Background
The Estonia-Latvia Cross-Border Cooperation Programme (https://estlat.eu/en) involves the southern and western parts of Estonia and the northern and western parts of Latvia, with partners from both countries participating. The program supports cross-border cooperation in entrepreneurship, innovation, environment, and tourism, involving collaboration between businesses as well as residents of border areas.
Objective
In 2022, LevelLab and the Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences Mainor conducted a study aimed at assessing the achievement of the Estonia-Latvia Programme’s result indicators – the progress of the program is regularly monitored. The study results revealed that the majority of the assessed result indicators exceeded the target level set for 2023. The greatest increase was in the interest and readiness for cross-border cooperation among new businesses, which increased by 15% compared to 2021. There was also a significant increase in the indicator of solidarity among residents of Valga and Valka.
Methodology
During the study, three online surveys and two street surveys were conducted on both the Estonian and Latvian sides. Through the online surveys, representatives of businesses and institutions were interviewed, while through the street surveys, residents of the region were interviewed. For all surveys, proportions of different respondent profiles were predefined in advance. This means that it was determined which region and which gender and age groups of people would be surveyed. The list of respondents for one survey was provided by the client, while for the others, a random sample was taken according to the criteria provided by the client. The questionnaires for all surveys were provided by the client, and the same survey has already been conducted in 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2021.
Project contracting institution: State Support Services Center
Project implementers: LevelLab and the Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences Mainor
Duration: 12/2022 – 02/2023
