Academic CentreSaldus community is a drop of honey in Kurzeme!
Saldus Regional Community is situated in the south-western part of Latvia – the green Kurzeme. It is surrounded by numerous neighbors: in the south it borders on the Republic of Lithuania, in the west – on Vaiņode and Skrunda communities, in the north – on Kuldīga and Kandava communities, in the north-east – on Brocēni community, and in the east – on Brocēni and Auce communities.
Saldus Community is similar to a beehive, where bees are the residents – on 1 January 2017, the territory of the community had 23 thousand residents, 86% of them being Latvian; the hive is the territory of the community covering 1683.3 km2; the honey combs are the town of Salaspils and the parishes, 15 in total – Ezere, Jaunauce, Jaunlutriņi, Kursīši, Lutriņi, Nīgrande, Novadnieki, Pampāļi, Ruba, Saldus, Šķēde, Vadakste, Zaņa, Zirņi and Zvārde.
The beehive or the centre of the community is situated within easy reach of Riga, the capital of Latvia, and the largest cities of the region – Liepāja and Ventspils, because across the community lies the country’s main highway Rīga – Liepāja (A9) and the distance to Riga and the biggest cities of the region is 100 km. The connections with other development centres of Kurzeme and within the regional community are ensured by the regional and local roads in the total length of 500 km and by the local government motor roads.
This beehive prides itself with a sound environmental quality of its surroundings – the community lies mostly in the country landscape with fields and forests ensuring good quality of air and biological diversity. Saldus rural community has a rather rich wildlife and Saldus is one of the greenest towns in Latvia with parks, squares and a lot of greenery tended by the workers of the local government. The remote areas hold noteworthy natural objects and virgin lands. In the territory of Saldus community, seven NATURA 2000 territories are established, the biggest of which is a country park Zvārdesmeži.
Saldus community is a birthplace of many famous people, such as the artist Janis Rozentāls, the historian, professor Edgars Dunsdorfs, the poet Māris Čaklais, the guitarist of the band "Līvi" Ēriks Ķigelis. As a matter of fact, the song of two Saldus’ celebrities – Ēriks Ķiģelis and Māris Čaklais Saldus saule ("Saldus Sun") in the local government’s festive meeting on 18 November 2018, was approved as the hymn of Saldus Regional Community.
This beehive in the south of Kurzeme is forever busy and lively. The community provides vast and active cultural life to the people of all ages. Everybody can join the folk dance groups "Kursa", "Meduslāse", "Bandava" and others, to play and dance with the folk group "Strops", to engage in athletic activities on land, in water, in a team or individually. The rich offer of activities enhances the development of the community’s young people who are the future of Saldus.
Support
In 2013, Saldus Regional Community donated EUR 4 268.62 to give the opportunity to the youth of Salaspils to study in a higher education establishment in Latvia in the 2013/2014 academic year. The scholarships "Medusmaize" ("Bread and Honey") were granted to Elīza Bula, Elza Burve and Valdis Dravnieks.
We greatly appreciate the generous support to education and development!