Ivars Gaters (1962) is a Latvian architect and urban planner (Riga Technical University, Faculty of Architecture and Construction,1985) who was later appointed Minister of Regional Development and Local Governments. Ivars came to IHS in 1999 to attend the course Inner City Development in Transitional Economies-ICDTE 5. He was sponsored by a MATRA fellowship. He had a particular interest in inner city development and he was concerned with the need to establish an integrated approach and make use of innovative strategic planning methods to trigger appropriate planning decision-making. Ivars is a member of the Association of Latvian Territorial Planners and the Association of Latvian Architects.

Ivars career took off rapidly upon his return to Sigulda where he built his professional experience primarily as the city’s chief architect in charge of the preparation and implementation of regional development policy as well as territorial planning strategies and overall urban development projects. He coordinated all activities of planning regions. He also supervised building activities and was deeply involved in all decisions that had great impacts on the development of Sigulda. These activities earned him a lot of prestige and lead to an invitation to become director of regional development of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, a position he held till 2002 when he was appointed director of Regional Policy and Planning Directorate of the Ministry of Finance.

In 2002, he was appointed Minister of Regional Development and Local Governments, one of the highest positions in the government of Latvia. As a minister he promoted strategic planning and the development of visions for the future regions of Latvia. He was in charge of preparing and implementing regional development policy and the planning policy for the entire territory of Latvia. Housing policy was also an important part of his portfolio apart from coordinating the activities of planning regions. He was also in charge of supervising local governments in their urban planning spheres.

Ivars has developed an extensive experience in preparing and implementing regional development policy while occupying the positions of Minister of Regional Development and Local Governments and Director of Regional Policy and Planning Directorate. He got engaged in the preparation of legislation affecting regional development and was directly involved in the management and evaluation of projects submitted under Phare CBC programme and Interreg initiative.

Ivars has made great use of the knowledge he acquired during his period at IHS and pursued many avenues to put into practice some of the tools he developed during his training at IHS.