Advancing Strategic Resilience: Recommendations from the Transnational Citizens’ Panel in Latvia

The EU for Global Transnational Citizens’ Panel in Riga, Latvia took place on 24–25 February 2026, hosted by the Latvian Platform for Development Cooperation (LAPAS). The panel brought together participants to address EU values, specifically community resilience, active citizenship, and global solidarity.

Building on these discussions, the panel generated a set of concrete recommendations.

I. European Union Level: Harmonization and Geopolitics

• Unified Resilience Standards: Develop EU-wide benchmarks for crisis plans to ensure synchronized cross-border coordination.

• Strategic Frontier Engagement: Organize EU-level summits in frontier regions, such as Latvia’s eastern border, to foster practical cooperation and geopolitical awareness.

• Crisis Fast-Tracking: Establish “Simplified Access” crisis funds with minimal procedural hurdles to reduce bureaucracy in civil protection.

• Information Integrity: Deploy advanced tools at the Union level to systematically tackle disinformation and hostile propaganda.

II. National Level: Systemic Integration and Preparedness

• Civic Education and Literacy: Institutionalize school and community programs focused on democratic values, critical thinking, and media literacy.

• Cross-Sectoral Coordination: Establish permanent mechanisms linking state institutions, local governments, NGOs, and the private sector for crisis response

• Legislative Support for NGOs: Amend laws to allow NGOs to operate formally and safely within the national civil defense sector.

• Narrative Transformation: Shift state communication from fear-based rhetoric to a narrative of national strength, readiness, and collective resilience.

III. Local Level: Community Cohesion and Practical Skills

• Municipal Diplomacy: Formalize town-to-town cooperation (e.g., the “Latvia-Ukraine” model) to facilitate direct resource and expertise sharing.

• Civil Protection Integration: Involve NGO representatives in local Civil Protection Commissions (CPC) through formal memoranda of understanding.

• Participatory Governance: Implement participatory budgeting and resident boards to increase citizen ownership of local security.

• Targeted Outreach: Utilize “active listening” and group-specific messaging to address global challenges at a community level.

The Riga Citizens’ Panel demonstrated that resilience, active citizenship, and global solidarity are essential tools for navigating modern crises and are deeply rooted in EU values. By integrating expert knowledge with direct citizen participation, these recommendations provide a comprehensive mandate for a more secure and value-based European Union.

To read all the recommendations collected throughout Europe during Local and Transnational Citizens’ Panels, click here.

The EU for Global project is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CERV. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.