Klaipėdos universitetas

Public television is an important source of electoral information in Poland. The scope of its duties is regulated by the Election Code and media regulations. The presented content can fundamentally influence electoral attitudes of Poles and shape their views in this respect. The analysis of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) reports on the monitoring of public television and the analysis of the opinion polls’ results carried out by the Public Opinion Research Centre (CBOS) revealed that the key factor that determined a low turnout in the 2015 parliamentary elections was not the lack of information or knowledge on the voters’ side, but more a disappointment in the quality of political life in Poland. In the local government elections of 2014, the phenomenon of insufficient provision of information indeed did occur, as the main media for informational and educational content were not nationwide but rather regional broadcasts with low viewership. The author used the following research methods to address the above issues: critical literature analysis, comparative and descriptive analysis, as well as analysis of legislation, documents and surveys.

For the last 20 years, the Baltic Sea has been affected by many upheavals, not only geopolitical but also economic. They have forced

An analysis of Lithuanian legislation has shown that documents regulating the development of teachers’ qualifications provides the teacher with an opportunity to improve personal, institutional and national educational needs for development, and defines requirements for educators and qualification development opportunities. However, research conducted in Lithuania shows that this process is frequently characterised as fragmentary, and that it lacks research on the needs of the development and planning of teachers’ qualifications, the connection with the educational process, and its practical application. In the meantime, teachers commonly disregarding the significance of the subsidiarity principle to the effectiveness of the development of teachers’ qualifications desire direct cooperation and the coordination of the need for the development of personal qualifications with the andragogue organiser, while ignoring the people responsible for it in educational institutions. The perception that the andragogue organiser’s activities must be designed taking into account not only the personal expectations of teachers but also the objectives and priorities of educational institutions and of the development of teachers’ qualifications raises a scientific issue: what type of andragogue organiser’s activity is effective for achieving the main goals (quality) in the development of teachers’ qualifications? The qualitative research conducted revealed the andragogue organiser’s role and the effectiveness of the activity and direction of improvement with respect to the performed functions, activity areas and competences, and justified the fundamental principles of the development of teachers’ qualifications. In the practical approach, empirical data presented in this article can be significant in: 1) seeking the effectiveness and improvement of activity of the andragogue organising teachers’ qualification development services in the Klaipėda district; 2) identifying the roles and responsibilities of the participants’ process in ensuring its quality.

Internet users using digital diplomacy techniques can generate state soft power on social networks through the promotion of traditional power resources – culture, values and behaviour. In this way, the digital dissemination of information by states becomes an instrument of their power policy. This article analyses the concept of digital diplomacy, the transformation of its characteristics and activities in the digital space. The text examines the interaction between digital diplomacy and soft power, also focuses on the European Union’s digital diplomacy, which has become an important part of the EU’s foreign policy. Due to the novelty of the topic and the lack of research in the public discourse, the article is relevant to research in order to find out what digital diplomacy methods the EU institutions, diplomats, individual Internet users are and how it forms the European information geopolitics.

In recent years the European Union has experienced an unprecedented influx of refugees and asylum seekers that has continued up until now. This issue is relevant to Lithuania as well, since the country has committed to host 1105 asylum seekers from Greece and Turkey, and their successful integration to large extent depends on legislation adopted by the Government. The present article analyses the concept of the international asylum law and the peculiarities of legal regulation of the refugee integration system in Lithuania. Both the analysis of legislative documents and experience in working with refugees has disclosed a gap between the existing theoretical system and its implementation in practice. The author discloses the problems of the refugee integration, when regulation of the social relationships is required; however there is no relevant legal norm that could be applicable in a particular case. The article also discusses the priorities and regulatory documents of the Lithuanian policy on integration; however the main focus is made on the theoretical analysis of the Description of the Procedure for Providing State Support for the Refugee Integration and – referring to the practical experience – on insights into its implementation measures. The analysis has disclosed that implementation of the refugee integration measures is hindered due to lack of a long-term policy on the refugee integration in Lithuania, lack of collaboration between the state and private sector and prevalent negative attitudes in the society; the above factors result in loss of interrelation between the legal norms and the social relationships that are to be regulated.

Straipsnyje, taikant naratyvinę tyrimo strategiją, atskleidžiama Lietuvos interneto piratų subkultūra per socialinio dalyvavimo skaitmeninėje erdvėje prizmę. Stengiantis atsiriboti nuo teisinio šios veiklos vertinimo keliami šie esminiai klausimai: kokie socialinio dalyvavimo internete ypatumai, galima veiklos raiška ir nauda potencialiai veikiančiajam.

The article addresses the problem of uncertainty in social work. The problem is analyzed in the context of domination of postmodern worldviews. Three types of uncertainty are distinguished: ontological, epistemological and procedural. Resting on various literature critical thinking, human rights discourse and client strengths perspective are presented as possible alternatives for decision making in a complex world.

In all states of European Union reforms in pension system are being made, likewise in Latvia. Demographic and economic problems that are occurred forces pension reforms to be made. New developed pension reform includes different processes, like – formation of financial equilibrium between incomes and costs, limit performance in going early in pension, increasing of age of going in pension, rebalancing between men and women. Simultaneous formation of state and private pension systems could prevent some of the major drawback in system of pension that undermines the pension system of nowadays. Unfortunately the high social security contributions of state sector persons lacks of money, for deposit in private pension funds. Using method of logic synthesis, as the target authors nominated to examine problems of pension systems in the Baltic States, as well as similarities and divergences in problems and perspectives, with the status of private pension funds in accumulating pension system.

Organizational culture and corporate social responsibility are effective measures that have an impact on organizational performance and results. In particular norms, principles, rules and values of the organization’s employees are more efficient, more comfortable, reduces mistrust, tension, a feeling of insecurity. Organizational culture includes the efforts of all staff, based on common human values. Employees tend to work in organizations where they are treated fairly, respecting their interests. It is ideology of social responsible (SR) organizations. Social responsible organizations promote a business friendly environment to create a social atmosphere, harmonize working relationships and actively participate in social dialogue with the public and with the organization.

Emotional intelligence can play an important role in an individual’s education and career success. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the opinion of employers on the importance of competencies related to emotional intelligence in the recruitment process in Latvia, as well as the extent to which these competencies can be developed in vocational education and training. Total of 750 companies participated in this research, rating the importance of competencies and the performance of vocational education institutions using a four-point Likert scale. The list of methods currently applied in vocational education developing emotional intelligence competencies was developed through in-depth interviews with the managers of vocational education institutions. The research results show that most of employers evaluate ability to work independently, work motivation and problem-solving skills as very important in the recruitment process. Vocational education institutions need to pay more attention to improving ability to take responsibility in students. The main methods used by vocational education institutions to develop competencies linked to emotional intelligence are extra-curriculum activities, international events and mobility, as well as work-placements, which are supplements to education programmes rather than core curriculum, indicating to low link between emotional intelligence competencies and expected learning outcomes of vocational education. The research provides the basis for reconsidering the vocational education curriculum in the light of its contribution to development of competencies that are highly valued in the labour market.