Kaunas – a creative city

Kaunas is the second largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, with around 300,000 inhabitants. In recent years, the city has reinvented itself from industrial centre to a hub of business, learning and innovation. In 2015 the Kaunas City Municipality approved an ambitious strategic development plan, and its vision up to 2022 is to turn Kaunas into ‘a sustainable and civicminded city leading in advanced business and innovation. 

'A centre of modern and involving culture, home to learning and happy people,' Kaunas is one of the 246 UNESCO creative cities, which identify creativity as a strategic factor for their sustainable urban development. 

Kaunas is consistently ranked as Lithuania’s best student city, and the availability of young, highly skilled specialists, along with exceptional connectivity (most of Lithuania’s three million residents live less than an hour’s drive away) has encouraged many innovative companies to set up within the city. Kaunas does, however, have its challenges, which are mainly related to labour migration, inefficient public transport and an ongoing need to enhance public services. 

CEB support for Kaunas 

The CEB is well-versed in financing municipal infrastructure projects and uses different financing methods, including direct lending to cities and municipal companies, and onlending to commercial banks and specialist lending institutions, to provide the best options for beneficiaries. 

Recently the Bank has approved two loans with Kaunas City Municipality to facilitate upgrades that will provide better access to education, health, sports, social and cultural services and facilities. The first loan of €25 million was approved in January 2019. The second loan, of €25 million, was approved in January 2020. Projects that enhance central neighbourhoods, landmarks and sports facilities are being prioritised, and include supporting the new National Science and Innovation Centre, and sports facilities in Jovaru (see case studies). 

A cultural focus 

In 2022 Kaunas will be European Capital of Culture. The Kaunas City Municipality therefore wants residents and visitors to be able to access high quality cultural and leisure activities across the city. The city’s Mayor, Visvaldas Matijošaitis, says, “Every day we seek to make Kaunas a more attractive and convenient city to live in. Modern infrastructure is an essential part of that, as are sports, leisure and other recreational spaces and facilities. 

“The CEB has provided funding with very favourable conditions, which contributes significantly to the implementation of the goals defined by the Kaunas strategic plans. 

We are glad to have been able to develop more projects which would have been impossible to realise without CEB support. Residents and visitors are already enjoying a new indoor football field, the Aleksotas viewing deck, and the reconstructed Kaukas Stairs.”

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Case study
National Science and Innovation Centre 

Nemunas Island is owned by Kaunas City Municipality and lies at the heart of Kaunas, in the Nemunas River. The 33 hectare island has traditionally been used by the city’s residents and visitors as a space for walking, sports and entertainment. 

It’s home to Žalgiris Arena, the largest sports and entertainment arena in the Baltic States, and is close to the historic Old Town, the culturally important Laisvės Avenue, and the Akropolis shopping centre. 

A multi-million euro project, supported by the CEB, is underway to transform Nemunas Island into ‘Science Island’ – one of the Baltics’ key knowledge and cultural hubs – with the creation of a new National Science and Innovation Centre. The facility aims to inspire an enduring relationship with science and innovation through handson activities and play and will open ready for Kaunas’s role as European Capital of Culture in 2022. 

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Case study
Sports facilities in Jovaru 

Jovaru is a community to the west of Kaunas. In previous years, there were no suitable facilities for sports training during the winter months. However, a project funded with support from the CEB, has seen the creation of an allweather football pitch. 

The project, which includes car parking, changing rooms and spectator facilities, has a 115m long, 80m wide, 21m high dome that covers the pitch and is decorated with the colours of the Kaunas City Municipality logo. 

This now means that over 500 children from the Kaunas Sports School, as well as members of private sports clubs, can now train and compete all-year-round.