Search

The agricultural sector in the Baltics has undergone significant transformations since gaining independence from the Soviet Union, transitioning from centrally planned systems to market-oriented approaches; and now, initially focused on increasing productivity and achieving self-sufficiency, agricultural policies in the Baltic countries has shifted towards environmental sustainability and climate resilience, aligning with the objectives of the European Green Deal. However, transitioning from conventional farming practices to more sustainable methods presents challenges for policymakers and farmers alike, necessitating a thorough examination of existing regulations and their effectiveness in promoting environmentally friendly practices. This study aims to analyse the strategic and legal aspects of sustainable agriculture in the Baltic countries, with a focus on field crop production. Two main tasks have been formulated: first, to identify key strategic and legal factors influencing sustainable agriculture in alignment with the EU strategies, and second, to conduct a case study investigating these factors' impact on sustainable agriculture in the Baltic States, particularly how they align with the EU sustainability goals. The conclusions drawn from the analysis emphasize the importance of sustainable land management practices in mitigating environmental impacts and fostering agricultural resilience. While Estonia demonstrates average to good ratings across soil, water, air, and biodiversity factors, Latvia and Lithuania face challenges, particularly in soil condition and air pollution. However, it is concluded, that despite the progress, there is an urgent need for further evaluation and adaptation to address specific challenges, such as soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and increasing emissions from agricultural activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new European strategy envisages addressing the problems of climate change, which significantly affects the agricultural sector, as, for example, in Latvia it accounts for 22% of all greenhouse gas emissions. However, the data show that since joining the European Union, the main objective has been to increase the productivity of the sector. Therefore, in order to achieve the set climate goals, it is necessary to evaluate the implementation of practices corresponding to the goals set, where, as part of this study, we examine the theoretical benefits of sustainable soil management, as well as evaluate the information available in literature sources about the current situation. The data show that currently, the implementation of such practices is in the process, as it has been observed that it is affected by both technical and financial problems, where it is expected that the implementation of these practices will increase. As well as it is concluded that sustainable soil management practices ensure the achievement of goals of different categories - financial, environmental, and social. Therefore, to objectively evaluate the benefits, a complex approach is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the electric propulsion, electric scooters could be a potential way how to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in urban transportation sector; however, recent research has cast doubt on that. This article focuses on the effect the electric scooter use has on CO2 emissions by examining the electric scooter trip data obtained during 2021 scooter season in Riga city. As shared scooters routinely replace already existing modes of transportation, the article analyses the effect which this replacement has on net CO2 emissions in the city. We argue that not all replacement modes will bring actual decrease of CO2 emissions. The results indicate that most of the shared e-scooter trips in Riga fall into the 1-2 km distance category, where it replaces not just cars, but also public transportation, walking and cycling, and actually increases CO2 emissions. The article examines the factors contributing to the CO2 emissions and relative impact of each. The results demonstrate that the largest impact comes from the scooter and battery manufacturing, thus scooter lifetime has decisive impact on the overall net CO2 emissions. In addition, this research found fundamental differences between expected scooter lifetime data claimed by shared scooter operators (5 years) and the average reallife data (156 days). It results in shared e-scooters creating additional 239.9 tonnes CO2 in Riga, and minimum scooter lifetime should be at least 5 years, for shared scooters to become CO2 neutral. This study aims to contribute to transportation literature by demonstrating net CO2 emission calculation methodology as well as empirical evidence on e-scooter trips in North-Eastern Europe region and to help local authorities to make decisions on reaching environmental targets in transportation sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the direct impact of the EU funding on the spatial distribution of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in Latvian rural districts. While the determinants of inflows of FDI are often analysed at the regional and national level, the impact of the EU funding on the spatial distribution of FDI between the administrative entities within a single country is not extensively studied. The research objective is to assess the possible net impact of the EU funding on FDI inflows in Latvian rural districts, thus enabling the more targeted policy decisions with respect to the structure in future EU funding. To evaluate this impact, Instrumental Variables method is applied using the panel data on Latvian rural districts. The research results confirm that positive direct impact of the EU funding on the FDI inflows in Latvian rural districts exists, and it is substantial and statistically significant. At the same time, confounded 'third factors' might exist with negative impact on FDI inflows. While the spatial distribution of the FDI inflows in several regional aspects is rather uneven, the respective differences in the EU funding are less pronounced confirming the existence of negative 'third factors'. Hence, the structure of the support by EU funds has to be revised to improve the local potential determinants of the FDI inflows with emphasis on infrastructure and human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban agriculture is not only a practice of providing food, but also a social lifestyle trend. Different approaches to practice provide the opportunity of different forms and functions, from growing products for household selfconsumption to setting up community gardens and commercial practices. Despite the international experience and the potential of urban agriculture in the sustainable development, in Latvia the practice is mostly implemented through individual or community initiatives. The development of urban agriculture in Latvia is influenced by several factors; therefore, the aim of the scientific article is to identify, classify and characterize factors affecting urban agriculture in Latvia. To achieve the aim, tasks are set: 1) to identify factors influencing urban agriculture, 2) to classify factors and characterize the impact. Several methods have been used in the study to fulfil tasks: systematic theoretical review for factor selection, coverage and characterization, methods of analysis, synthesis and deduction for identification and classification of factors, mathematical statistics correlation method for data correlation, force field analysis for the visualization of the factors impact. Results show that urban agriculture in Latvia has several obstacles - unclear status in legislation, the high cost of needed resources compared to rural areas, the increasing level of the household income. However, there are also factors that contribute to the development, such as criteria for urban greening and sustainability in the development strategies, the concentration of food-demand-driven businesses in cities, food-growing habits and positive attitudes among urban dwellers, and the potential of urban agriculture to promote environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban agriculture has a long history of evolving functions of the practice, but its place in global and national legal aspects is often still unclear. Both the United Nations and the European Union have defined goals and directions of sustainable development, identifying and including the use of resources, the principles of the circular economy, the equal development of regions and other aspects. Urban agriculture has a potential in the most of them. However, the role and legal framework of urban agriculture is largely based on national or municipal initiatives. In Latvia urban agriculture does not have a legally defined status, it is not defined in strategic development plans, nor in the laws and regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse the legal aspects of urban agriculture in order to determine its potential institutional framework in Latvia. To achieve the goal, tasks of the research are defined: 1) to identify the main legal aspects affecting urban agriculture in Latvia, 2) to determine the potential institutional framework for urban agriculture in Latvia. The study was conducted using systematic review analysis of laws, development strategies and regulations of the Republic of Latvia. As a result of the research, the main groups of legal aspects, influencing urban agriculture, were identified (agriculture and commerce, food chain, local government and environmental development and protection, waste management) and a possible institutional framework was developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of polycentrism has acquired a wide field of research in academia and on the political agenda at the national level. In empirical research, the discourse of scientists analyses polycentrism from the prism of both a morphological concept, a functional element, and a normative aspect with a multifaceted analytical tool of spatial planning and an element of the regulatory agenda. The aim of the study is to study the concept of polycentrism and its transformation into theoretical and conceptual applications using monographic and system analysis and to reflect the formal definitions of polycentrism and the transformation of derivatives. In the course of the study, the author concludes that the spatial development dimension of the concept of polycentrism and the extent of polycentrism in the context of regional development can be applied with different contexts, the nature of which is determined either by the planning document, strategic guidelines, or by scientific-practical research. For the analysis of the theories of regional economic development, the monographic and systemic method of analysis was used. The monographic or descriptive method made it possible to prepare an overview of the theories of economic development of the regions, gathering information about them, books, monographs, scientific articles, and international publications on the theory of economic development of regions and the results of empirical research, while the method of systemic analysis was used to structure information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the European Union, including Latvia, the development of the bioeconomy by exploiting the potential of research, innovation and knowledge transfer is considered to be the basis for economic growth. The research aims to assess the drivers of and barriers to bioeconomic development in Latvia and define actions facilitating the development of the national bioeconomy. The present research employed mostly SWOT analysis in combination with expert judgement. The research concluded that the overall trend in the following strengths of the bioeconomy: Research infrastructure and modern technical equipment for the development of the bioeconomic knowledge base (3S) and Vast regional coverage of and cooperation among leading research institutions in the field of bioeconomics (1S) was negative, as the total impact of the threats exceeded the total impact of the opportunities. However, the overall trend in the strength Extensive initial activities and the knowledge base for bioeconomic research (2S) was positive, as the total impact of the opportunities exceeded the total impact of the threats. The total impact of exogenous factors on the weaknesses in the development of the bioeconomy was positive; therefore, the total impact of exogenous factors tended to weaken the weaknesses. Since the largest positive impacts on endogenous factors were made by the following opportunities: Effective support for independent innovation projects implemented by large companies (3O) and Stimulation of innovation in the small and medium enterprise sector in active synergy with national research priorities and available funding (2IO), it is necessary to increase government and private sector funding for R&D in order to contribute to the development of the bioeconomy in Latvia. The availability of funding should be balanced and predictable in the long term to reduce the impact of the threat Public policies and insufficient and unpredictable funding for research and development hinder the development of bioeconomy industries and steady growth opportunities (2T). To encourage the business sector to invest in R&D, including in the bioeconomy industries, public support and various incentives for entrepreneurs are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the important role of agricultural cooperatives in strengthening competitiveness and market power of farmers in the food chain, it is essential to understand the competitiveness of their own economic activities. The purpose of this article is to summarise the institutional base affecting agricultural cooperation to assess its impact on the economic activity. To reach the goal, the normative documents that affect the agricultural co-operation directly were gathered and studied, and certain institutional obstacles and problems affecting the cooperation of economic activity were highlighted. At the end, conclusions on the institutional framework for economic activity of agricultural cooperatives in Latvia and suggestions on the legislative changes needed to improve the competitiveness of agricultural cooperatives are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalization in business environment and management processes at the same time entails the need for additional skills to prepare clients and members of society by explaining to them the nature and use of products. Therefore, senior and middle managers have to be not only knowledgeable in their profession and develop the relevant hard skills but also, due to the labour market demand, have to be aware of importance of soft skills’ training and understanding. In the process of developing study courses in life sciences field and bioeconomics, such challenges are integrated in the higher business education preceded by appropriate investigation. The aim of the current research was to explore the role of soft skills and their variability in a life sciences education in digitalized working environment. Research methods - monographic, graphic, induction and deduction methods, extrapolation method - selecting the five most characteristic soft skills required by labour market and focus group interviews. The research on the most demanded soft skills in the labour market for middle and senior executives in a digitalized work environment led the authors to the conclusion that communication skills, team working skills and cultural and diversity awareness lately have become more important. Skills such as presentation skills and decision-making skills have not changed their significance level, which can be explained by the fact that senior and middle-level managers perform management functions similarly and independently of changes in the digital working environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalisation is rapidly evolving worldwide, thus information exchange and electronic products have become an important part of life as well as e-services, which need to be provided not only by companies but also by public authorities. Expansion of digital technologies is seen as an economic, technological and social development phenomenon. Higher education plays a key role in preparing future generations and exploiting the opportunities of the digital economy, thus it is essential that they actively use the opportunities offered by digitalisation, both in their internal communication and marketing to improve their day-to-day work and thus are able to offer a study process that complies with today’s students’ preferences. The aim of the current research was to assess the use of digitalization possibilities in the study process based on the example of Latvia public universities, focusing on in-depth study of the digital environment of Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LLU). The research tasks were: 1) to analyse the digital performance of the European Union Member States; 2) to evaluate external digital performance indicators of Latvia public universities; 3) to assess LLU students’ level of satisfaction with LLU digital environment. The research was performed based on the secondary data analysis, i.e. theoretical literature studies, and author’s practical survey that was conducted at Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies. The research revealed that currently digitalization at universities is driven by students who demand that the whole study process and communication is available in the digital environment, and universities need to improve meaningfully the curriculum and study programmes by placing the emphasis on the labour market demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalization is rapidly evolving worldwide and today information exchange and electronic products have become an important part of life. Transformations caused by digitalization are seen as an economic, technological and social development phenomenon. Since higher education plays a key role in preparing future generations, it is essential to enhance the opportunities of higher education institutions offered by digitalization both in internal communication and marketing, thus improving their dayto-day work and ability to offer such study environment that meets young generation's needs. The object of the current research is development of the digitization process in the context of higher education, but the subject of the research - use of digitalization possibilities in internal and communication and marketing of higher education institutions. In authors' opinion, digitalization causes new challenges for higher education institutions that need to be identified and managed in a timely manner. The study used monographic method, secondary data analysis, secondary information source analysis, document research and in-depth expert interviews to identify opportunities and risks caused by digitalization processes in higher education institutions' internal communication and marketing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To clarify the opinion of Latvian private forest owners on the use of EU funding in forest management, a survey of forest owners (Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies grant project No. Z7 funding) was conducted in November 2018 by the staff members of the Forest Advisory Service Centre (FASC) which is a branch of the Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre. A total of 153 forest owners have been included in the survey, of whom 107 (70%) forest owners have previously used EU funding support in forest management, and 46 forest owners (30%) who have not used this opportunity. The respondents included in the survey represent forest owners from all regions of Latvia. The survey included general questions describing the profile of the forest owner, such as the size of the owned forest area, for how long the forest has been the owner's property, knowledge of forest management and the way of receiving information. Regarding the attracting of EU funding, the forest owner's view of the already used EU support and its type was clarified and the overall level of satisfaction, the necessary improvements, and the type of EU support needed for further forest management were identified. The study also includes the results of other similar surveys carried out by other institutions on forest owners' opinions on EU support for forestry. The results of the survey conducted by FASC confirm that 76% of forest owners who have already used some measures of the EU's financial support at least once are ready to take advantage of the opportunity to apply for the support also in the future. The forest owners, who have not used EU financial support for forest management so far, continue to express sceptical opinions, and only 46% of such respondents would be willing to apply for further EU support funding. When comparing the priority support directions specified by forest owners, it can be concluded that the trends in the need for subsidies are fairly similar, 80% of owners who have previously used the financial EU support, point out that support for young stand and advanced growth thinning is still needed in the future. The same opinion has been expressed by 70% of forest owners who have not previously used the EU funding. In a series of studies, a general trend for priority of most desirable EU subsidies have been identified and it was revealed that 61% of forest owners want to receive support for young stand and advanced growth thinning. Half of this percentage of respondents have pointed out the need for EU subsidies for forest amelioration and road construction (32%), forest establishment (31%), forest regeneration (30%) and for compensations of the protection of natural values and for it management (29%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In scientific literature, one can come across different approaches to the idea of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It is mainly due to the fact that individual dimensions of this phenomenon are very broad. Most studies of CSR focus on larger organizations, thus there are only few studies focusing on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, there is a need to adapt the principles and instruments of corporate social responsibility to the specificity of the sector of small and medium enterprises, which is of great importance for the development of economies all over the world. The main goal of this paper is to describe the meaning of actions within CSR in the SME sector, both in Poland and in Latvia, taking into account the possibility of carrying them out and barriers in implementing them. The tasks of the research: 1) to explore the main areas of CSR which relate to SMEs and sustainable socio-economics development; 2) to observe and analyse CSR main areas for SMEs in Poland and Latvia; 3) to make conclusions about CSR importance for SMEs in sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labour protection involves the safety and health of employed individuals. It has to be one of the priorities for any employer, as employees are a resource to be cared about and made satisfied. In Latvia, regardless of the requirements of law, the State Labour Inspectorate revealed 10 815 violations of the labour protection legislation in 2014. Besides, in the period 2010-2014, the number of accidents at work annually increased, reaching 1763 in 2014, of which 213 accidents led to serious health disorders, while 41 individuals died. To reduce the risk and cost of accidents, labour protection responsibilities could be assigned to outsourcing providers. The legislation of the Republic of Latvia provides that since 2006 outsourcing services may be provided by competent institutions (the institutions that perform the internal control of the work environment at an organisation on a contractual basis). A similar model has been introduced in a number of European countries many years ago. The use of outsourcing services allows enterprise managers to focus on their basic business and save funds, as there is transition from capital investment to fixed cost. The key advantage of use of labour protection outsourcing services is the possibility to receive professional services at lower costs than if hiring a labour protection specialist of high level. The number of competent institutions increased in Latvia - from 34 in 2008 to 67 in 2016. One can expect that their number is going to continue increasing, as an increasing focus is placed on labour protection and the demand for labour protection services rises owing to an increase in the number of enterprises. Of the competent institutions, 65% are located in Riga where competition makes the institutions provide such services at lower prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beef production volumes in Latvia have been different over a long period of time, beef output growth has been noted, as well as its sharp decrease, so it is important to analyze, what are the most important factors that are affecting beef production volumes, that will give an idea of the possibilities for beef market regulation. Consequently, the study objective can be defined: Identify factors affecting beef production in Latvia. For this research statistical methods, correlation analysis, induction, deduction, analysis and synthesis were used. These methods gave an accurate picture of factors that are affecting beef production volumes. According to the results, it can be concluded that beef production volumes are significantly affected by such factors as demand for beef. The results of this research indicate that Latvia beef production volumes are affected by the market demand. As an essential factor for increasing the number of beef cattle in Latvia, export opportunities are available where increasing amount of fresh or chilled beef exported in EUR is increasing the number of suckler cows, where there is a close positive relationship (r = 0.76), which indicates an increase in demand from Latvian meat beef holding output. The quality of the soil in the region and climatic conditions will affect the specialization of farms. The largest number of bovine animals is grown in regions of Vidzeme and Latgale, where average cereal production is lowest per hectare. Pierīga and Zemgale regions have high crop yields on average per hectare, so in this region the number of bovine animals is the smallest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important medium-term tasks in Latvia is the promotion of production and consumption of local food through implementing measures aimed at increasing the market share of food products produced in Latvia in public procurement and consumption. The research aim is to examine the situation of public food procurement in Latvia and assess the changes of local products share in public food procurement. In Latvia, at the end of 2014, in response to Russia's embargo on the Latvian-produced food products and to promote local food consumption in the country was accepted new Regulations. These Regulations prescribe the requirements for public procurement using environmental criteria, and their application, as well as the applicable tender selection criteria for the food supply and catering contracts. This contributed an increase of the quantity of purchases where ZPP criteria were used, thereby also increased the share of local production. The purchase of food from local farmers positively affects local entrepreneurship, while providing a significant income source for the local farmers; in this way, the viability of many small local agricultural holdings is maintained. Research methods used: monographic, descriptive, analysis, synthesis, statistical analysis. The present research was performed based on the statistical data, research papers and other information sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paper covers an analysis of most significant European Union (EU) legal acts regulating financial support granted for private forestry over the period of 2014-2020, coherence to support measures implemented in Latvia for a certain period. The review consists of two main legal acts from the EU - Forest Strategy for forests and the forest-based sector and the EU regulation No. 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council on support for rural development by the European Agriculture Fund for Rural development, while from the national perspective, the review was prepared for Latvia's Rural development programme (NRDP) for the period 2014- 2020 and national regulations issued by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia. The paper focuses on the support measures intended to foster and develop forestry sector, evaluating priorities and expected results laid down in the EU documents, versus measures implemented in Latvia through the NRDP 2014-2020, related to national regulations and rules of the responsible state authorities. The analysis contains several groups of measures applicable for private forestry: 1) Information, advice, knowledge and efficiency; 2) Forestry activities; 3) Investments in forestry; 4) Nature care. Not all the measures which may be introduced according to the EU regulations No. 1305/2013 were implemented for private forestry support in Latvia, also several in the NRDP 2014-2020 affordable measures were not introduced practically till November 2017, but regarding those which have already been implemented, their impact on forestry development should be further estimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]