Energy saving and women's business can become a continuation of the cross-border project "Dvina/Daugava Panorama"

October 19, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Environmental protection, energy saving and small female entrepreneurship may become a continuation of the Swedish-Belarusian-Latvian tourist project "Panorama Dvina/Daugava". This point of view was expressed in an interview with a BELTA correspondent by the Governor of Gotland County, Anders Granat, the Swedish participant in the cross-border project. The governor is taking part in an international scientific and practical conference dedicated to the results of the trilateral project, which is being held in Vitebsk today. The project involving the island of Gotland, Daugavpils, Polotsk, Vitebsk and the smallest town in Belarus, Disna, launched in 2005, is concluding this year. Speaking about its results, the Governor of Gotland emphasized that, having taken tourism as a starting point, the parties also managed to establish regional contacts in the cultural and educational spheres. Thanks to "Panorama Dvina/Daugava", a tourist route has been created, which includes Braslavsky, Miorsky districts, Polotsk and Vitebsk from the Belarusian side. The "Panorama" region was presented at the largest exhibition in Scandinavia, TUR09. Already in the autumn of this year, about 50 Swedes are planning to visit Belarus. Educational contacts have enabled cooperation between children's art and general education schools in Vitebsk, Polotsk and Visby. Common ground was found by educators working with children with disabilities in Visby, Miory and Disna. "The cross-border project 'Panorama Dvina/Daugava' is no less important than investment projects, as it has laid the foundation at the level of human relations. This project represents a generative working process that has a beginning, but not an end," emphasized Anders Granat. "Panorama Dvina/Daugava" will find its continuation in joint projects on energy saving, environmental protection, and the development of small female entrepreneurship, the interlocutor is confident. According to him, at the end of November, specialists in alternative energy sources will arrive in Polotsk to discuss the possibilities of creating a wind farm in one of the city's districts. Belarusian entrepreneurs received an invitation to Riga for an international conference dedicated to the development of small entrepreneurship in the Baltic Sea region. Common problems with the lack of traditional energy sources will allow Gotland and the regions of Belarus to implement joint projects in bioenergy, Anders Granat added. -0-