A survey done in Latvia in 2021 showed that people, whose mother tongue is Russian, especially if they also are non-citizens, are significantly less involved in civic activities, believe less in their possibilities of influencing decisions in Latvia and in general feel resentment towards Latvia more often than people, who do not fit the same demographic indicators.

Until now, no one has deeply studied the reasons for the civic apathy of the Russian-speaking population of Latvia and the possibilities to overcome them. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the reasons for the civic apathy of the Russian-speaking population of Latvia and the possibilities of overcoming them, taking as a basis two neighborhoods of Riga: Pļavniekus and Bolderāja. These neighborhoods have a particularly high proportion of minority/non-citizen residents. 

For the study, three focus groups were organized. The recruitment of participants was entrusted to the sociological research company SKDS, who were tasked with finding 30 participants (28 participated in the event itself) – 20 of which were Russian speakers from aforementioned neighborhoods: Pļavnieki & Bolderāja. The work of focus groups was led by Iveta Kažoka, the leading researcher of the Public Policy Center PROVIDUS. The first focus group was organized in Latvian, the second and third in Russian.

Full report of this can be found in the Latvian language section of PROVIDUS’ homepage. 

“Methodology for Creating & Establishing Citizen Councils in Municipalities” is created with the support of the Social Integration Fund (LV: Sabiedrības integrācijas fonds).

The content is a sole responsibility of the Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS.