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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- Vice President Corporate Communications of airBaltic, Janis Vanags,

- Tez Tour Operations manager, Jurijs Batkilins,

- Member of the board of Riga International Airpot, Andis Damlics,

- Director of Aviation Services Department of RigaInternationalAirport, Arturs Kokars.

Latvian airline airBaltic has launched its summer flights from Riga to Varna, Bulgaria in cooperation with the international tour operator Tez Tour. The new route offers convenient connections between the two cities and beyond to destinations in the Baltic region, Scandinavia, Russia and the CIS countries.

As part of restructuring initiatives, airBaltic has discontinued a number of routes recording somewhat weaker demand in the summer season; this move makes aircraft capacity available for the Riga – Varna service for airBaltic customers travelling between the two cities and onwards to destinations such as Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, Vilnius, Tallinn. airBaltic operates flights from Riga to Varna two times a week on Tuesdays and Fridays. Passengers board a Boeing 737-300 aircraft for a flight that lasts for 2 hours 40 minutes. Return ticket price starts at EUR 199, including airport fees and transaction costs.

airBaltic serves over 60 destinations from its home base in Riga, Latvia. From every one of these locations, airBaltic offers convenient connections via North Hub Riga to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, CIS and the Middle East.

Tez Tour offers charter flight to travellers all year round. Tez Tour customers are welcome to visit Turkey, Greece, Spain, Egypt, UAE, Thailand, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Maldives, as well as skiing resorts in Austria, Italy and Andorra.

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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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Only last year Elron replaced the old rolling stock with new electric trains. The new carriages were designed to be wider more comfortable seating with arm rests. Passengers are used to being able to board the train without concern for capacity. To curb this unsafe habit Elron have stated that the ticket sellers are to decide if any more passengers may board. Currently when there are too many passengers standing inside the isle it makes the flow of foot fall almost impossible for those wishing to get on and off. When the ticket sellers and the train driver have decided to stop further boarding passengers will be notified through the public address system and at all the stops only the middle section doors will open. As there are presently too few trains in circulation passengers left standing on the platforms will result.

In going forward with new rail plans Elron have had to take a few steps backwards but they are confident that all rail systems will be up to speed in the not too distant future.

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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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Latvian airline airBaltic has appointed Christophe Viatte as Chief Commercial Officer. Mr Viatte will be responsible for leading airBaltic’s future commercial strategy. He will manage all commercial departments including sales, marketing, e-commerce, customer care, product, revenue management, network planning, cargo and partnerships. Martin Gauss, Chief  Executive Officer of airBaltic: “I am delighted that Christophe is joining our management team. He brings a solid commercial experience that will help airBaltic to build on its success of reshape business turnaround programme.”

Christophe Viatte said: “airBaltic has a strong geographical advantage in the region with its hub in Riga to develop furthermore as a bridge connecting Europe with Russia, C.I.S, Middle East and Asia. I am proud and excited to be joining the management team at such a strategic time for the airline’s development.”

Mr. Viatte has more than 15 years experience in airline industry chiefly in the field of revenue management, pricing, network planning and business development. He joins airBaltic from Czech Airlines where he held the position of Executive Director. In this role, he had responsibility for all network planning and revenue management functions and over the past years, he was active member of a project team that successfully lead to the purchase of 44% Czech Airlines shares by Korean Air in April 2013. Prior to joining Czech Airlines, he also held senior management positions with Malev, Porter Airlines and Air Canada. He holds a Bachelor degree in Management Studies from University of Quebec in Montreal. Mr. Viatte is a Swiss native, aged 40 and he speaks English, French and German.

Christophe Viatte is replacing Michael Grimme, who has decided to pursue new career challenges. Martin Gauss, CEO of airBaltic: “Michael was part of the team that made airBaltic reshape business turnaround programme a success story, and we wish him every success in the future.”

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