---
id: ch3-latvia
type: spine
title: "Vidzeme, Latvia: building a monitoring system for regional development"
readingTime: 3
standalone: true
core: true
teaser: "A planning region with a development programme and no reliable way to tell whether it works. Vidzeme's pilot starts with the indicators."
voice: universal
parent: null
recallQ: "What gap does the Vidzeme pilot address, and what does its Regional Action Plan propose to close it?"
recallA: "The Vidzeme Planning Region has no systematic way to track whether its Development Programme moves the region forward. RAP 1.0 proposes harmonised indicators and data-sharing, data skills in municipalities, and VPR PATHWATCH, an AI-driven geospatial monitoring platform, by 2028."
highlights:
  - "Latvia's largest region (30.6 % of the territory) and its least densely populated"
  - "The gap: no framework to measure what the VPR Development Programme 2022–2027 achieves"
  - "Requirements before platform: an Outreach study, then a two-phase indicator hackathon with almost 50 experts"
  - "RAP 1.0 proposes VPR PATHWATCH, an AI-driven geospatial monitoring system, by 2028"
status: accepted
concept: vidzeme-pilot
conceptTitle: "The Vidzeme pilot"
parents: pilot-network
lang: en
lens: latvia
depth: standard
formalism: none
visuality: balanced
lengthBand: standard
genre: explainer
state: core
carriers: prose|table|image
---

Vidzeme, in northern Latvia, is the country's largest region, covering 30.6 % of its territory, and the least densely populated: 16.27 people per km² against a national average of 30 (2024 pilot text). Its economy includes dairy, forestry, wood processing, metalworking, chemicals, ICT, tourism and creative industries.

![A farmstead in the Vidzeme countryside](images/pilots/latvia.webp)
*A farmstead in the Vidzeme countryside. Photo: PoliRuralPlus pilot materials (RP8), poliruralplus.eu*

| | |
|---|---|
| Territory | Vidzeme Planning Region |
| Partner | Vidzeme Planning Region, VPR (lead; the only partner) |
| Theme | Inclusive governance through territorial monitoring |
| RAP | Vidzeme RAP 1.0, targets to 2028 |
| Open calls | Outreach: EDQMS_VR (InnoMatrix). Mobilise: "Data to Develop" hackathon (NovoFutura) |

## The challenge

VPR is a public regional development institution guided by its **Development Programme 2022–2027**. It has no systematic way to monitor progress across the territory, and no framework to judge how much the programme's actions contribute to the region's development. The brief traces this to data problems: data spread across state and municipal institutions; a regional indicators module (RAIM) that integrates data only partly; scarce parish- and county-level statistics; inconsistent indicators and methods; a shadow economy that distorts official figures. Low trust in institutions and little feedback to residents keep citizens out. D5.1 frames the theme as **inclusive governance**: residents should be involved in planning, implementation and monitoring.

## What the plan sets out

By 2028 RAP 1.0 targets three things: **multi-level data governance** with aligned indicators across VPR, municipalities and national institutions; an **AI-driven, geospatial monitoring platform** that moves from looking back to predicting; and **data-analytics capacity** in municipal staff. The brief recommends unified data protocols and data-sharing agreements, **VPR PATHWATCH** as a central monitoring system with mobile access, permanent data-specialist posts, a citizen-engagement app, and a Baltic network for monitoring regional development.

## Open calls and status

The pilot defined requirements before building anything. The Outreach study by **InnoMatrix** used desk research and interviews with municipalities, businesses and communities to set requirements for a monitoring system; it explicitly did not build the platform. The **"Dati attīstībai" (Data to Develop)** hackathon by NovoFutura ran online and then in person with almost 50 experts and municipal representatives. It produced a first set of indicators. The winning Housing and Living Environment team showed how existing data can track housing availability.

PATHWATCH is a recommendation; VPR continues to coordinate work on a unified regional data system. For the general pattern, see [from data to decisions](#c/data-to-decisions).

**Sources:**
- D7.3 Policy Brief No. 1, Annex 8 "Accelerating Data-Driven Monitoring of the Regional Development in Vidzeme, Latvia". [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/349/D7.3_Policy_Brief_No.1.pdf)
- D5.1 Prepared pilot by Stakeholder Multi-Actor Approach, §2.8 "Vidzeme, Latvia". [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/150/D5.1_Prepared_pilot_by_Stakeholder_Multi-Actor_Approach_v1.0.pdf)
- D6.3 Comprehensive Report on Funded Activities and Impact Assessment (EDQMS_VR, D2D). [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/437/D6.3_Comprehensive_report.pdf)
- PoliRural+ website, pilot page "Latvia – Vidzeme" (2024 and 2026 texts). [poliruralplus.eu](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/)