International and local RSU students improve their intercultural communication skills

The International Department (ID) at the Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) recently organised a seminar on intercultural communication in the professional environment. This seminar was the first in a cycle which will offer both international and local students an opportunity to improve their social skills. The seminar was conducted by Irma Kalniņa who is the leading expert of business communication in Latvia. She covered such topics as the influence of various cultures on an organisation, cultural barriers and how to overcome them, and multicultural organisations. During the seminar RSU students from different countries analysed situations to bring awareness to cultural differences and participated in interactive exercises.

‘This cycle of seminars was initiated by the ID last year. We tried to explore various topics which are relevant to students. One such topic was how to improve their soft skills. Over the last year we explored how to manage impressions, business etiquette, professional image and identity, four generation co-operation in the work environment, and other relevant topics. After surveying participants we found out that students are very interested in intercultural communication. We therefore covered this topic specifically in the first lesson of this year. Intercultural communication is important to the RSU community as it is comprised of students from over 50 countries. Furthermore, all these students are planning to build their careers in the modern globalised healthcare environment,’ says Baiba Pētersone, director of the ID.

The speaker at the seminar, Irma Kalniņa, is the founder and president of the consulting company Irma Kalniņa Consulting. In addition to her business activities, Kalniņa also teaches at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music and holds guest lectures abroad. She devotes time to philanthropy which includes projects like promoting corporate social responsibility, the prevention of violence against children and their mothers, support for foster families, and the creation of the charity organisation Ziedot.lv. Kalniņa graduated from Ohio University (USA) and supplemented her studies with courses at the Protocol School of Washington (USA) and the International School of Protocol and Diplomacy (Belgium).

This cycle of seminars will continued and cover other topics relevant to the multicultural community of RSU students. The seminars are held in English. If you have any topic suggestions please send them to internationalrsu[pnkts]lv.