Success stories

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

The knowledge gained during the visits will have a direct impact on the quality-based changes of the Lithuanian penitentiary system, as Norway's and Finland's good practice examples shall be used for the development of the Lithuanian penitentiary strategy 2030 (organisation of employment and work activities, marketing of inmates production, assessment of the feasibility of the online shop for inmates production, more active implementation of the principle of dynamic security in direct contact with inmates, forecasting the decreased number of inmates, etc.).
The Norwegian and Finnish good practice might be implemented in the Lithuanian penitentiary system:
1. in the areas of positive employment activities for inmates, i.e. expanding the range of activities, involving more NGOs and volunteers, introducing prerequisites for the marketing of inmates products (e.g. through the establishment of an online shop);
2. inmates motivation measures to participate in positive employment by paying a specific monthly allowance (consider the possibility of limiting the remittances from outside if an inmate refuses to work or study);
3. organise a trip outside a penitentiary facility for positive well-behaving inmates, who are working or studying, together with an officer/ officers (e.g., 2-3 inmates and 1-2 officers);
4. organise work and production development inside the facility;
5. apply motivational measures for correctional officers and other staff. Take measures to increase the attractiveness of correctional officer profession, involvement of inmates in good initiatives;
6. provide training on the principles of dynamic security to correctional officers at all levels and units;
7. install e-terminals for inmates to assisst them in improving their digital skills.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

The participation of the Lithuanian, Norwegian and Finnish public administration institutions in the Project activities had the direct benefit as the representatives of the participating countries were able to exchange relevant information during the meetings and get to better know each other for further cooperation and developing of joint partnership initiatives and projects. Knowledge and experience exchange of best practices between the Lithuanian and Nordic public administration institutions gave a better insight in the prison management and resocialization areas.

References in the media

The project did not attract media attention. On 16 November 2021, the staff of the Resocialisation Unit of the Prison Department presented the Norwegian good practice to the management and staff of the Prison Department. A short presentation on the outcomes of the visit to Finland was released both to the representatives of the penitentiary system and the public.

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

The participants of the internship got acquainted the trends and context of inmates’ resocialization in the Norwegian penitentiary establishments, applied resocialization measures and their individualization, organization and legal regulation of inmates’ occupation and employment, role of NGOs and volunteers in the resocialization process.

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

The Nordic-Baltic Public Administration Mobility Program meets our expectations

Contact: Jolanta Beliavskienė, project manager of the project "Prison Management, Particular Features of Resocialization of Sentenced Inmates and Good Practices"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

The role of Estonian Social Insurance board in the field of child protection in Estonia and the mediation of international child protection cases needs to be reviewed and updated. It was very beneficial for us to get an understanding how Bufdir (which is similar to Estonian Social Insurance Board on the level of where it stands in the child protection system in the country) works, what are their roles and responsibilities regarding Norway's child protective system and the international cases. At the time of the visit we were aware that the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs was planning on assessing and researching the Estonian Child Protection system (inc. the social insurance board) and thank to our visit we made some meaningful contacts in Norway whose expertise will be included into the research

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

Norway is starting to develop a nationwide child protection casework database. Estonia has had a casework database for many years and we exchanged IT development team contacts so they can cooperate.
The visit to Norway also benefits the cooperation of Estonia and Norway in international child protection cases.

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

Exchange of practices, information and contacts. Very valuable for us was to meet our colleagues as that highly benefits cooperation.

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

It is a wonderful program and it met our expecations. Only issue for us was that due to Covid and then the war in Ukraine, Sweden was unable to welcome us for a study visit.

Contact: Kadi Lauri, project manager of the project "Nordic-Baltic Study Visit and Knowledge Exchange - International Child Protecion "

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

Shortly after visits we started development of public involvement strategy and participatory budgeting in our our municipality. It will be launched in couple of months.
We were introduced with numerous methods and their results. Introducing them in our municipality we can increased competitive power of the region, high level of public involvement in governance, reduced environmental footprint and educated society as a result of awareness.
building events. Comparing public involvement methods in Rebild municipality and Helsinki municipality helps us to find out the most effective methods and solutions that are adaptable for Marupe
municipality. We established new partnerships as well.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

During group visits we saw mutual exchange of experience. In Marupe municipality we developed some good ideas we shared with our hosts as well. Also it was important that Rebild and Helsinki municipalities could get another perspective which aroused in our discussions.

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

One of most significant values gained was possibility to discuss various approaches of municipality work as well as challenges municipalities are facing every day. Even if in Latvia we have limited resources and budgets are way smaller than in Nordic countries we still find creative solutions for various problems. We also were proud that we were able to introduce with our Geographic Information System - where we collect and graphically present data important for coworkers of municipality as well as necessary for our inhabitants.

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

Yes the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Public Administration met our expectations. We felt experience was shared both ways and we are happy to have had this opportunity to participate.

Contact: Ilze Kamolina, project manager of the project "Exchange of experiences and best practices on public involvement methods - participatory budgeting, awareness building events and e-participation tools"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

In the city of Malmö, the city's development strategy was introduced, which envisages active construction and transformation of the city's infrastructure for the needs of a growing population. Several quarters of the city were visited where active construction and transformation is taking place.
In Lejre municipality, various municipal institutions, administration, school, senior activity center, youth center and others were visited. During the mission, various meetings were held with municipal employees, deputies, representatives of non-governmental organizations, etc.

During the mission, many and various suggestions were received in various areas of the municipality's activities, which should be submitted to colleagues for evaluation and implementation. It is concluded that the needs of Malmö municipality differ significantly from Dienvidkurzeme municipality and it is possible to adopt only some examples of good practice. In turn, the municipality of Lejre is very similar to Dienvidkurzeme municipality in terms of population and population structure, and a lot of what would be seen would be applicable in our municipality.
We gained excellent experience from Lejre on administrative-territorial reform. The municipality of Lejre is already an experienced 14-year-old municipality. Our two municipalities have very similar values ​​- both are rural municipalities, with an ageing society and with interest in accessibility and sustainability. As part of a new municipality, Lejre's good practices were very useful to us.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

If we talk specifically about Dienvidkurzeme municipality, which we represented, then it was especially interesting for us to find out how the communication between the residents and the municipality is implemented, how the mutual flow of information takes place, because the residents must be informed about the municipal activities. The second aspect that was particularly useful in this project was the integration and cohesion of society. It is no secret that people from other countries come to the Baltic States every year, including Latvia and Dienvidkurzeme municipality. The Nordic experience in integrating these people into the local community was useful. And the exchange of experience in caring for seniors in the Nordic countries was also valuable, so that they would not be left alone after completing their active work, but would find activities that suit their interests. We have gained a lot of initiatives from the project program related to the environment and ecology, education, volunteering and much more that we will be able to take over in our municipality.

References in the media

During the visit, representatives of the municipality were interviewed by two Lejre regional newspapers:
https://www.sn.dk/lejre-kommune/lettere-paa-inspirationstur-i-lejre/
https://www.sn.dk/lejre-kommune/letter-paa-besoeg-vil-laere-af-lejre/

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

During the implementation of this project, we have gained a lot of easy-to-implement experiences and ideas that can be implemented over a long period of time. The words we heard most often during this project were "communication" and "volunteering". These are the words that permeated any topic throughout this project. Volunteering is something that there is still a lot to do in our society. Experience in working with seniors and the local community as a whole was a valuable benefit. Integration and involvement of different communities in a single society. Education and security issues. Involvement of children in reading books and operation of youth centers. And much more. The common conclusion is that every member of society, regardless of their age, level of education, age or other parameters, has value, and everyone deserves support and respect. And everyone's ideas are heard.

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

Thanking the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for the opportunity to participate in this programme by the delegation of Dienvidkurzeme municipality, we are happy to say that the very fulfilled and valuable programme not only met our expectations, but significantly exceeded them. This was especially true of the section we implemented in Lejre municipality, because our situations are quite similar - we are similar both in terms of the size of the territory and the number of inhabitants. We got a lot of simple and valuable ideas that we can gradually take over in our municipality. In Malmö, on the other hand, we gained a broader view of how a large-scale, fast-growing municipality operates and what the problems and solutions are there, so we also gained valuable initiatives there.

Contact: Kristine Pastore, project manager of the project "How to reach everyone in municipality"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

When visiting and interacting with archaeologists exploring the Slussen area, it was amazing to hear how much freedom and trust the public authorities give to the archaeologists themselves and how the quality and timing of archaeological research speeds up, but certainly does not worsen the process. When visiting the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Birka and Hovgarden, it was interesting to see the nuances of the care of such sites and the general sense of liberalism that enables a variety of small-scale and low-invasive land movements without any complicated bureaucratic procedures. Also, a very interesting and completely unused area in Lithuania turned out to be the maintenance of the cultural heritage landscape, the focus of which is on the selection of vegetation of such a landscape, questions about the image of the chronological stage of the heritage object to be presented/revealed to the visitor. Also, the healthy tendency of cultural heritage landscape maintenance specialists not to build or build visually expressive areas was very impressive (in Lithuania, a similar is done with visual protection elsewhere (eg in Kulautuva cemetery, Kaunas district municipality) houses germinate in the object itself and thus irreversibly change the image of the cultural landscape, the possibility of visual perception of the cultural heritage object disappears).
The study visit revealed examples of successful collaboration with a variety of community-based institutions. We learned how inhabitants' needs influence urgent archaeological excavation works - in Stockholm, Slussen, it was the urgent need to replace dilapidated water and transport infrastructure.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

-It strengthened long-term cooperation with Nordic partners;
- It was an experience sharing on modern Nordic management of heritage attracting local business and community (managers, guides, etc)
-It was shared experiences of tackling nowadays challenges (climate change, use of new technologies, accessibility of heritage values, user-friendly environment);
-The project allowed us to discuss the issues with a lot of needed Nordic experts on management, heritage accessibility, educational programs for the community, practical issues of heritage protection of the Reserve;
- The participants shared values: identity, sustainability, environmental preservation, urban
planning knowledge, heritage accessibility, and world heritage protection.

References in the media

- The results of each study visit – textual and visual information was placed on the website of The Directorate of the State Cultural Reserve of Vilnius Castles ww.vilniauspilys.lt

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

Sustainability is not only environmental sustainability, but political, economical, social, cultural sustainability

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

Nordic partners were engaged very much in our project. The results of the study visit were excellent.

Contact: ANGELE DANUTE CEPENAITE, project manager of the project "NORDIC CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE USER-FRIENDLY SERVICES IMPLEMENTATION : ARCHEOLOGICAL HERITAGE SITE DIMENSIONS"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

Communications is getting new knowledge and practical recommendation in next areas:
1) Bottom – up policymaking.
a. Involvement of different stakeholders for create a united strategy with the implementing plan.
2) The building-up Innovation eco-system and involving in the process all relevant stakeholders.
3) Green transition and circular economy policy making.

Some detailed examples.
1) The Nordic countries have long-term experiences for working-up consensus-based policies where all stakeholders are involved. We had got good knowledge how to agree on results, drive the process and get to the result, which is acceptable for all stakeholders from privet and public sector. The good example is the Norwegian recycling and deposit system for plastic bottles and cans.

Within the administrative remit of Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications will be launched an innovation agency. The Enterprise Estonia and KredEx merged at the beginning of 2022. Innovation Norway, Vinnova and RISE are good examples for building up well-functioning innovation implementing agency. For instants, The Matrix Model is the most popular organisational governance model in the Nordic counties.

In Norway and Sweden the Topics Green transition and circular economy are led by the privet sector, who sees there some new business opportunities. These topics are built up via economic parameters. The main target for the topic are save the climate and nature and preserve the well-being of society in the Nordic countries.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

It should be admitted Nordic countries are in the topics green transition and circular economyre world-class frontrunners. While Estonia has just taken the first steps for putting these themes on the board. We should built up our cooperation in the way that all parties could get some benefits in the future. In the first order, Estonia should join with initiative of Nordic countries and take over their principals for promoting green transition and circular economy.
We have had very fruitful and open discussions with the hosted organisations. By having, these study visits we have had very good contacts and networks for cooperation and cooperation on EU level in the future.
In short term we try to find some possibilities to start cooperation with Ignite Sweden and RISE. There are some interreg programmes that could suit for the next cooperation stage. In addition, very important is cooperation on EU level for having regulations that suits as much to the Nordic countries as to the Baltic countris

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

We have had very open and fruitful discussion about consensus-based policy makeing process. We have got very many practical solution that we can put into the practise for impementing green transition and circular economy. The most imporatant result of the project is broad network and direct contacts in nordic countries for creating new projects and implementing initatives of green transition and circular economy.

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

The programm meets fully our expectations.

Contact: Kaie Nurmik, project manager of the project "Green and Digital Future"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

The applying partner of the project was the Association of Local Authorities of Lääne-Viru County that acts in the interests of all the municipalities in the county. Since the county (with the the Association in the lead) is compiling the Sustainable Energy Action plan in order to move towards Green Goals, the Association as well as the Muncipalities (the members of the Assocition) all benefited from the project by the rise of knowledge in Green Deal and alternative energy resources - the knowledge that is benefitial when each municipality will set forth its goals and aims in the pan-county Action Plan.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

Lääne-Viru County has long-lasting twinning relations with Agder Municipality in Norway and such mobility project reinforced the ties. The partner is also involved in the compilation of Sustainable Energy Plan for Lääne-Viru County through another project and acts as an advising partner in the project giving its input via online seminars.
The cooperation with Eurajoki Municipality will continue because of the plans for the construction of nuclear power plant in Kunda (Viru-Nigula Municipality) and the cooperation with the possible constructor, Fermi Energia, has already started parallely with the present project. Also, due to the above-mentioned plans the county, especially Viru-Nigula Municipality and Eurajoki will be in close cooperation in the future in order to gain more knowledge and experience from Olkiluoto Power Plant.

References in the media

Local newspaper "Lääne-Virumaa uudised" 19th of March 2022:
https://www.laanevirumaauudised.ee/uudised/2022/03/19/omavalitsuste-juhid-toid-norrast-kasulikku-teavet

The webpage of the Association of Lääne-Viru Local Municipalities: https://www.virol.ee/uudised-ja-teated/-/asset_publisher/SfGT0FmXmC0C/content/laane-viru-omavalitsuste-juhid-kaisid-kliima-ja-energiakava-koostamise-raames-visiidil-norras?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.virol.ee%2Fuudised-ja-teated%3Fp_p_id%3D101_INSTANCE_SfGT0FmXmC0C%26p_p_lifecycle%3D0%26p_p_state%3Dnormal%26p_p_mode%3Dview%26p_p_col_id%3Dcolumn-1%26p_p_col_count%3D1

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/116132108442069/photos/a.189851891070090/4890121531043079/

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

- solving political conflicts on local level when the issues of renewable energy resources (i.e. wind turbines) are tackled
- lessons learnt from compling Sustainable Energy Action Plan for the county and different project helping to move towards the Green goals
- strengthened cooperation regarding the construction of possible future nuclear plant in Viru-Nigula

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

Surely, the programme provides an excellent help and possibility to learn from each other on Nordic-Baltic level regarding very different topics and themes in public sector services.

Contact: Anu Oja, project manager of the project "Role and opportunities of local government in achieving climate and energy policy goals"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

Since there were 6 participants taking part in the visit, each of them had different perspective and lessons learned from the visit. All of them gained new and valuable experience on how a nordic municipality functions and is managed in different areas, as well as had possibility to improve the overall skills needed at their daily work. Overall the delegation gained new knowledge and established new partnerships. The gained experience has also regional and national level benefit, because the chairman of Adazi municipality is also co-chairman of the Riga metropoly area association (association of the municipalities situated around the capital city Riga) as well as active member of Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments.

The lessons learned on the cooperation between the military base management and municipality were the most valuable because there is large military base situated in Adazi municipality as well, therefore the best practices on the ways how the area of military base is managed, how the local residents are informed about the planned military training activities were very important to the delegation of Adazi municipality. It was also very interesting to learn the best practices of the management of the municipal waterways (Varde canal) which is very active with boats and as residential recereation area, because there is a canal between Gauja river and Baltezers lake in Adazi municipality, which is underdeveloped and not used to its full potential therefore the new ideas were very useful to Adazi representatives for further planing.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

Sharing experiences from Varde municipality and visits to the military garrisons exceeded the best expectations of the Adazi municiplity delegation. Some of the observed ideas were implemented in cooperation with the authorities of the Latvian National Armed forces on the national independence day of Latvia when a museum-type exhibition with military heritage was unveiled and there was a possibility for the general public to visit some areas of the Adazi military base on guided and supervised tours. we beliece that the contribution of all the participants on both parties has enhanced diversities and co-creation of ideas in order to sustain and pormote strong partnerships.

References in the media

The visit was reported on the website of the municipality as well as an article published in the printed form at the informative newsletter of the municipality ditributed for free to all the residents of the municipality.

https://www.adazi.lv/apstiprinats-adazu-domes-administracijas-projekts-nordic-baltic-mobility-programme-for-public-administration-2020/

https://www.adazi.lv/lai-aizgutu-inovativus-risinajumus-adazu-pasvaldiba-tiekas-ar-vardes-pasvaldibu/

https://www.adazi.lv/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/av_092020_WEBc.pdf (page 16)

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

The most valuable part was the gained experience about the best practices on the cooperation between a local municipality and management of the military base for the mutual benefit of both parties as well as local residents so that their daily lives are not disrupted by military training needs and movement of the military equipment in the area around the base and training grounds.

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

Yes, the exchange visit was managed to the highest standards by the hosts and made the delegation feel most welcome and very well looked after. Their hospitality also helped us to save the funding on accommodation as the delegation was hosted at the Danish home guard school free of charge.

Contact: Laura Bite, project manager of the project "Adopting experience of rapid and uneven development of municipality"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

The police officers of Vilnius County Police Headquarters found it extremely useful to carry out discussions related to domestic violence and share different practices and experience in this field. During the discussions the most important aspects of police work in the field of domestic violence were marked as well as investigative and preventive procedures to be improved. Including representatives of prosecution and social agencies was also very useful as it gave the opportunity to picture a broader outlook of fighting domestic violence. Together with the general information some particular aspects may be highlighted, for example, the use of virtual glasses for court simulations. The usage of them in Lithuanian police might be comprehensively evaluated, for example, in some trainings for police officer. Another good practice that may be adapted in Lithuanian police systems is the revisions of current police registrars and establishment of an improved integrated police data base system that may allow a wider and more convenient use of necessary data (the proposal have been already provided to Police Department). A more detailed inspection of police cars and equipment installed in police cars was also fruitful.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

The study visit to Reikjavik created an opportunity to re-establish connections that were developed some years ago. Plans to arrange the visit of Reikjavik police officers to Vilnius were discussed. It was agreed to continue sharing of experience by different channels. The Project activities also strengthened cooperation with Helsinki Department, gave the opportunity to discuss new topics and gain experience through observing.

References in the media

Reports were presented to the management of Police Department and the information received during the visit provided to the colleagues of Vilnius County Police. Lithuanian Honorary Consul in Iceland shared the information of the study visit in Facebook.

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

The study visit let to evaluate and compare police work and procedures applied in Lithuania, Finland and Iceland. The major problems, practices and risks in the field of domestic violence and police cars management are of similar nature. However, the ways of how police cope with some problems or what practice they apply at some points are different. Particularly these differences opened the possibility for further discussions, evaluations and share of experience. It is valuable to mention, that modern criminal phenomenons tend to have no border and boundaries, hence, it is crucial to develop effective cooperation with neighboring countries.

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

The expectation were perfectly met. The study visit gave the opportunity to learn new practices and enriched with the idea that are worth thinking of and initiating discussions of potential implementation in Lithuanian police system. The participation in the project also gave the opportunity to strengthen cooperation channels and think of new cooperation direction.

Contact: Justina Pupkiene, project manager of the project "Prevention and Investigation of Domestic Violence and Effective Management of Resources: Best Practices"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

Our organisation benefited the most from meetings of colleagues (meeting in person rather than online meetings, as it appears that everyone is tired of the screen meeting and personal touch is already a value in and of itself) to share concerns and joys about management issues and communication problems, as well as to develop a competent management system for administrative tasks. Most valuable is the shared knowledge and experiences. Establishing project ideas, as well as the network and team needed for future project collaborations and implementation.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

We strengthened knowledge transmission for mutual benefit as a result of the initiative, both at the administrative and researcher levels. Increased experience exchange on best practices in public administration and promotion of standardization, shared knowledge, and new cooperation ideas to sustain the collaboration with both institutions in Finland and in Iceland.

References in the media

Project activities and information about the study visits was announced in the internal media of the Estonian Language institute and a webinar will be held to introduce the resultd of the visits to KOTUS and Arni Magnusson Institute.

https://www.kotus.fi/nyt/uutistekstit/kotuksen_uutiset/kotuksen_uutiset_2022/viron_kielen_asema_on_vahvempi_kuin_koskaan.38171.news fbclid=IwAR1CBW8LZWBgoSzrXDElaSVtrPh_x1PkCYyUPspe3cYwDvzcJpXaPC9aRKk

https://www.facebook.com/Sprakinstitutet (from March 10th and April 12, 2022)

https://www.facebook.com/kotustiedotus (from March 10th and April 12, 2022)


https://arnastofnun.is/is/frettir/heimsokn-fra-eistlandi?fbclid=IwAR12yk9tDjw0VGGJ8VQYcU7RblQVV3BFcyi_-5JMQoUJCqH-NCpmIA_fw0I

https://www.facebook.com/arnastofnun

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

Discussion about the future of small language management in context of national policies.
Creation of the project management database.
Making new contacts and fostering productive relationships

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

The Nordic-Baltic Mobility programme fulfilled our expectations and provides a great opportunity to meet partners, discuss partnership opportunities, and share knowledge about the institutions management.

Contact: Riin Kikkas, project manager of the project "Exchange of best practices for implementing changes in language institution administration, as well as future partnership opportunities"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

The knowledge and information received as well as good practice learned will contribute to performance of the Office of the Ombudsperson of Child's Rights of Lithuania (further on - Institution) improvement, while handling complaints, monitoring situation in education field, monitoring implementation of national and international legal acts regarding children's rights to equal education and safe environment. During the meetings cooperation and child's active participation were emphasized as one of the most efficient measures to ensure better implementation of child's rights and positive changes in their lives. This information as well as examples of good practice, knowledge on different possible ways of problem solving will help to strengthen Institution's position in discussions with national state, municipal institutions and non-governmental organizations while drawing national policies, action plans on developing existing system, legal acts, concerning comprehensive inclusion of children with special needs and safe school environment for all. Finally, examples of projects that were implemented in Norway and Iceland to ensure child participation in decision making processes will be shared in meetings with practitioners (teachers, non profit organizations and etc.) with a purpose to encourage greater consideration to be given to the importance of the child's views.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

Children and their wellbeing is one of the areas of the Nordic-Baltic cooperation. States have mutual interest to develop systems of support for children in different areas. Nordic countries have developed good examples of child welfare, education, integration systems.
The information, experience shared through the visits of our project make contribution to implementation of fundamental values in general - tolerance, non-discrimination, equal rights.
The contacts established through and thanks to the project will allow to create and develop cooperation initiatives, implement joint projects, in order to share practices related to one or more specific issues related to children's wellbeing, groups of children with special educational needs. The practices of Nordic countries learned can be presented more widely to Lithuanian society, parents and children, specialists, providing the possibility to learn from Nordic countries, to seek changes of attitudes towards inclusion of children having special needs and inclusion process.

References in the media

Ombudsperson for Children of Lithuania informs the society about her activities through Institution's official website. We have published information about our activities we have carried under the Programme on the website - about the project by Nordic Council of Ministers, project aims and the visits to Norway and Iceland including the institutions we visited.

http://vtaki.lt/lt/naujienos/vaiko-teisiu-apsaugos-kontrolieres-vizitas-norvegijoje
http://vtaki.lt/lt/naujienos/vaiko-teisiu-apsaugos-kontrolieres-vizitas-islandijoje

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

We were fascinated with the implementation and approaches of educational values in countries visited.
Norway has a very strong legal and institutional system in implementing child's right to a safe and enjoyable school environment that promotes health, well-being and learning. Zero tolerance approach to bullying in Norway is a stunning example to follow.
Iceland has one of the highest percentage of children in early education, also the country has developed a system of including children with special educational needs into main stream education. The percentage of male school-staff is high and that is striking. The other example we learned is the respite services to families raising children with behavior difficulties.

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

The programme certainly met our expectations. The programme allows the participants to choose their individual area of interest and to seek for experience to deepen the knowledge. Programme gives opportunities to bring good practices to the participant's countries, to disscuss the ideas, to evaluate possibilities for further developments.

Contact: Laura Vitkauskaitė-Sirunavičė, project manager of the project "Effective Solutions in Education"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

Deepening of understanding of bioeconomy issues in agriculture, forestry, food production, fisheries and
aquaculture is helping to develop policy interventions and to put the innovations into practice.
Enhanced knowledge and administrative capacity of the staff members of the Ministry are helping to design of interventions of the Estonian CAP Strategic Plan 2021–2027 and European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund implementation plan 2021–2027, as well as:
- improved cooperation and synergy between departments and fields (agriculture, forestry,
fishery, food industry) under responsibility of the Estonian Ministry of Rural Affairs,
- improved co-operation between Ministry and Nordic ministries responsible for development of
bioeconomy,
- building network and contacts with Nordic enterprises, innovation and RD centers and clusters,
- deepen the understanding of building up cooperation and piloting in bioeconomy (e.g. Bioruukki in Finland).

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

Nordic-Baltic cooperation benefitted through the project in many ways, e.g:
- increasing cooperation in politically prioritised areas As bioeconomy) as well as increased experience exchange on best practices in respect of public administration,
- increased cross-sectoral cooperation: research, agriculture, forestry, fisheries,
- increased coordination of joint Nordic-Baltic utilisation of different EU funds (e.g. Horizon Europe) where we deepen the information exchange with the Finnish Ministry and Icelandic R&D players.

References in the media

Information about the study visits was forwarded through the weekly information letter of the Ministry (available to all journalists).

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

Ministry of Rural Affairs gained through the project knowledge, best practices and real examples of innovative, new and well-functioning applications, enterprises and technologies of Nordic countries to be transferred to the Estonian context. Experiences gained through the programme are unique and most probably not transferable without the mobility programme.

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

Our all objectives and expectations were fully met and most probably we are planning follow-up in order to facilitate knowledge share between Estonian local communities and enterprises and Nordic partners.

Contact: Argo Peepson, project manager of the project "Bioeconomy study visit"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

Benefits to the National Archives of Estonia:
- We received valuable information about the strategies that Nordic archives use to develop their archiving processes. (We have also briefed our management on this.)
- We received valuable information on how the various aspects of human resources management in the Nordic countries are organized. We received valuable information about what works and what does not work when it comes to staff training and development. Some principles of training system of NAE are already under review.
- We got useful information about the recruitment policy for archivists and we got some good tips on how to organise for our employees a successful induction into the workplace.
- Also, we got precious information for developing our employee motivation system.
- The study visits provided us with some good tips on how to introduce green thinking in the workplace and develop a green office.
- We got many new contact and ideas for cooperation with Nordic archives.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

The objectives and activities of the project are closely connected with the general objectives of the programme. The activities of the project are aimed at exchanging information with the Nordic States, creating cooperation networks and mutual cooperation in the field.
Colleagues from the National Archives of Finland and the National Archives of Sweden pointed out that our study visit gave them for the first time opportunity for exchanging experiences in personnel work and it was good for developing closer relations.
As we have the same situation in archival field, we had a lot to talk about and discuss topics in HRM. Thanks to the visits, we have established great contacts with people in these archives. Also, we received an invitation to participate in the Nordic Archival Days, which will be held on 1-2 September 2022 in Stockholm. Our management is planning to attend the event.
It was particularly enriching to share with each other the experiences of how the archives have managed to operate in the pandemic. Moreover, what steps are taken and what is being done in the light of the current security situation in Europe.
Our Swedish colleagues, with whom we have had less cooperation in recent years, were very interested in our activities and in visiting us.
We are sure, that the project has created opportunities for further cooperation in the future.

References in the media

The project enabled us to develop closer relations between the three countries. Employees in the field of personnel management in the national archives of Finland and Sweden appreciated our initiative inarranging the study trips. It´s because we have not had many opportunities for exchanging experiences with other archives, especially during the pandemic. Information about the realization of the project "Exchange of experiences and knowledge in the field of personnel management in the archives (Study visit of the employees of the National Archives of Estonia to the National Archives of Finland and the National Archives of Sweden)” was shared through our organisation’s calendar. Also, the personnel departments in Finland and Sweden informed their employees in the organization about the study trip of the National Archives of Estonia. Both archives had thoroughly prepared for ourstudy trip. Many employees from Estonia, Finland and Sweden were involved in the activities of the project. We have shared information about the Norden Project (https://www.norden.ee/en/) and our colleagues from Finland and Sweden were very thankful for that.
As topics of personnel work and personnel management are very sensitive, giving wider publicity to the project was not considered reasonable. Information concerning carrying out the project was communicated inside the organization. During the study trip a brief description of the Nordic Council of Ministers and the programme was provided. An overview of the activities and results of the project was given to the management of the National Archives of Estonia. Also, the Estonian National Archivist has thanked the partners for contributing to the project. The subsequent correspondence with the project partners confirms that the colleagues from the Archives of Finland and Sweden have also given an overview of the study trip of the National Archives of Estonia to their management.

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

The mobility project was a very good opportunity for gaining and exchanging experience with institutions in the same field in Finland and Sweden. As the field of archiving is specific, this is practically the only way to exchange similar experiences. From the point of view of human resource management and administration, we gained a lot of new knowledge and practical experience. It was interesting to learn that the general trends, in the organization of support services are similar

In Finland, their experience in mass digitization was impressive and they organized courses and information days for public authorities at different levels and lengths. They have a very systematic approach to guiding public authorities.

In Sweden, we got a good overview of their recruitment process as well as their activities during the pandemic, which took place in parallel with the large-scale relocation of their records.

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

This program provided an opportunity to exchange experiences between similar government agencies, enriched our daily work by providing plenty of reference material in the field of human resources and provided us an overview of all activities of the archives. In other words, the project was very useful for us.

Contact: Sigrit Mahla, project manager of the project "Exchange of experiences and knowledge in the field of personnel management in the archives (Study visit of the employees of the National Archives of Estonia to the National Archives of Finland and to the Swedish National Archives)"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme greatly benefited our organization in many different ways. First of all, it’s the experience that our organization and personnel got through visiting many different sites and power plants, participating in many different meetings, presented to and being presented by different companies and organizations. Seeing modern technologies and innovative technological solutions already implemented and perfectly working taught us a lot about engineering part and ensured us once again that our company’s future plan without fossil fuels is the way we should go as soon as possible, because social responsibility for us, as well as Nordic countries, is very important.
Secondly, we were lucky to meet so many skillful specialists of different companies and make new meaningful connections with them. We already exchanged our best practices and shared the most useful information that helps us grow together. Broadening our professional network is going to grow to future collaborations and joint international projects or events. And collaboration in our district heating and cooling sector greatly benefits us and our clients.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

This project greatly benefited Nordic-Baltic cooperation because, firstly, it helped us make tighter connections and get to know each other. Knowing best organizations, companies and specialists of this region greatly benefits both sides, because problems that we face everyday could become way easier when you can contact someone, who you knew already solved similar ones.
Secondly, companies that we visited and could not give us tour around their power plants, because of Covid-19 restrictions, invited us to come back in near future. They got invitations from us, to visit our company in Vilnius, Lithuania, as well.
Also, next week after coming back from visits to Nordic countries, we already have had additional online meet with Energy Opticon AB, company that was introduced to us in Sweden. We found their product – optimization and efficiency software – Energy Optima 3 very interesting and promising. We have further plans to contact other companies, that we met during this project, for more information and possible cooperation with us.

References in the media

There has been only internal communication like internal FB group for employees. Also it is planned to make presentation on key findings to the whole company (~570 employees).

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

We gained a lot of technical and engineering experience on waste heat recovery from Data centers and sewage at Fjernvarme Fyn, from their presentations, discussions and site visits.
We learnt a lot on safety at work and ergonomics of maintenance for workers and technicians at SK Forsyning A/S site – Slagelse.
We gained a lot of experience on modern fossil free district heating of small towns from Aalborg CSP specialist at Slagelse and Solrød Strand.
We learnt about social responsibility of district heating of social housing at Albertslund Forsyning.
We gained a lot of experience on selective maintenance of district heating and cooling networks and smart leakage detection with thermography drones and planes at Stockholm AB Norrenergi.
By visiting Stockholm Exergi Värtaverket we had opportunity to get some knowledge and experience on scientific researches made on biomass CHP plant with carbon capture and storage.

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Public Administration definitely met and exceeded our expectations. In a short period of time not only we had opportunity to learn so much but we shared our knowledge and know-how. We expected to see at least few implemented modern technologies, but we gained a lot more: site visits with experts of their field, intense presentations and discussions not only about each company, but about future of the sector, political stimulations to become fossil free and carbon neutral, various legislations and so on.
Networking and opportunity to meet other experts in energy sector laid the foundations of future collaborations on projects or events.

Contact: Vytautas Džiuvė, project manager of the project "Study visit"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

The project benefited my organisation by getting the possibility to implement new methods and
improve working methods in the fields included in the project. An other benefit is the connections
and contacts which was strenghtened/established through the project, which can be useful also in other
matters in the future.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

By promotion of the program and the project in own organisation as well as related organisations in Norway, Lithuania and Latvia. By spreading the report of the project to the cooperating municipalities. Some of the results are interesting, and gives opportunities for further investigation.

References in the media

https://www.facebook.com/martin.vorkinn/posts/10161210545389692
https://www.facebook.com/marijampolessavivaldybe/photos/a.535399103284196/2110145735809517
https://www.marijampole.lt/naujienos/4/lesja-savivaldybes-atstovo-vizitas-marijampoleje-pasidalijimas-patirtimi-ir-abipuse-nauda:12117

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for personal skills

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

I found the quality in the organisation of Marijampole municipality is at a very high and modern level, and had much in common with the way of organising my home organisation. So much similarities that I will give advice about small changes in own organisation!
In Valka municipality I learned about processes of reorganising some of the sectors/departments in the municipality. Valuable to me and my organisation!

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

The programme definitely met my expectations! I found the application- and reportsystem to be smooth and easy-to-use. All in all, only positive vibes :-)

Contact: martin vorkinn, project manager of the project "Efficient work routines and best practices within the field of municipal administrative work "

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

The information gathered from the meetings with the hosting organizations was of great value as our organization can implement the strategies of the hosting organizations that have been practiced for a longer period.

Even though in Estonian Research Council we have a web page meant for youth that includes different information on how to conduct research and where to find the needed scientific information, we are also planning to implement the why.is approach on letting people ask different questions regarding science, which then are answered by scientists and the experts of the subject.

Offering the opporturnity for the general public to ask science related questions similarly to the why.is webpage, will help us make our web page more attractive to wider and hopefully younger audience.

The meetings showed that implementing the strategies that already have positive outcome in other countries would be benefitial to us as we can skip the trial-and-error part and start using already effective and working methods.


The conversations and exchanging the information with the specialist of the hosting organization gave us additional insight on how to use scientists in the science communication and how to communicate science in a way that people understand the message forwarded to the public.

We got reassurance regarding the methods we have used for science communication and science popularization from similar organizations to ours. It was motivating to learn that similar methods are used in other countries, confirming that the tactics we are already using, have positive results in the long run.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

Regarding to our visits to Island and Denmark, it can be said that Nordic-Baltic cooperation project is useful and beneficial for several if not for all participated parties.

Among other things, the project has helped us expand our network and make new contacts to collaborate within upcoming projects. Several specific agreements for visits and presentations regarding upcoming events were made with Astra Center specialist. Also plans for continuous collaboration with Rannis regarding PhD students engagement in science communication events.

Common strategies, knowledge base and goals are necessary for better and more efficient collaboration between countries. Obtaining the knowledge from similar projects and strategies used in different organisations will help us improve the operational methods already in use.

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

The biggest asset we gained from the mobility project is new contacts from the visited organizations in Iceland and Denmark. By having common purpose, the new contacts are useful for future collaboration. We already made agreements with hosting colleagues from Denmark regarding future cooperation opportunities.

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

The fact that we could share our experience and learn about successful practices and strategies used elsewhere, means that we gained a lot from the project. We are planning to implement the learned new methods in our own work and engage new contacts in our future collaboration. We could say that our expectations were met and for some areas even surpassed. All the hosting organizations were very hospitable and the meetings had valuable results.

Contact: Tiina Haabpiht, project manager of the project "Study Visits for Cooperation and Exchange of the Best Practises leading young people to research and technology"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

After all meetings and variety of topics about urban management, waste management, extracurricular activities for children and young people, the education system, involvement of community in common activities, into the decision-making process related to improving local welfare, community housing and etc. my colleagues and I feeling really inspired to work hard and do our best to work for Vilnius City.
We had meetings with representatives of local government and members of local communities, who
shared good experiences and best practices of our mutual benefit.
We got acquainted with legal framework of everyday work in municipality and organizational structure;
We found out how colleagues in Nordic countries involve the communities to common process of decision making (organizing events to the local community, mobilizing, involving the community to common social, cultural activities to infrastructural projects - repairing sidewalks, sports grounds, handling squares, etc.).
We know more about self-government principals and financing resources in districts and communities.
We have increased experience exchange on best practices in respect of public administration and facilitation of harmonisation of standards.
Our delegation consisted of 3 head of districts of Vilnius City Municipality, Chief adviser of Vilnius City Municipality Administration, coordinator of districts of Vilnius City Municipality, Vilnius City Councillor, Chair of Committee for Local Governmental Development and Deputy Director of Vilnius City Municipality Administration, so visits to Nordic counties increased knowledge transfer for mutual benefit on all administrative levels.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

The meetings with representatives of local government and members of local communities of Joensuu and Kristianstad benefited both. We shared good experiences and best practices in our everyday work, especially was valuable to see and discuss how Nordic counties organise their self governance and cooperation with communities. Increased experience exchange on best practices in respect of public administration and facilitation of harmonisation of standards.

References in the media

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Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for personal skills

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

I am feeling inspired to know more about self governance and organising work with communities in nordic cities, to apply best examples in my work in Vilnius. Valuable experience writing and coordinating project.

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

The Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Public Administration exceeded my expectations, the partners were very hospitable and well prepared, the topics were relevant and interestingly presented, a friendly relationship was established, very valuable Scandinavian experience, we really have to learn from the best examples.

Contact: Jurgita Ambrasienė, project manager of the project "The Nordic-Baltic Mobility and Network Programme for Public Administration, Vilnius City with Joensuu, Kristiansand, Kristianstad and Gothenburg"

Please describe how the project benefited your organisation

International cooperation is indisputably beneficial to any organisation. And in particular for public body with limited financial resources. Municipalities do not make a profit, so qualified, motivated, experienced employees are the main assets of the institution. In particular, the project has a strong motivation for employees to gain new experience and knowledge from staff with a similar profile in other cities. As this project has a relatively small budget, the submission, organisation and reporting of its application is not complicated, so it is a very good practice for staff before submitting applications for larger projects. The main benefit of the project is that the search for partners in the Nordic countries has allowed us to find new contacts that we sharing with other departments, unrelated to the activities of our department as well. We share our existing contacts with our colleagues who are looking for partners for new projects, so we have become a bridge that can easily find and connect people with similar challenges and looking for solutions. We also share our knowledge with colleagues about the application and management of the project. Of course, in our direct work, we apply the innovations and experience of colleagues from foreign cities that we can apply in everyday solutions. The biggest benefit, however, is that we maintain friendly relations with our Nordic counterparts and we feel mutual understanding, support and willingness to cooperate.

Please describe how the project benefited the Nordic-Baltic cooperation

We believe that the project is useful not only for our institution, our project partners, but also for future project participants. Essential framework for future collaboration has been investigated in order to maximise the success rate of future projects by making the administrative part of the process more structured. The exchange of know-how and new working methods is particularly important in the context of a rapidly changing global pandemic situation, where flexibility is needed to adapt to conditions and to take decisions quickly. Close contacts and knowledge sharing on innovative solutions strengthen the whole region through close international cooperation. Similar geographical location, climate, cultural similarities that can be explored through similar projects allow the knowledge obtained to be widely applied. Even though further work still needs to be done, we have set up a strong foundation for sharing the knowledge and working towards a robust collaboration system.

Do you consider your mobility project valuable in terms of sharing experience?

Yes, for my home organisation

Please give an example of experiences/values gained through the mobility project

We have benefitted mostly from establishing new contacts in Helsinki as well as the insights provided by the colleagues from all participating cities. Established contacts are useful not only directly to our division, but also to our colleagues from other departments. We have already managed to share experience in urban street management, care of stray animals, outdoor advertising and other areas. The continued work with all of the cities involved in the project means a more robust network for future cooperation efforts.

Please describe briefly whether the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for %s met your expectations

As expected, we have been able to share an experience with the representatives of Helsinki and partly with Reykjavik to discuss the international collaboration framework. Unfortunately, not all of the meetings could be completed in person, however, that does not take away from the fact that we have managed to pass on valuable experience to our colleagues in Vilnius.

Contact: Lina Atkociute, project manager of the project "Sharing and Exchange of Know-How in the Organisation and Communication of International Cooperation"