Klaipėdos universitetas

The paper is part of a research series for ancient Roman sites in Northern Bulgaria which aim to present the possibilities of creating a specialized form of cultural and historical product that ensures sustainable utilization of the Bulgarian tangible heritage. A study of the Roman fortress Sostra, located on the Via Traiani road as a cultural and historical tourist resource was conducted. The castellum is characterized as an object of cultural heritage in the region of Troyan Municipality in Bulgaria. The methodology applied in assessing the potential of the Ancient Roman fortress Sostra is primarily designed for historical and cultural sites. An evaluation was made under the following criteria: potential for development, degree of impact / interaction, degree of modification with relevant indicators. Also an expedition-field method for terrain research was applied. Summaries and conclusions were made in order to highlight the possibility of forming a tourist product of cultural and cognitive tourism.

An aging population is defined in the scientific literature as changes in the structural age composition of the population, which leads to growth in the population of those who are 60 years and older. The aging of population is a social and economic problem that needs to be understood and addressed. Aging of the population has a significant impact on national economies, as well as within individual regions of the country. The old age index has a significant impact on regional supply of services. It is worth stressing that in order to improve a community’s quality of life and reduce disparities between regions, it is necessary to continually assess the level of development and regional development opportunities. Evaluation of the regional socio-economic situation should be performed periodically, so that regional policy measures can be directed to the areas of greatest need.

The world wide experience of communication and cooperation of diasporas and origin countries shows various ways and forms how diasporas can contribute towards sustainable development of origin country. Lithuania also has relatively huge diaspora and faces increasing emigration every year. However, it still neglects the potential of it’s diaspora involvement in contributing to well-being of the country. In order to reveal the potential of Lithuanian diaspora the qualitative research was conducted. It used expert interview method with 12 leaders of foreign Lithuanian communities and organizations. The research revealed that Lithuanian diaspora is willing and could contribute significantly to the country’s sustainable development in various areas: scientific, business, cultural and social ones. In order to facilitate this cooperation, Lithuanian government should decrease barriers for cooperation and implement measures that would take into account the diversity of diaspora groups interests and possibilities, provide relevant information about means of engagement and support already existing and new diaspora networks and their initiatives.

Material deprivation has recently gained prominence as a topic of debate as its proliferation is reising throughout Europe in particular in the countries hit hardest by financial and economic turbulences what leads to the gap in material deprivation levels throughout Europe. The aim of the study is to analyze material deprivation in the regions of Latvia. Research methods used in preparation of the paper: scientific publication and previous conducted research results analysis, analysis of anonimised data of EU-SILC survey results and European Central Bank conducted survey on Household income and expenses survey results, results are compared with the results of other EU countries. Survey anonimised data are analyzed using indicators of descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations for regions of Latvia, for urban-rural living and analysis of variance – ANOVA are used. The results of analysis have indicated in what situation are regions of Latvia in the context of material deprivation especially in Latgale region and what are the challenges for decision makers to deal with – more attention for several approaches in reduction of income differences in regions of Latvia.

Shared Service Centres (SSCs) may lead to job creation in the professional field in the less developed EU region. By 2015, in the CEE region, the number of employees in this sector exceeded 335 000 and the trend tends to be increasing heavily. Looking at the actual numbers of the sector, the author tries to define the main decision making factors for a SSC to settle down in the region. The paper focuses on the evaluation of possibilities, arguing if the development of the SSC sector can continue creating jobs in this region.