Second house owner’s involvement in local community and political life? Introduction of the case area of Ape town/parish NORDPLUS 2015 Intensive field course in Estonian/Latvian case study localities, May 3-16 Anna Āboliņa Dāvis Valters Immurs

Picture: vieglicelot.lv

Location -Located in NE Latvia - the region of Vidzeme -176 km from Riga/Riia, 113 km from Tartu, 90 km from Valmiera (regional centre of Vidzeme) -Ape [‘up’] town & parish is part of Ape municipality (novads), formed in Borders Trapene parish of Ape municipality and Alūksne municipality -Located next to the border of Estonia (Mõniste parish of Võru county)

Ape Ape town (Ape or Apes pilsēta) was an independent administrative body before the administrative territorial reform in 2009, when it became the administrative centre of the municipality Ape parish (Apes pagasts) was so called ‘rural territory’ of Ape

Size & population & its structure Ape is one of the smallest towns of Latvia (980 official residents) Ape parish (125 km 2 ) has population of 576 The parish mostly consists of typical rural settlements: farmsteads (viensētas), groups of them (skrajciems) and small villages (mazciems) The biggest are – Dauškāni (30 inhabitants) – Uskani (30) – Grūbe (20)

Rīga St. Petersburg

Physiogeographical description Located in the Alūksne Upland (the 3 rd highest region of Latvia), the key factor of the diverse nature of flora and fauna, landscapes and the land use pattern Plenty of ‘untouched’ nature The River Vaidava flows through the town and parish, revealing sandstone and dolomite cliffs and constituting important part in potential of nature tourism of Ape Partly located in protected landscape area of Veclaicene

Sandstone cliffs along the River Vaidava

Demography of Ape

Economy of Ape The most important bussiness types are agriculture, forestry, transport, woodworking, log house producing, handicrafts and tourism The unemployment rate is decreasing

Strenghts Close to E77 highway, Estonian/Russian border Beautiful/untouched nature ATM(!) Natural resources (forests, dolomite, peat deposits) Traditional sport and cultural events Success of handicraftsman’s businesses Promotion of local entrepreneurs Education and cultural institutions Sport infrastructure Good public infrastructure (e.g. wastewater disposal) Weaknesses The distance from Riga Bad quality of roads Lack of some daily services, limited shopping options Ageing population and emigration Lack of labour force Low density of population in the parish Limited internet connection in the parish Problems of electricity network Low paying ability of locals

Temporary residents of Ape? The municipality had no data of any type of temporary residents. They’re collecting some data. They stressed out a specific case: people who had lived in Ape or had their parents from Ape, but own no real estate now. They are proud of their birth place and go to Ape at least twice a year to ‘regain their strength/energy in the meadows, forests and culture of Ape’. They donate money for local projects, as a purchase of piano for the school, get involved at local culture and sport scene

Mairis Levans – a former local (born & grew up in Ape) and a former Latvian motocross champion comes to Ape to visit his mother, organizes sport events (MX racing, MTB marathon) and gets involved in other local activities. He calls himself ‘Apes puika’

Thank you! Paldies!