An international design workshop organized by the Art Academy of Latvia (AAL) will take place from November 11th to November 14th in the Arsenāls Exhibition Hall of the Latvian National Museum of Art. Within the framework of the workshop, young designers and students of the Art Academy of Latvia, the Technical University of Munich, the ITMO University, and the Poznan University of Natural Sciences will develop ideas for improving the quality of life of future seniors. Everyone interested are welcome to attend the public presentation of the workshop results on November 14th at the Arsenāls Exhibition Hall of the Latvian National Museum of Art from 2 pm to 3:30 pm.

For the next three years, starting from June 2019, the Art Academy of Latvia will implement BaltSe@nioR2.0, the European Union's Interreg Baltic Sea Region project, which continues to pursue the goal of the previous BaltSe@nioR project — developing conceptual design ideas for improving seniors' quality of life.

The Creative Workshop Week will begin with several presentations. Vineta Kreigere, the project manager at the Art Academy of Latvia, will announce the results of the last year's BaltSe@nioR project. Saue municipality (Estonia) representatives involved in the project will give a presentation on the contemporary urban environment and the vision for its improvement. As part of the project, the city of Saue will develop and install environmental elements fitted to help seniors to enhance their physical activity. Architect Uldis Lukševics (NRJA) will talk about the latest trends in creating a favorable environment for seniors, while Miks Lukstiņš, a member of the board at Fixman Ltd., will share his considerable experience in developing sports equipment suitable for seniors. Workshop leaders Kristians Brekte, Associate Professor at the AAL, and Jānis Gailītis, Head of the Project and Development Department at the AAL, will help the workshop team with the brainstorming. They will advise and provide information on good examples of European urban design, as well as aging-related data.

Students from the Department of Functional Design of the Art Academy of Latvia specializing in product and environmental design will participate in creative workshops along with the project's partner-university students and young designers.

Students will work in interdisciplinary teams to develop concepts and ideas that will motivate seniors to spend more time outdoors. They will explore and address the topic of how an urban environment can inspire seniors to live an active and joyful life, as well as how to improve seniors' well-being and health through physical activity individually and with their peers while maintaining optimal physical and emotional balance in their daily lives.

At the end of the workshop, the ideas and their mockups developed by the student group will be presented to project partners and experts. The best projects will be developed into prototypes at the project partner's TSENTER workshops in Estonia.

Creative workshops will be hosted by Jānis Gailītis, the Project Manager of the AAL, Assoc. Prof. Kristians Brekte, Head of Department of Environmental Design, guest lecturer architect Uldis Lukševics, and project manager Vineta Kreigere.

The Art Academy of Latvia participates in running the European Union's Interreg Baltic Sea Region (BSR) transnational cooperation program project No. R081 BaltSe@nioR2.0 (Innovative solutions to support BSR in providing more senior-friendly public spaces due to increased capacity of BSR companies and public institutions). The AAL has the status of a project partner. The project continues to address the No. R030 BaltSe@nioR project's implementation challenges related to the aging of the society, focusing more on adapting the public space to senior needs.