Latvia’s Ministry of Education and Science reached out to MIT's Jameel World Education Lab with a clear mission: to modernize their higher education system and leverage it to spark new ideas and spur the nation’s economy. Together with our core partner Rīgas Tehniskā Universitāte (Riga Technical University, or RTU) and with funding from the European Regional Development Fund, the Jameel World Education Lab has created a program to advance innovations in teaching, learning and outcomes throughout the country, starting at RTU.
Beginning the Journey
In 2004, Latvia joined the European Union after having been part of the Soviet Union for 50 years. While the country had gone through small education reforms in the past, its present ambitions became greater than what its higher education system could support. Latvia aims to achieve the same level of economic development and wealth as nearby Scandinavian countries like Norway and Denmark to incentivize young people to stay in Latvia.
RTU joined the Jameel World Education as a member and project partner in September 2021 to further the government’s efforts to transform higher education. Dr. Claudio Rivera, deputy dean and associate professor in leadership at RTU Business School, had spent years working with the Latvian government and industrial sector to implement the nation’s new strategy.
“Education is really a way to serve other people,” says Rivera. “I have been honored to be a part of a process that is very interesting and very challenging—with the goal of bringing higher education to the level that the country deserves. [Education] is where everything, every profession, starts. The strengthening of higher education will be key for building the resilience of Latvia in front of so many challenges that the country is facing. A more educated young generation will have more capacity to lead the country to the next level and deal with the region's economic, social, and political transformations.”
- Dr. Claudio Rivera, Deputy Dean and Associate Professor in Leadership, Riga Technical University
Development of Complementary Programs
Through the partnership with RTU, the Jameel World Education Lab is able to support a transformation of the culture of education throughout Latvia with complementary programs.
For example, the Leadership Development Program is designed to train more than 70 Latvian education, public administration, and business leaders on various levels of structuring, financing, participant involvement, and management of innovation initiatives. Participants earn certificates for successfully completing the Higher Education leadership program and have the opportunity to participate in Jameel World Education Lab series like Course Design and Build Agile Innovation Ecosystems. In July and September 2023, cohorts from both series will visit MIT for an immersive workshop that celebrates milestones thus far.
The partnership also supports RTU’s effort to create an Education Innovation Laboratory. One of the Laboratory’s main activities is the Strategic Education Innovation Project Support Program, which provides project teams from universities throughout Latvia with mentorship and funding support on their internal projects. Selected projects in the first cohort include hybrid education strategy as a basis for future universities and enhancing the doctoral program by providing a platform for industrial collaboration.
Outcomes
While RTU’s project is ongoing, it proceeds with an eye towards fully capturing this important moment of reform in Latvian higher education.
