On 1 December 2020, held an award ceremony for Latvia's best LIFE projects on Facebook. . The event gave the name to both the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development spokeswoman Alda Ozola and the Latvian LIFE National Contact Point – Ilona Mendzina. In order to reach the audience, the European Commission's LIFE Programme, Angelo Salsi, was also speaking from Brussels.
Traditionally, LIFE Award events take place on site, but in view of the limits adopted for limiting COVID-19, this year the awards took place in an off-site format. Both project representatives and other stakeholders were involved in the event, who had the opportunity to participate interactively and make comments on Facebook's platform.
The LIFE Award 2020 was presented in 6 nominations:
1. Top-rated new project
Qualifying: Projects submitted to the European Commission (hereinafter referred to as “EC”) draft LIFE for 2018 and 2019. Evaluation criterion: The winner of the award is a project evaluated by the EC with the highest number of points in the call for proposals for LIFE for 2018 and 2019. 3 projects are eligible.
The winner of this nomination is the LIFE REEF project, which was assessed by 75 points by the European Commission in the 2018 draft.
The LIFE REEF project will start work on the development of criteria for evaluating marine habitats to be protected. . Many other activities, including the development of monitoring methods, the development of a plan for the management of marine protected areas and others, are also envisaged under the project.
2. Most publicly active project
Qualifying: Projects carrying out their activities in 2019. Rating criterion: Total audience achieved according to media monitoring data. . The award is awarded to the project, which has reached the highest audiences in the period from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019. m. 12 projects are eligible.
The winner of the nomination “The most publicly active project” is the GrassLIFE project.
The GrassLIFE project is working on restoring natural grasslands and promoting the sustainable management of these valuable grasslands. . One of the most visible elements of the project is the mobile herd established within it, which is certainly one of the keys to success that helped the project win that nomination.
3. The largest financial project
Qualifying: projects carrying out activities in 2020. Evaluation criterion: the largest overall project budget in EUR. 9 projects are eligible.
The LIFE Fit for REACH project is the winner of the “The most financially significant project” nomination.
The project works to make it possible for companies in the Baltic States to improve the management of chemicals and to introduce timely the requirements of the European Union REACH regulation.
4. Major contribution to environmental protection
Qualifying: projects carrying out activities in 2020. Evaluation criterion: (1) The significance of the project shall be assessed by the jury by voting, taking stock of the activities and results of the projects and ranking projects in the order of importance (50% importance). 2) the most extensive territorial project, projects shall be ranked according to the planned wider activities of the D/vides/climat/protection in the territory of Latvia (50% significance). 9 projects are eligible.
The winner of the nomination “The Most Significant Investment in Environmental Protection” is the LIFE Fit for REACH project. The project is international, thus covering a wide range of activities and its significant contribution to the protection of the environment was also voted down by the competition panel.
5. Major contribution to climate change
Eligible: Projects carrying out activities in 2020 under the LIFE Climate sub-programme. Evaluation criterion: the relevance of the project shall be assessed by the jury by voting on the activities and results of the projects. . The winner of the award is a project that has won the highest number of votes from the jury members m. 2 projects are eligible.
The LIFE OrgBalt Award was awarded for the “Key Investment in Climate Change” nomination. . Although the project has started its activities relatively recently, the panel has welcomed the project's contribution to climate change.
The aim of this project is to demonstrate innovative measures to reduce climate change. . This will be done by using a variety of innovative methods to manage both forest land and fertile organic farmland s. During the project, the quality of the data used in the calculation of GHG emissions will be improved and, given the importance of this sector, the accuracy of the calculations will have a significant impact not only on the fulfilment of the climate commitments of Latvia but also on the whole of the European Union.
6. Major impact project
Projects concluded in 2016-2020 are eligible. Assessment Criterion: Applicants shall submit a description to the LIFE Aid Unit within a specified time limit which shall justify the impact of their project on the environmental policy, which shall be evaluated by the jury by voting. The winner of the award is a project that has won the highest number of votes from the jury members m. 12 projects are eligible.
THE NAT-PROGRAMME project received the award for the “Project with the greatest impact” nomination.
Natura 2000 is a network of specially protected areas of the countries of the European Union, in which each Member State is part of its own system of protected areas. . As part of THE project NAT-PROGRAMME, the national Natura 2000 site protection and management programme was developed in Latvia, as well as other guidelines and valuable materials.
the LIFE Award is an event for the European Commission's LIFE Programme, which was organised in Latvia for the third time, within the framework of the CAP LIFE LAT capacity project. . The aim of the event is to promote the visibility of the LIFE Programme in Latvia by identifying and displaying the most successful LIFE project performers in Latvia.