Peat extraction and processing company “Laflora” will provide materials – specially selected and prepared peat blocks – for building the national pavilion of Latvia at the “Expo 2020” exhibition in Dubai. Peat will be the central element of the national pavilion of Latvia.
The “Expo 2020” exhibition will take place from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. The national pavilion of Latvia will be built by an association consisting of three companies and implementing the project “SOIL” in cooperation with the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (IDAL). “Expo 2020” is expected to bring together more than 190 countries and approximately 250 million visitors.
Concept of the national pavilion of Latvia provides for a four-dimensional solution, the central element of which will be peat as a unique material, which is able to connect the history of Latvia with today’s and future achievements. “Content of the exposition will be presented as four multi-media stories about Latvia in four different spaces and with four different architectural elements, physically created using the natural material of Latvia – peat,” explains Mr Ints Bērziņš, representative of the “SOIL” team.
“Peat is a symbolic material, which characterises Latvia. It will create a special aura and environment in the pavilion, which is untypical of the Middle East,” indicates Mr Kaspars Rožkalns, Director of IDAL.
Mr Uldis Ameriks, Head of “Laflora”: “We are satisfied that one of the most valuable natural resources of Latvia – peat – will be reflected at this exhibition of international importance. The company has been supporting research related to the application of peat in design, interior, construction and art for over 10 years. We hope that during the exhibition, peat will not only form an attractive and interesting pavilion of Latvia, but also explicitly show that Latvia is a global peat superpower. By extracting peat from only 4% of its bogs, Latvia provides one third of the entire peat volume for European professional gardening. Peat is used for growing healthy food, decorative plants and tree plants. Besides, it is important to also look at peat within the climate context – peat will help to reach the set climate goals. For example, one cubic metre of peat is sufficient for growing 6,000 tree plants; using them for planting forest covering an area of 3 ha, which is able to sink 1,110 tonnes of carbon in 50 years. It is important for Latvia to manage this valuable resource – brown gold – in a sustainable manner, balancing the objectives related to conservation, climate and the national economy.”
Further information on “Expo 2020” and the used visual material is available at: www.expo2020.lv
