Sabiedriskās Politikas Centrs Providus

Dace Akule

Areas of expertise

EU policy (EU institutions, decision-making), the future of the EU (Constitution, enlargement), migration and integration of migrants, EU communication with the public, citizen engagement in EU policy making

 

Professional experience

June 2006 - presently	Centre for public policy PROVIDUS, European policy researcher Research and analysis, project management
January – June 2006	Freelance journalist for several media in Latvia (Nedēļa, radio SWH, portal Politika.lv) and Belgium (European Voice)
June 2004	Newspaper European Voice, intern Covered EU-related topics from the new member states
January – March 2004	Research assistant for the director of European study program at Johns Hopkins University, Bologna Center Built up annotated Internet resources for the website Europe Today www.jhubc.it/europe-today
April – July 2003	European Parliament, EDD group, intern Worked on reader-friendly draft Constitution, translated Internet dictionary on the EU www.euabc.com
January – September 2003	Public policy portal Politika.lv, Editor of the EU accession referendum edition Fwd: Eiropa Identified issues to be covered, monitored press coverage on the EU, managed contacts with local and foreign authors, built up a data base with Internet resources about the EU, produced a series of articles analysing Latvia’s EU membership conditions
2002 – 2003	EU Observer, freelance correspondent Covered EU-related news from the Baltic States, monitored European press coverage of EU-related stories
2002 – 2003	Transitions Online, freelance correspondent Covered socio-political and economic issues from Latvia
1999 – 2003	Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, Latvian service, freelance journalist Covered socio-political issues, based in Riga bureau, was a regular live broadcaster and news anchor in Prague headquarters, co-produced a program on the Baltic States’ EU integration, produced a program on European cultural diversity, covered EU summits, co-edited the website of the Latvian servicewww.brivaeiropa.org, prepared weekly Latvian press reviews in English

Consultancy and training experience 


2009                                      Latvia’s report in research project “The EU new member states as Agenda Setters in the Enlarged
                                              European Union”. Open Society Institute-Sofia, European Policies Initiatives

                                              Hanbook on selected aspects of the Lisbon treaty (role of the national parliaments, citizen initiative,
                                              qualified majority voting, withdrawal from the EU). European Commission Representation in Latvia.

2008                                      Lecturer at the Baltic International Academy, BA European study program (courses “European integration
                                              theory” and “Historyof European integration”)

                                               Lecture “Migration Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” in the Baltic International Summer School, 
                                                Vidzeme University College

                                               Seminar for the Pensioners' Federation of Latvia about Lisbon treaty 

                                               Field research for a country study on legal-institutional and socio-economic aspects of employment of
                                               Belarussians, Moldovans and Ukrainians in Latvia, International Organization for Migration

                                               Lecture “Labour Market Trends in the Baltic States – is Labour Migration in the Baltic Sea Region an Issue?” 
                                               at the annual SAMAK meeting (leaders of trade unions and social democratic parties of Scandinavian
                                               countries).

2007                                       Seminar about EU integration experience for journalists from Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia

                                               Desk research about Latvia’s development cooperation policy for “The Challenge of the EU
                                               Development Co-operation Policy for New Member States”, Policy Association for an Open Society

                                               Lecture “Challenges to European communication” in the Baltic International Summer School, 
                                               Vidzeme University College

 

Education

2007                            2004 - 2005	Salzburg seminar “Immigration and Inclusion: Rethinking National Identity”   Diplomatic Academy of Vienna (Austria), Master in Advanced International Studies
2003 - 2004	The Paul H.Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, Bologna Center, one-year diploma in international relations and European studies
1997 - 2001	University of Latvia, Faculty of Social Sciences, BA in Communication Science

Community activities

2008 – presently                       Board member of PASOS (Policy Association for an Open Society)

2007 - presently                       The Baltic International Academy, Consultative council for academic Bachelor and Master European study 
                                                  programs

2006 - presently                       member of PROVIDUS, since 2009 - Board Member

2007 - 2009                              Deputy Chair of the Consultative board of the European Union Information Agency

Language skills

Latvian – native, English – proficient, German, Swedish and Russian – good, Italian and French – pre-intermediate

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