2024 Designathon

AIROPOLIS Tukums

November 10^th to 18^th

in Slokenbeka Manor

station Milzkalne

railway line Riga - Tukums

This year, the association AIROPOLIS Smārde is organizing the first designathon to examine in more detail the new development strategy of the Tukums county industrial park, which the municipality has approved on April 25 this year. Similar to hackathons, workshops, idea sprints and project's weeks, designathons also invite students, young professionals from various industries to participate. Together with Tukums municipality specialists and representatives of several universities, focused joint work will take place, putting forward ideas in 6 creative teams. The purpose of the event is to outline the potential directions and the steps to be taken in order to gradually bring the approved strategy to life in the everyday life of the municipality's residents. The 2024 designathon is planned with the support of the municipality of Tukums county, in Šlokenbeka Manor, from November 10 to November 18, with the participation of 40 students from Latvia and Switzerland.

Context of Designathon

By attracting participants from abroad and Latvia who are interested in solving problems, in cooperation with Universities and local communities of the municipality, within the framework of the event, create a clear understanding that the ambitious goal of the Industrial Park strategy can be combined with the long-term well-being of every resident of the municipality. As part of the Designathon, outline the steps that should also be taken in each county parish. In 2023, the municipality of Tukums region decided to develop a new long-term development concept for creating prerequisites for the establishment of future industries in the region, attracting new specialists and planning the necessary infrastructure in the region. Tukums county industrial park (TNIP) was determined as the main development area, when developing the development strategy of this area. The TNIP strategy includes the central part of Tukums region, with an emphasis on the synergy of the airport, railway and roads, developing the spatial planning of the territories within a 10 km radius and the economic justification of the strategy.

The strategy is based on solving current European economic challenges. Due to the need to ensure the continuity of international supply chains and their geographical shortening, the TNIP strategy sets the task of persuading the important players of the European smart economy to locate their new production, assembly, prototyping, design, repair and professional retraining institutions within the borders of the European Union and NATO, for choosing the TNIP territory as a base location, next to the international logistics hub, 50 km from the capital Riga. The strategy describes the main conditions, which are also considered important by the international participants of the smart economy, and for the fulfillment of which maximum attention must be paid in the municipality of Tukums region, including social and educational factors, factors for improving the standard of living, environmental quality, recreation of professionals and their families, public transport and international traffic factors.

The TNIP strategy agreed on April 25, 2024 will be a document in the Tukums municipality in the future, the guidelines of which should be tried to be incorporated into the development visions or implementation projects of all related sectors. While developing this document, the authors of the strategy found that identifying all the county's resources and highlighting its values in the European context is a very necessary process in the coming years. The residents of the county want to get a real long-term benefit from the development of the TNIP project and the entry of the smart future economic sectors into their daily lives, but at the same time carrying out this process in a balanced way, following the proven conservative traditions, preserving natural values, social equality and stability.