her feet again – first in a caravan and in now, a yurt – she wanted to ‘give something back’ to both communities. She also wanted to help the suffering animals she saw around the village.

So, she set up a tiny fund: Kapkis – meaning Drops, in Bulgarian. Kapkis donates to a kindergarten attended by Roma children, provides knitting work for Bulgarian babas on meagre pensions, creates work for men and gives food to penniless mums. Dogs and horses are wormed, and Kapkis helps people and their animals via a shelter to house homeless pups until they’re neutered and found local homes, where their care is supported.

To learn more, visit https://www.facebook.com/castaway.lucy  And – http://castawaylucyirvine.wordpress.com/2014/06/11/project-to-jointly-help-people-and-dogs/

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Beer drinking and brewing is considered a serious business in Latvia with many small and medium size speciality brewers catering to individual tastes. Most restaurants serve beer with meals, although wine is also available, beer is more traditional consumed with Latvian cuisine. The Merlin restaurant near the central market in Riga is one of the largest specialised beer restaurants in Latvia.

This years Beer Festival is financed by Riga city council, Latvijas Avize, Live Riga and Stefan Pehringer who is the Austrian Ambassador in Latvia. There will also be an international conference, Baltic Beer Star, where international professionals from the brewing trade can meet to discuss the latest techniques and developments.

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The force in Šiauliai can also be backed up by Uedem, a base in Northern Germany. Here a variety of NATO forces work together in collaboration to monitor the skies and track planes travelling over the Baltic States. Air borne forces from Uedem can be deployed at a moments notice to back up those already in the Baltics if required.

Since 9/11 it isn’t just the recent excess of Russian planes causing such intense scrutiny of the skies, unidentified civilian planes are treated with equal concern.

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The organisers of the Professional Spa and Wellness Convention held in London’s ExCel conference centre invited Ieva and five colleagues to carry out research into best practices following acknowledgement by the industry that Buxton was leading the world in spa degrees. Ieva’s research revealed that 50% of managers surveyed didn’t respond to questions regarding the principals of sustainability and 3% admitted that they weren’t even sure what it meant. Ieva stated that sustainability meant much more than just being eco-friendly, it included running a business in a manner which saves the planet, while retaining the right employees and increasing profit.

The research was so well received that the university has been invited to carry out another research project next year. Ieva has been invited by world leaders in spa, from the President of the Spa Federation of Africa to suppliers of spa products in Australia, to take part in further projects.

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It is the first time that the Forum has been set in Finland and on this occasion it will be addressing “Universal Education – NGOs and Private Enterprises”, “Health and Social Welfare”, “Children and Youth Empowerment – A Multi-Sectoral Approach” and “Society Empowerment via Gender Equality.”

Minister for International Development, Mr. Pekka Haavisto, recently elected as chairman of the International Dialogue on Peace building and State building (IDPS, an international forum promoting the development of fragile states, focusing on countries suffering from conflicts and instability), stated that in fragile countries, the activities of civil society can be very difficult, even paralyzed. That attention must be paid to the position of women, education and the basic pillars of democracy. The treatment of minority groups, for instance the situation of people with disabilities, may be very poor. The international community must also support the implementation of civil rights.

Some of the expected participants will include BRAC International, the largest NGO in the world and Turkey’s Country Director of International Medical Corps, whom are providing medical assistance to many of the Syrian refugees on the Turkish borders. This years NGO Day is sponsored by Finland’s Slot Machine Association (RAY). All NGOs interested in attending to attend should register via http://yourngoday.com

Mr Marcis Liors Skadmanis is initiator of World NGO Day and he has been leading this international initiative for the last 3 years, after first coming up with the initial idea for this international day, during his Master in International Law. By establishing several NGOs, including the Latvian British Chamber of Commerce in the UK, Mr. Skadmanis comprehended some of the problems NGOs face on a daily basis – locally, nationally and internationally. This led him to create the World NGO Day initiative.

More information about the event and the World NGO Day initiative:Phone: +44 (0) 20 73872185

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Gazprom is one of the world’s largest suppliers of natural gas and provides the gas needs of a quarter of Europe. The European Commission has been investigating the supply giant since 2012 for suspected the anti-completive practices of overcharging customers and blocking rival supply companies. The minister of energy stated that Gazprom’s supplying to Lietuvos Dujos at such inflated prices, higher than Latvia, Estonia and Germany were being charged, was harmful to Lithuania’s consumers, the economy and Leituvos Dujos as a company.

A previous case filed by the Lithuanian government against Gazprom before the international arbitration court in Stockholm, is demanding compensation of 5 billion Lithuanian litas ($2 billion) for previous pricing. The new arbitration initiative will hopefully speed up talks with Gazprom to finally achieve a discount. Gazprom stated that Leituvos Dujos agreed to pay prices based on a formula that is linked to oil pricing and that it would not change its pricing practices in Eastern Europe in spite of regulatory pressure. The current sale agreement is in place until the end of 2015. The Gazprom said in September it could reduce prices if Lithuania signed a “comprehensive agreement” and withdrew the existing claim from the Stockholm court. Lithuania plans to erect a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at end of 2014, and its top power utility Lietuvos Energija expects to start importing LNG in 2015.

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To promote the development of the Baltic textile industry and to expand it to the international markets, the International Exhibition Company BT 1, the organisers of the Lithuanian textile fair “Baltic Textile & Leather” and the textile industry associations of Latvia and Lithuania have reached an agreement that, as of 2014, there will be one competitive fashion and textile industry fair “Baltic Fashion & Textile” rotating between venues in Riga (spring) and Vilnius (autumn).

The 19th International Textile Industry Fair “Baltic Fashion & Textile RIGA 2014” will take place from 4‒6 April at the Kipsala International Exhibition Centre, Riga, offering a vast exhibition, fashion shows, conferences and business-to-business matchmaking and the International Competition for Young Fashion Designers “Habitus Baltija 2014”. The fair will bring together the most competitive manufacturers, distributors and designers offering an international communication and business platform for the fashion and textile professionals in the Baltic States, Scandinavia, Russia and the CIS.

One common fair for the Baltic countries opens up new opportunities to promote more ambitiously the Baltic fashion and textile products, creative potential, enhance product competitiveness and expand sales into new markets across the Baltic States, the EU, Scandinavia, Russia and the CIS.

“Baltic Fashion & Textile Riga 2014” will introduce the new season collections, supplies and equipment, home textiles, innovative textiles, technical textiles, fashion accessories, designer recycled clothing collections, as well as it will offer a daily programme of fashion shows of the latest spring / summer ready-to-wear collections.

An opportunity to share experiences, acquire new knowledge and contacts, the fair will offer international conference series covering the most current fashion and textile industry topics on 4 and 5 April.  This will be an important event for designers, stylists, textile professionals and top managers, academic staff and students, and everyone engaged in the fashion and textile industry.

The conference speakers will share their experience and the participants will have the opportunity to discuss the current industry news, e.g. the use of innovative and eco-friendly materials in clothing, starting a fashion business and the development opportunities in Europe, the quality and accessibility of fashion design programmes in Latvia and elsewhere in Europe.

The organisers offer to businesspeople, manufacturers, distributors and designers an exclusive platform to build up business contacts and new partnerships ‒ B2B Matchmaking Event that allows contact potential partners and schedule individual meeting programmes already before the fair and to meet in person, present products and services, discuss opportunities for further collaboration and get business contacts during the fair.

The 14^th International Competition for Young Fashion Designers “Habitus Baltija 2014”, 5 April, will present unique fashion collections created by young designers from Latvia and more than a dozen other countries that will compete for the Grand Prix and a significant prize fund. “Habitus Baltija” is a fashion event included in the events programme of Riga ‒ European Capital of Culture 2014.

More information about the fair: www.balticfashiontextile.com

Registration for the fair is open! Please contact the “Baltic Fashion & Textile 2014” sales manager Ms Ilze Avota on the telephone: +371 67065037 or via e-mail: ilze.avota@bt1.lv

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The changes may be a little confusing to the eye for the everyday citizen but the changes will smooth the progress for foreign tourists unfamiliar with the lat and what prices to expect for local goods.

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