European Latvian Association

European Latvian Association(ELA) is an umbrella organisation for Latvian diaspora and associated organisations in Europe, bringing together 27 organisations from 19 European countries, and constantly expanding. ELA’s mandate covers representation of European Latvian diaspora (appx. 0,4mio) interests at the national (vis-à- vis the government of Latvia and of the host states of Latvian migrant/expat communities) and European levels, coordination of members’ activities in the areas of education, culture and civic participation on Latvian and European level, and support to strengthening Latvian diaspora links with Latvia and Europe. ELA is an active member of the ETTW and cooperates with its member organisations. ELA’s main tasks fall in the area of European mobility and citizenship, diaspora policy and integration issues, and, in this area, contain engagement with national and European (via ETTW) institutions, consultation of and guidance to the member organisations and cooperation with other diaspora organisations in Europe and beyond. ELA works on a range of projects, most recently aimed at - fostering intra-European mobility and circular migration (two high level international conferences), - dynamising civic participation of Latvian diaspora communities, boosting their contribution to the European and national migration debates (civic seminars in several EU countries, - to lay ground for a European Latvian citizens’ congress in 2017), - upholding and developing Latvian cultural heritage in European context (large scale events and support activities) and - developing regional approaches to the challenges faced by European mobile citizens (outreach to Baltic and Polish diaspora organisations and membership in the Europeans Throughout the World - ETTW).