EN 
LV On June 20, the ZSA seminar “Examples of Agreements for Better Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection” was held.
On June 20, we met in the meadows on the Bauska side to discuss potential environmental benefits at the CONSOLE project event “Contractual Solutions for Agri-Environmental Climate Measures”. The event combined the dissemination of information about the CONSOLE project and its results with practical examples of how agri-environmental and climate measures are implemented in practice.
The day in the countryside began with registration and a cup of coffee, followed by a presentation by the project partner in Latvia – the Farmers’ Council – about the project and its results (good practice research, surveys, manual), as well as opportunities to use them in practice. Participants were invited to familiarize themselves with detailed descriptions of good practices online. By presenting case studies corresponding to the theme of the day, participants were given the opportunity to discuss the possible application of the results in Latvia. The discussion concluded that there are opportunities to make cooperation between livestock farmers and municipalities more popular, for example, by introducing grassland grazing in municipal territories.
To get acquainted with practical solutions in Latvia and inspire to get involved in future events, representatives of the Bauska municipality Ilze Tijone and Ilze Munda shared their experience of environmental investments in the nature park “Bauska” in cooperation with landowners, facilitating a discussion about cooperation opportunities. The presentation sparked discussions about ways to solve cooperation difficulties.
Ludmila Knoka, an environmental science and landscape planning and nature conservation enthusiast with long-term experience in dendrology, presented her experience in preserving biologically valuable grasslands in the Lielupe floodplain meadows, also providing an opportunity to ask questions and discuss the topic further. The participants discussed how to change the traditions of intensive mowing and motivate landowners to think more about preserving biodiversity, and concluded that there are various mechanisms (less frequent, slower mowing, grazing, etc.), but their comprehensive implementation will take time.
During the lunch break, further discussions took place on activities related to natural grasslands for small landowners. This was followed by a site visit to good practice – a visit to the Bauska Castle area, where environmental investments and their results are visible in nature. Māris Skanis presented an environmentally friendly solution for strengthening the river banks near the castle and explained the causes of natural erosion. After that, the participants had the opportunity to go to the second investment site – the Lielupe floodplain meadows, which included an informative part and observation of biodiversity in the meadow.
