Renewing and developing Valga-Valka twin town common recreational area

​​​​​Project’s backgroundTwin Town Valga–Valka is located at the Southern border of Estonia and at the Northern border of Latvia. Valga is the administrative centre of Valga Municipality and Valka is the administrative centre of Valka Municipality. Historically Valga and Valka were one town. In 1920, after the proclamation of independence of Latvia and Estonia, the town was divided between two countries and the border was set along the Varžupīte-Konnaoja Creek. Unique twin town emerged, both sides of which began to develop in their own way. Due to the development of the railway, the commercial center of the city had already shifted away from the historic location, the separation of the city further intensified the changes. The natural development of the city was disturbed and the former heart of the city became a periphery. Since then, it has been an area of ​​poor reputation for a long time and almost abandoned and underused.  The inhabitants of Valga and Valka were separated from each other due to times when the town was allocated by the border. Despite both countries joined the common Schengen Area more than 10 years ago and physical border between the two countries was eliminated and free movement established, the mental block for people has remained and the area is associated with negative memories. The sense of a common city has disappeared. As the history of the two sides of the city is closely connected, Valga and Valka want to develop the twin city in one rhythm, with a strategic goal to refocus city life on its historic heart again. The urban space in historic heart of Valga Valka has been revitalized recently, but the adjacent areas are still tainted and underused. In order to improve accessibility to the new central square and to better connect the two cities, the surrounding area also needs to be renovated. Cross-border nature Since 2005 Valga and Valka have agreed for cooperation in different areas. The common slogan of Valga and Valka is „1 City, 2 States” to acknowledge both cities as one for its inhabitants and visitors. In order to strengthen the sense of unity, urban space in the city centre has been jointly developed. As planned project area is connected with the new Valga-Valka Twin Town Centre area, it is only natural that the expansion of the area will continue in cooperation and according to common principles in order to ensure the even and balanced development of the city. This goal can only be achieved through close cross-border cooperation. Pedeli River and Konnaoja Stream are joint transboundary water bodies of Valga and Valka,  development of the surroundings of which can therefore only take place in cooperation. Although Valga and Valka are peripheral areas and shrinking cities, the quality of life of the existing inhabitants must not suffer as a result. Valga and Valka have a major advantage over other cities in tackling the challenges of declining population thanks to the possibility to cooperate across the border. This is why recent years have strengthened the relationship between two cities.  Both cities have understood that joint development of urban space is more sustainable and resource efficient. Objective The main objective of the project ist to develop and improve common attractive recreational area around Pedele/Pedeli river and Konnaoja/ Varžupīte stream for citizens and guests of Valga-Valka to spend their leisure time or to do sports and to encourage integration of communities across the border. This project could be seen as a continuation of Valga-Valka Central Area with the aim to improve the connectivity and accsessibility of the Twin-Town centre, to diversify the range of possible leisure and sports activities and make the city center attractive to everyone – families, children, youngsters and elderly people. Also, to improve and promote light traffic in cities in order to adhere to the principles of sustainable urban mobility.  Main activities To achieve the project main objective, partners have mapped main activities. Improving attractiveness: Cleaning 2 artificial Pedele lakes and Konnaoja/Varžupīte from Raina/Sõpruse Street till private lands on Semināra Street 3, in order to improve environment requirements and to provide nature-friendly and clean recreation area Renewing urban landscaping and creating biodiversity areas taking into account the principles of species-rich urban space in order to provide housing for various plants, animals, birds and insectsCreating a fountain in Pedele river Trimming trees and bushes to improve the view to Pedele river and to Estonian side from PutraskalnsInstalling streetlightning in blind spotsCreating attractive activities in Semināra Street 1Creating facilities for leisure time and sports:  Creating resting areas and installing new urban furnitureImproving/reconstructing existing sports fields and children's playgroundsCreating new facilities for active leisureImproving connectivity and accessibility: Creating pathway next to Konnaoja/Varžupīte from Raina/Sõpruse Street till private lands on Semināras Street 3 Reconstructing Semināra/Sepa bridgeReconstructing pedestrian’s paths from Sēlija Street till Ramsi bridge on both sides of Pedele riverRising the awareness and visibility and integration across the border: Organizing project final eventDisseminating project activities via joint website and social media channelsOrganizing event for kindergartens

Planned project result indicator is to increase the share of inhabitants of Valga and Valka recognizing Valga – Valka as a joint town from 24% in year 2020 to 30% in year 2022. Mentioned result indicator will be achieved not only by project activities – creating new common recreational area, but also by other daily life activities of both towns (common events, festivals etc.) and continuous joint marketing activities of twin-town Valga-valka using visitvalgavalka.com vebsite and social media channels in Facebook and Instagram. Also it is important to see that inhabitants of Valga and Valka are appreciating the continuous works of developing Twin Town border area, creating new recreational areas and possibilities for them.