Representatives of the Rēzekne municipality participated in the project “non-barrier communication” in France

At the end of April, a representative of the Consultative Council of Rezekne and an electric guitar manufacturer Janis Kuzminsky from Kaunatas parish, Čornajas People's House Head Janis Alexanis, member of the Rēzekne municipality's vocal studio “Skonai” Dāiel Yukna from Ozolaines parish and local government relations specialist Madara Laksa represented Latvia in the European Union programme “Youth in Action” project “Barrier-Free Communication” (“Non-Barrier Communication”) in the French city of Colmārs.

In the course of the week, Latvian representatives, together with participants from Croatia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Turkey, listened to lectures on communication channels, non-verbal communications and other aspects of contact, and also practically tried different types of communication and possible communication barriers. “Because the participants had a different age and a different level of English knowledge, it was very interesting to communicate with them and learn to understand one another, in some cases even more using gestures than a language,” said Jānis Kuzminsky, project participant. “I think that improving communication skills and understanding the most common obstacles to communication will also help me as a business partner in partnership with different business partners.” On the other hand, THE leader of THE Čornajas People's House, John Alexandre, noted that the participation in the project could also encourage other residents of Rezekne's municipality: “often people are afraid to participate in international projects, thinking that it is too complex or that they do not have a sufficiently high level of foreign language knowledge, so that in future, we will be able to inspire others, with our positive stories, not to fear and to“ fall in ”to date in the non-open world of projects, as it is worth both new impression and contacts and the possibility of checking the boundaries of their strength, faced with unforeseen difficulties, and in terms of experience that can be used in their daily work,” said J. Alexandre. It is also worth mentioning that, within the framework of the project, the representatives of Rezekne municipality had the opportunity to popularize Latvia and Latgale, our national food, traditions and folklore, for example, on the evening of cultural evening, the People's song “Tymsa tymsa te nnna” was earned.

70 percent of the project's expenditure was covered by European Union funds. The leading partner of the “non-barrier communication” project was the municipality of Akchakoch of Turkey. It should be noted that the municipality of Rezekne has developed long-term and successful cooperation with Akchakoch colleagues, leading to the participation of both the educational, cultural and social staff of the Rezekne municipality in various exchanges of experience.

Madara Laksa
Public relations specialist of the municipality of Rezekne