Regional Formation and Development Studies

Nowadays, managing co-creation has become an important topic among practitioners and researchers, but there has been little research on addressing and managing the challenges faced by the complexity of co-creation. The paper argues that co-creation should also be understood as a complex, dynamic phenomenon. The purpose of the paper is to summarise and classify extant research into co-creation. The paper reviews complexity as a new way of understanding co-creation processes for corporate social responsibility in business. A review of the literature has established that corporate social responsibility, along with the complexity of co-creation, can produce successful results for businesses.

This article analyses the concept of hospital resilience to natural disasters (earthquakes, global warming, pandemics, and man-made disasters such as war, conflict and cyber-attacks) in the context of theoretical insights in scholarly articles on the concept of resilience, and elements of its perception and other aspects. The research conducted identified that the concept of a resilient hospital encompasses its ability to maintain functionality at minimal resource costs, and reduce the likelihood of shock in the event of various disasters. This capacity to withstand hazard can be of various types, for example, constructive, infrastructural or administrative. The following four elements are most commonly identified levels of resilience: context, disturbance, capacity to deal with disturbance, and reaction to disturbance. A resilient hospital maintains the following characteristics: rapidity, robustness, redundancy, resourcefulness, awareness, diversity, self-regulation, unity and adaptiveness. A variety of means are used to amplify resilience to distinct disasters and it is relevant to manage different types of resilience, but the human factor is indisputably essential in this framework.

This study presents the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of an educational programme that combines an online game and an outdoor activity with mobile learning in science education. The object of the study is to test the capacity of the programme to integrate science, culture and the environment, while transferring knowledge about marble. To this end, we align our theoretical orientation with the overall project design to devise an initial scheme that is pilot-tested by 155 university students of early childhood education and evaluated through a questionnaire. Qualitative data through participants’ feedback after the programme, observation notes and data from video recordings supplement the overall assessment. The results show high levels of satisfaction among the participants in terms of the quality of the activities, the distance between stations, the duration and structure of the programme, contact with marble, and the knowledge acquired.

The Great Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 to 2010 increased the size of the public debt and decreased the fiscal space. The problem stems from the fact that fiscal resources are limited. Many OECD countries had used a substantial part of their limited fiscal space. Researchers suspected that higher levels of public debt in the future could slow down GDP growth. The first attempts to detect the tipping point at which GDP growth stalls or loses steam were made right after the GFC. However, the discussion was left open. The Covid-19 crisis required the further use of unprecedented amounts of fiscal stimulus resources to stabilise the economic situation. The objective of this paper is to establish whether new data of elevated public debt levels in relation to GDP confirms that higher levels of debt to GDP have an impact on future GDP growth and future financial stability. Debt and GDP data from OECD countries for the years 2000 to 2026 was used in order to carry out multilinear regression analysis, establishing the relationship between debt and future GDP growth. The results provide compelling evidence that the accumulation of higher debt levels slows down GDP growth, and require more fiscal resources in the future to stabilise the economic situation, compared with countries with lower accumulated public debt levels. Hence, higher inflation will require even more resources to service the debt.

The Circular Economy (CE), as a possible transformation of economies, became very popular and widely discussed from 2015 when the worldwide importance of ecological preservation became highly in demand. To be able to implement the circular economy concept in various economies, its importance and prepared alterations to government regulations have to be widely discussed, and at the same time businesses and consumers have to prepare to live and work in the new paradigm. Consumers have to note the additional value of circular products and services, and their positive impact on health and the environment. Businesses will only start changing when they realise that new business models are available and they can keep profitability at the same level, even though consumption in general might change. The main aim of this article is to perform a theoretical analysis of the impact of the circular economy on a state’s economy. The main tools used for the research in the article were analysis, comparison and the summary of scientific literature. The article overviews possible changes and their impact on state economics in the future.

The aim of the study is to demonstrate the role of art and artists in the promotion of regional tourism in the post-pandemic period. The Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have suspended or severely restricted tourism worldwide. The negative effects of the pandemic are particularly visible in the regional economy. Despite financial support from states and international organisations, including the European Union (the EU Reconstruction Fund), many regions which lived off tourism until now are struggling with great economic difficulties. The aim of the study is to show the possibility of using art and artists as tools for the promotion and economic development of the local community. These activities may increase interest among potential tourists and investors. The analysis of the possibility for using the new method of local promotion with the use of artists is enriched with reference to the effects of the local economic recovery programme implemented in 2015 and 2016 by the Otwock district. The research hypothesis is the statement that today it is necessary to search for new and unconventional means of promoting countries and regions The result of the analysis is to show possible forms of using art and artists for local promotion in the post-pandemic period.

Many business leaders agree that their performance depends on the quality of the service they provide and its impact on customer satisfaction. In order to survive in the market or to increase their market share, parcel service providers need to be aware of the key factors that affect customer satisfaction with parcel services. The aim of this article is to analyse customer satisfaction with parcel locker service theories, and create a theoretical model to identify the main reasons for customer satisfaction with parcel locker services. The research problem: What are the main reasons for customer satisfaction with parcel locker services? The research methods are based on scientific literature, and data was collected through the questionnaire survey method and analysed by AcaStat software. The theoretical analysis distinguishes the six main reasons for customer satisfaction as price and quality, location dimension, time suitability, technological friendliness, service reliability, and safety. The research data were collected from 438 parcel service delivery users in Lithuania. The results indicate that the main reasons for customer satisfaction are: no need to wait for delivery at home, easy-to-use parcel lockers, 24/7 service possibility, and location convenience. This research is limited, because it was carried out during the pandemic, and the results would need to be verified if the epidemiological situation changes.

Stiprinant pradinių klasių mokinių sveikatą ypatingas vaidmuo tenka tėvų vykdomai savo vaikų sveikatos elgsenos stebėsenai ir korekcijai. Straipsnyje išryškinamas tyrimo tikslas – ištirti tėvų nuomones dėl jaunesniojo mokyklinio amžiaus vaikų sveikatos elgsenos stebėsenos ir korekcijos šeimoje. Tyrime dalyvavo 303 tėvai, auginantys jaunesniojo mokyklinio amžiaus vaikus. Atliktas kiekybinis tyrimas, taikyta apklausa raštu. Gauti tyrimo rezultatai atskleidžia, kad beveik visi tyrime dalyvavę tėvai dažnai stebi ir koreguoja savo vaikų asmens higienos įpročius, emocinę būseną bei netinkamą elgesį. Beveik trečdalis tėvų dar nepakankamai dažnai stebi ir koreguoja savo vaikų sėdėseną, laikyseną, kuprinės svorį. Maždaug pusė apklaustų tėvų nepakankamai dažnai domisi savo vaikų mityba ne namuose. Nors didesnė tėvų dalis stebi ir koreguoja pradinių klasių mokinių dienotvarkę bei vaiko buvimo prie ekranų laiką, tačiau dar maždaug penktadalis tėvų tai daro kartais arba retai.

Considerable changes to the Lithuanian education system are associated with higher academic achievements, the development of students’ critical thinking and research skills, and sustainable practices of integrated teaching and learning in science and mathematics. It is also acknowledged that STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics) educational approaches address the objectives of integrated learning and teaching effectively. The same objectives are reflected in all the IB programmes. In the scientific discourse on the use of STEAM in science, there is a lack of research and examples of pedagogical practices with insights into different educational programmes and teachers’ experiences. The qualitative research (semi-structured interview) focuses on the points of view of teachers who implement the international baccalaureate primary years programme (IBPYP), and have a high level of project-based learning experience, of the possibilities of STEAM project implementation (6). The research findings reveal that teachers acknowledge the benefits of STEAM projects in terms of developing students’ research, critical thinking and independent learning skills, while implementing integrated teaching and learning strategies. The informants also recognise the importance of STEAM education in planning and organising integrated mathematics and science lessons.

The article deals with innovative approaches to shaping the social atmosphere in work teams in selected children’s and family centres which are also directly influenced by the manager’s personality, leadership styles, and by the application of managerial functions. The aim of the paper is to present survey results about the social atmosphere in work teams in selected children’s and family centres, and to make recommendations for the effective formation of work teams with stakeholders’ benefits. The survey’s institutional objects are children’s and family centres, and the survey’s personnel subjects are employees in individual work teams. The processes of the analysis and evaluation of the selected social facility’s social atmosphere in the work team were chosen as the survey’s subject. The methodology came from a practical survey, by applying the ‘Kollárik social atmosphere scale’, using a guided interview and the analysis of internal documents. It used mainly methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison, deduction, application and mathematical recalculation. The sources of information were primary survey results from the selected social facility. The research results were achieved in accordance with the aim of the contribution. The level of social atmosphere and teamwork is excellent.