Customs as promoters of social innovation, culture, tourism, socio-economic situation in the region

At the beginning of October, in Germany, Frankfurt am Oder, a fourth international conference on the management of historic heritage (“the 4 th Encounter Conference”) was held at the European University Viadrina. Managing manorial Heritage. There was also a Lūznavas manor manager, Iveta Balzer, who represented Latvia.
The conference was organised by the European Network for Country Encounter and Estate Research and participated in the European Network for Country House and Estate Research, including representatives of European pioneers and exhibitions, universities, museums, and customs managers and owners from Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Belarus, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Ireland and Latvia. Rēzekne's council of Lūznavas Manor manager and member of the Board of the Latvian Forest and Manor Association, Iveta Balsne, had a honour to represent Latvia with a press conference in a conference on “Management of cultural history heritage in Latvia: from strategies to a specific site of manor – Lūznavas Manor”. Ivetu was invited to participate in the conference by the organisers of the Latvian Forest and Manor Association and Conference on the basis of the renewed EXPERIENCE of Lūznavas manor in the field of culture, tourism, the socio-economic situation of the region. Lūznavas Manor is a member of the Latvian Forest and Manor Association since 2015 and also serves on the Association Board. The Association contributes to the preservation of the cultural heritage of Latvia, the unique cultural heritage values and environmental awareness of the cultural heritage of Latvia, research, the development of tourism, cultural and creative industries in castles and customs.
In the course of the fourth international conference on the management of the historical heritage of the mud, research on the development of historic heritage in Rietum - and Eastern Europe was presented, about future risk factors in European rural areas (in the context of Latvia – the fastest depopulation in Europe) and the role of customs as social innovators in socio-economic growth of regions. In Western Europe, 90 % Manor is a private property that is inherited for generations and this cultural heritage is largely unavailable to the public, but there is also a tendency that the owners of pins and mud begin to cooperate with local communities, municipalities and open doors for the inspection of the heritage, thereby contributing to the influx of tourists to the region. The cultural heritage of Eastern Europe and Latvia has had another history of historical development, with various local government institutions, museums, schools, libraries, cultural and youth centres, care centres, etc. Also, Lūznavas Manor has experienced historical change – from the residence of the estate-holders, becoming a school, war headquarters, parish administration, library and re-born in 2015 as a centre of regional significance. In the course of the conference, the latest trends in the management of customs in Europe and in the municipality of Rezekne have been repeatedly called, as customs are invited to become social drivers in their region. At the conference held in Germany, there was an excellent opportunity to look at the Brandenburg state customs, which have been inherited, restored and populated from generation to generation, as well as to look at the heritage of the municipal and businessmen as a result of the concerts, concerts, exhibitions where restaurant and other tourism services are organized.
By presenting Lūznavas at the conference of Manor Actions, Iveta Balzer emphasized that the manor is a municipal authority of Rezekne, whose activities are based on the existence of cultural history and the development of the modern side and the development of the infrastructure and services associated with it. Cameras, traditional art, early 20 th century fashion-style fashion and cadastre events “live” alongside digital art, contemporary environmental dances, art picnic, design thinking seminars, musical experiments (more than 100 events per year). Thanks to these events and the cultural history values of the estate, young people are familiar with heritage values and participate in volunteering, students perform their work practices, the local community is activated, the tourism business is developed (300 excursion groups from 42 countries), as well as the services of new entrepreneurs, masters, catering and accommodation services (co-operation with 43 service providers) in Rezekne municipality. Based on the statistics of the Rēzekne District Tourism Information Centre, more than 37 000 visitors have visited THE Lūznavas estate from 2015 to 2018 and 370 cultural and other events have occurred.
After the conference, Lūznavas Manor was invited to become a member of the European Network for Encounter in the field of customs research. It is also important that the conference participants included a representative of the cultural heritage from Ireland, Hugh Maguire, who was already well informed about THE activities OF Lūznavas manor, thanks to cooperation with the partners of the “EUCIDA” digital art project “EUCIDA” in Ireland, and as it is known, in this project Lūznavas Manor holds digital art exhibitions and artists' residences. The conference also pleased the meeting with Dana Beldiman-Carlson, the owner of the Kandava municipality, the owner of Rumene Manor, who, together with his spouse, has given both renowned manor buildings and a cleaned park and explore the history of Rumene. Just before the conference, the housekeeper of Rumene had also visited Lūznavas in Manor.
The conference once again confirmed that the Rēzekne municipality's Lūznavas manor activity takes place in a joint step with trends in the development of European cultural heritage and is both an excellent example of the heritage of cultural heritage and the promotion of cultural, tourism and socio-economic environment in both the municipality and the region.
Ithe nformations were prepared by:
Lūznavas Manor Manager Iveta Balzer