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The knowledge-based bioeconomy has been prioritized through European Union (EU) research and innovation policies. In December 2017, the government approved the Latvian Bioeconomy Strategy 2030, which set the horizontal strategic goal of achieving "research excellence in traditional bioeconomy industries and efficient transfer of knowledge". Therefore, the aim of the present research is to examine one of the submeasures "promoting research excellence and efficient knowledge transfer within traditional bioeconomy industries" for the implementation of the strategic goal of the Latvian Bioeconomy Strategy 2030 regarding "Knowledge and Innovations" in Latvia. The research found that the development of research on the bioeconomy depends on the overall situation in research and development (R&D) in the country. In 2021 in Latvia, total expenditure on scientific research was low, only 0.71% of GDP, of which 64% was EU funds and private funding. The national Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3) defines five main fields to be developed in Latvia, and one of them is a knowledgeintensive bioeconomy. In 2018, 1600 scientists worked in this field, which was 23% of the total number of scientists engaged in RIS3 fields. The amount of R&D funding attracted to the bioeconomy field in 2014-2018 was only EUR 27 mln. or 14% of total funding for RIS3 fields, which indicated the insufficient ability of bioeconomy scientists to attract funding and their lower labour productivity. Nine main research institutions employed 89% of the total personnel engaged in the bioeconomy field, who were the authors of 98% of WoS-indexed research papers published in 2014-2018. In the future, the most important research priorities for the bioeconomy field are going to be mitigation of negative climate change impacts, as well as food and energy security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to identify opportunities for the development of the Latvian forest sector and to assess competition. Nowadays, the development and sustainability of natural resources is of great importance. The forest resource in Latvia is valued as the most important national natural resource. It is therefore necessary to identify and analyse the factors influencing its development. The study included an analysis of the Latvian forest sector exports. The research methodology includes theoretical concepts and a framework of factors influencing the forest sector. The aim of this paper is to analyse the export performance of the Latvian forest sector and to present data on the export of forest sector products, collected within the framework of the study, depending on the degree of processing of the product, as well as to determine the breakdown of partner countries for forest sector exports. The study involved surveys of companies in the sector and expert interviews. The data from the study show that Latvia's forest sector exports have great potential. The largest share in the forest sector's export structure is occupied by primary processing products, followed by further processing products, which overtake the position of logs and by-products. The total value of Latvia's forest sector exports, like the total value of the country's exports, has tended to increase. The analysis of the data obtained will allow an understanding of the factors influencing the development of forestry exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, biotechnology has provided a motor for environmentally sustainable production and for the development of a diverse range of innovative products. The potential economic and environmental benefits of biotechnology have created a growing strategic interest in bioeconomy. Bioeconomy combines highly research and knowledge intensive economic activities in agriculture, forestry and the food sector with the innovative use of renewable raw materials for material and energy use. This paper aims to study the potential for the further development of bio-based sectors in Latvia and main challenges the development of innovations in bioeconomy faces in Latvia and Baltic Sea Region countries. In this study, the authors have analyzed current situation in Latvia regarding bioeconomy development and have identified innovations fostering sustainable use of natural resources. The research finds out that bioeconomy innovations in the traditional biobased sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, forestry, fisheries, renewable energies, food and feed, pulp and paper, goes in line with the principles of sustainable development and thus it effects development of sustainable use of natural resources. This paper reviews the support systems for innovations in bioeconomy in EU and Latvia and studies the potential for the further development of bio-based sectors in Latvia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to identify opportunities for the development of the bioeconomy in Latvia, assessing its role in the development of the agricultural sector. Nowadays, the development and sustainability of natural resources are of great importance. The bioeconomy can be considered as one of the oldest sectors of the economy, which life sciences and biotechnology can transform into one of the most modern sectors of the economy. From a number of perspectives, one of Latvia's development opportunities is the more sustainable and efficient use of natural resources. The bioeconomy provides a combined approach to integrating knowledge-based economic growth, social welfare and environmental protection in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, respecting the principles of the circular economy. The aim of this paper is to provide information on a study carried out to investigate and analyse the development perspectives of the bioeconomy and organic farming in Latvia. The research methodology includes theoretical concepts and a framework of factors influencing the bioeconomy. The study uses the Delphi method, collects data from expert interviews and surveys, uses the Porter's hypothesis method, and analyses the competitiveness of organic farming enterprises in Latvia based on Porter's five forces method. The development of the bioeconomy is mainly related to the production and efficient processing of bioresources. Rural areas and regions are therefore the ones with the greatest potential for development. Research data show that the growth of the bioeconomy will contribute to the development of Latvia's rural areas and regions and that Latvian organic farming enterprises have great potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study of the bioregion paradigm reveals that bioregions can be diverse. A bioregion is a construct of the human mind that evolves to resist the continued destruction of wild systems in an effort to restore ecological balance. Latvia has a diverse landscape, relatively rich biological diversity and cultural heritage, which provides a solid foundation for the creation of potential bioregions. The UN Sustainable Development Goals, the European Green Deal and other documents offer solutions to make our farming more sustainable in the long term. Recently, these ideas have also been brought up to date in Latvia, where one of the topical issues is the identification of bioregion development opportunities. The research results reveal that, in general, the bioregion approach is suitable for the development of rural areas, as it promotes ecological sustainability, social justice, and place identity. In accordance with the procedure established by the legislation, 658 specially protected nature territories have been established in Latvia and their management is carried out by four regional structural units of the Nature Conservation Agency. By actualizing bioregions, it is potentially possible to solve various problems related to the full use of the economic potential of these territories. The purpose of the article is to emphasize the importance of biological diversity and protected areas in the creation of bioregions in Latvia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the previous research by author conducted in 2016 [1], the indicators characterizing natural resources in Latvian rural municipalities were analysed, looking for connections with the overall territorial development and growth. The study concluded that there are significant differences in the development of municipalities, using the complex territorial development index (TDI) and analysing the available natural resources, such as forests, agricultural land areas, receiving EU funding, etc. The municipalities with the highest TDI values did not have significant natural resources. Their development was mainly determined by their location - close to the capital Riga, which is the largest economic centre in Latvia, thus forming a distinctly monocentric spatial structure. The positions of the Latvian government regarding regional policy, which are included in the National Development Plan 2021-2027, are oriented towards the promotion of polycentrism, thus forming the basis for sustainable and balanced development of all territories. Policy makers point out that the fact that growth has not been territorially balanced, as inequality is still high and the growth of remote regions lags behind the Riga region, creates significant long-term risks. This study analyses whether there have been changes in the five-year period, both in terms of the overall territorial development of rural municipalities, as well as in evaluating the changes in natural resource indicators, raising the issue of the effective use of natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The waste management sector as one of the most significant economic sectors requires effective management not only in Latvia but in the European Union as whole. According to the recent (2020) available Eurostat data, 505 kg of municipal waste per capita were generated in the EU of which 48% were recycled and 22% were landfilled. Latvia ranges in the 11th position among the EU Member States with 478 kg of generated waste per capita. Romania (287 kg), Poland (346 kg) and Hungary (364 kg) are countries having generated the lowest amounts of municipal waste per capita, while Denmark (845 kg) and Luxembourg (790 kg) have been the top countries with the highest amounts of generated municipal waste per capita in 2020. In Latvia, approximately 66% of generated waste were recycled and 19% were landfilled in 2020. Moving towards the green economy and following the EU Directive 2018/851 targets for recycling municipal waste the governments develop investment plans envisaging financial resources for the waste management sector. The research aim is to evaluate environmental protection expenditure in the context of waste management policy. The research employs statistical data analysis to study the problem elements and synthesise coherencies or formulate regularities. The research period covers the years from 2010 to 2020. Starting from 2018, Latvia has essentially increased amounts of total investment and current expenditure for waste collection and treatment. In 2020, investments have increased 3.9 times compared with 2018; thus, amounting to EUR 36 295 thousand, while the current expenditure has grown by 21.9% amounting to EUR 118 182 thousand. The proportion of investment in waste management has also essentially increased, i.e. from 19.50% in 2010 to 49.96% in 2020, while the respective growth for current expenditure has been more moderate, i.e. from 32.79% to 62.42% of total financial resources for environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public procurement is the acquisition of products and services needed for the public sector and involves significant public budget resources. Incorporating environmental requirements into public procurement promotes both the goals of sustainable development and the principles of the circular economy. Green public procurement practices are becoming increasingly important, not only in the world, but also in Latvia. Therefore, in 2017, the Latvian Bioeconomy Strategy 2030 was approved, which envisages the development of green procurement as an important factor for the implementation of this strategy. Therefore, the aim of the present research is to study one of the sections "Replacement of non-renewable resources with sustainable bioresources in public procurement" for the implementation of the strategic goal of the Latvian Bioeconomy Strategy 2030 "Attractive business environment for entrepreneurship in bioeconomy" in Latvia. The study found that since 2017, a system of regulatory enactments has been established in Latvia, which provides for certain groups of goods and services to which green procurement is mandatory in public procurement and groups of goods and services to which green public procurement is applicable on a voluntary basis. These product groups include important products produced and processed and services provided in the bioeconomy sectors. In general, the introduction of green public procurement procedures and requirements in Latvia is to be assessed positively, as in 2017-2020 the total amount of procurement has increased 3.1 times from EUR 282 million to EUR 867 million and in 2020 accounted for 17% of the total amount of public procurement. In turn, mandatory and voluntary green public procurement of goods and services has increased 3.2 times in the analysed period and accounted for 77% of the total amount of green public procurement, which promotes the development of bioeconomy in Latvia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the national policy and development documents of Latvia, forest, along with other natural resources, is defined as an important strategic resource for the sustainable overall development of the country and the development of a diverse and exportintensive economy. At the same time, the need to exploit forests sustainably, reducing the risks to the quality of the natural environment posed by human activities, is emphasized by the documents. The research question is as follows: Are forests in Latvia overexploited and what factors affect the forest owner activities? The research examined the exploitation of wood resources in the country in the period 2007-2018 and found that the main factors that affected the forest owner activities were the economic crisis, the situation in the timber market, timber prices and climatic conditions. Analyzing statistical data on forestry and logging in the country, the research found that forests in Latvia were exploited sustainably. A correlation analysis revealed that the socio-economic factors that were strongly related to the exploitation of wood resources in the country and that could be employed in identifying (1) timber production in stateowned forests; (2) timber production in the other forests and (3) changes in the area logged were as follows: (1) the number of persons employed in the wood and wood products sector; (2) the number of persons employed in forestry and logging, and (3) the financial performance of businesses operating in the wood and wood products sector. Based on the correlation analysis results, three parabolic regression equations, which could be used to predict trends in the factors examined, were constructed. The research employed general scientific research methods, statistical analysis and mathematical methods, data provided by the Central Statistical Bureau, statistical data and public reports provided by the State Forest Service as well as legal acts and policy documents of the Republic of Latvia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urgency of sustainable development in the world requires seeking solutions to chronic problems of a number of the past decades. Several of the problems are associated with the environment and food supply. The current food supply system was based on conventional farming, yet such food was produced making negative environmental impacts. Organic primary food production is an alternative to the system, which is based on organic farms, the number of and the land area managed by which have considerably increased. In Latvia, 3500 organic farms were registered, which managed 11% of the total agricultural area. Most organic food products were produced from organic grain, potato, milk and meat. Under the organic farming system, support payments were the key motivator; however, the eligibility criteria have to be changed, and the production of quality products at a reasonable cost has to be the key factor influencing agricultural activity. Unfortunately, the authors found that profit-making is a dominant factor for those engaged in organic farming, yet it is mainly based on receiving support payments. The introduction of new techniques and technologies has to be more important for the purpose of reorienting the organic food production system from the kind of farming dependent on financial support to a system of production of quality and healthy food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The smart development is a quite new tendency introduced in regional and territorial planning focusing on innovations, effective use of resources and knowledge based economics. Therefore there is no methodology elaborated jet how to characterise the smart territorial development progress in municipalities on Latvia. The National Research Program EKO-SOC-LV is established to create knowledge base on sustainable development processes of the state and society, and to elaborate a theoretical justification for sustainable development strategies and action policies through diverse scientific research. One of the aims is to analyse processes of rural and regional development and possibilities within the framework of economy in Latvia. During this research program smart territorial development measuring approach was elaborated. This article describes the methodology how to assess and evaluate the progress and level of smart territorial development. In this approach the smart territorial development includes four dimensions - smart people (active, skilled and educated), smart economics (innovative, knowledge intense, high-tech industries), smart use of nature resources and smart governance (inclusive, active in communication and effective in use of e-services). Each dimension is characterised by numerous indicators - 19 in total. The methods used in research are: monographic, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, statistical analysis methods, cluster analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When aiming to study pro-environmental behavior (PEB) developments at the local municipal level in Latvia, there were two complementary studies employed: 1- main local stakeholder groups interviewing in two town municipalities to study their existing PEB practice, especially obstacles and related municipal governance instruments; 2- questionnaire for about 100 Eco-schools (EcoS) coordinators in Latvia to study schools existing PEB practice within school grounds, but especially their orientation towards and collaboration with local community and with the whole municipality towards PEB in the public environment. In spite of existing, at least basic, knowledge and even motivation (willingness) to act environmentally friendly, there are a range of obstacles, which could be classified in groups and, complementary, directly associated also with six classes of governance instruments to employ to overcome those obstacles - infrastructure instruments, economic-financial, communication ones, as well as administrative, planning, political and legal instruments. Even infrastructure and economic-financial obstacles are mentioned as dominating, they are not always limiting as often are the communication, particularly, psychological obstacles, what means that efficient and complementary development of various communication instruments as information and education, participation and PEB application/demonstration into practice can make a change, particularly when targeting main stakeholder groups selectively. This locally based PEB change could be importantly facilitated comparatively effectively by EcoS employing communication-psychological instruments, incl. PEB, as have been demonstrated by selected EcoS pro-community activities examples and their evaluations. Activities, projects and campaigns of EcoS and students' behavior also in their households are not only supporting formal environmental education, but also triggering often non-active municipal leaders and managers towards necessary change into EcoS immediate community, and more and more so impacting also whole municipal PEB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are several factors affecting governance efficiency and inhabitant satisfaction with the actions of the local government in the regional level. Efficiency of the local governance is also strongly linked with the development of the particular region and can be facilitating for attraction of funding for the development of infrastructure, promoting entrepreneurship and increase the overall life quality in the region. Jet there are several risks associated with the actions of local governance and an assessment of these risks and their regional differences can provide insights in the needed improvements in the governance that will lead to better governance an eventually increase the life quality in the region. There are 110 rural municipalities and 9 republic cities divided in five regions of Latvia. The previous researches showed very unbalanced and uneven development levels among these administrative units, especially in economics. One of priorities of Latvia long-term planning is balanced and sustainable regional and territorial development. Therefore this study investigates regional differences in the factors that affect economic activity in the regions of Latvia and the governance risks associated with the factors that have an influence of the economic activity in a particular territory. The methods used in research are: monographic, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, statistical analysis methods, expert survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maritime territories play a significant environmental, economic, social, cultural and recreational role. It is therefore important to achieve a balanced, sustainable development to ensure equal opportunities for the population of all regions, bridging any gaps between the territories. Special attention is paid to developmental directions and opportunities of the maritime territories. The purpose of this research study is to identify the factors affecting development of the maritime territories of Latvia, perform analysis of them and develop recommendations for the reduction of territorial differences to provide equal opportunities for the residents of all regions, cities and rural areas of the country. The research methodology applied for this research study involves the theoretical concepts and framework of the factors affecting the territories. To get a deeper insight into the problem, a survey of 520 respondents (2016) was conducted in three maritime regions of Latvia. In addition, interviews with experts were conducted with the participation of the local government employees of all three municipalities of the region. The results of the research indicate that the maritime territories have high potential for business development: formation of new innovative companies, expansion of tourism and development of agriculture and industry. To be able to use this potential, it is important to improve the quality of the road surface, ensure availability of infrastructure and financial resources, reduce the tax burden and facilitate communication between the population and local governments and state institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The determinant drivers of the forest industry and the factors affecting this industry are mainly associated with national and global socio-economic trends. These trends determine the demand for products of the forest industry, which includes not only the demand for goods of the forest industry, but also the supply of services of this industry, i.e. sustainable forest management services. Latvia, compared with other European countries, belongs to the group of countries rich in forests; in Europe, forests occupy on average 33% of the area of dry land, yet, in Latvia forests occupy 50.9% of its territory. As regards the distribution of forests by ownership, the responsibility for the sustainable management of forest resources in Latvia is proportionally divided into two approximately equal parts between the national government and private forest owners. The JSC "LVM" (Latvijas valsts meži) manages half of the total area of Latvia's forests. Owing to effective forest business and the increase trend in the area of forests, the total growing stock persistently increased and amounted to 579 mln m3 in 2011. Given the above-mentioned facts, the research aim is to identify the role of the state enterprise in providing the sustainable development of the forest industry, taking into account the fact that, at the same time, the enterprise has to be developed. In the present research, the forest industry of Latvia was characterised, the performance of the JSC "LVM", including revenues gained from selling its main goods and services, was critically and justifiably examined. To identify the possibilities of development for the enterprise in relation to the forest industry's sustainability, a matrix for internal advantages in competition and criteria of attractiveness in foreign markets was constructed. Research methods employed: the logical and constructive methods, the graphic method, correlation analysis, regression analysis, pair-wise analysis, statistical data analysis, and marketing methods [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]