At the beginning of February, the Art Academy of Latvia together with the University of Lapland in Finland, as well as associated partners - Riga Graduate School of Economics, Estonian Academy of Arts, Kuldiga Municipality and Kuldiga Artists' Residence signed an agreement on an international master's study program “Service Design Strategies and Innovations ” implementation. It is planned that graduates will receive a double diploma – the Art Academy of Latvia and the University of Lapland.

The content of the study program - service design - is aimed at such a set of knowledge, skills and competencies that graduates can become implementers of change in public and private sector companies and organizations. At the heart of the service design approach is the user - the recipient of the service, whose needs, usage habits and convenience are the main reference material for service innovation. According to the World Bank, the share of the services sector in the gross domestic product of the EU and OECD countries exceeds 70% and the services sector employs about 90% of the economically active population.

Rector of the Art Academy of Latvia Kristaps Zariņš: “We are proud that the Latvian Academy of Arts will offer the first international service design master's degree study program in the Baltic States. We will invite applicants from both Latvia and abroad to apply, emphasizing motivation as one of the most important preconditions for student selection. ”

Ilze Kundziņa, Associate Professor of the Design Department of the Art Academy of Latvia: “Considering that a comprehensive approach to service design requires interconnection of 4 domains of knowledge - design, social sciences, entrepreneurship, technology. The challenge for the Art Academy of Latvia in developing the program content was the involvement of external industry professionals. I am glad that the content of the program has been created and will continue to be taught by such outstanding professionals from Latvia and Estonia as Inga Gleizdāne, Viesturs Sosārs, Viola Korpa, Tanels Karps, Līga Lētiņa, Krists Avots, Liene Kupča, Krišjānis Určs, Renārs Vimba and others."

Admission to the newly developed study program is planned already in the summer of 2021, while the implementation of the program is planned for the autumn of 2021. The start time depends on the progress of the study program licensing and quality control process at the Latvian Higher Education Quality Agency.

The development, licensing and approbation of the study program is implemented thanks to the funding of the European Social Fund project “Joint Master's level study program“ Development of Service Design Strategy and Innovation ”, No. 8.2.1.0 / 18 / A / 017. The newly developed study program will be a paid program and will be implemented in English, in Riga and Kuldiga.

Up-to-date information on admission to studies at the Art Academy of Latvia can be found on the website www.lma.lv.