On 31 August, in the Press Conference Room of the Foreign Ministry building a seminar Archives and Other Memory Institutions will take place, with the President of the International Council of Archives, Ian Wilson, as the principal speaker.

The seminar will include a panel discussion Archive as an active cultural heritage institution for society, with the participation of the President of the Latvian National Commission for UNESCO, Director of the National Library of Latvia, Andris Vilks; the Director General of the State Archives of Latvia, Valdis Stals; representatives from the Latvian Archives Association, as well as specialists from the archives of Lithuania and Estonia.

All those interested, as well as the media representatives are invited to apply for participation before 12 a.m. on 28 August via the organisers' e-mail dagnija@unesco.lv. The seminar will be held in English, and start at 11:00 a.m.

The International Council of Archives is an associated organisation of UNESCO, founded in 1948 to promote the preservation and research of the archival heritage around the world, and the development of archives. Ian Wilson, former Director of the Library and Archives Canada, has been elected President of the organisation from 2008 to 2010. His priority is promoting co-operation between various memory institutions, as well as the use of advanced technologies in the archive work, with a particular focus on the issues of digitalisation and the actual preservation of archival holdings.

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