The depopulation of young and active people, open to innovation, who seek better living conditions in rural areas is inseparable
from various negative economic and social consequences. The purpose of the research is to reveal the main factors that determine
the decision of young people to return to live, work and create businesses (invest) in X rural area. In order to attract educated youth
to rural areas, it is important to reveal the factors that influence the decision to stay. A qualitative case study was conducted. A semistructured interview was used. Ten young people who decided to return to live in rural area X took part in the study. According to
the respondents, their choice to live in the country was determined by factors such as cheaper housing, inherited property, accessible
preschool education, healthier food at lower prices, fresh air, trust and relations based on mutual assistance, family support, farming,
and orientation towards foreign markets. However, despite all these factors, young people mostly feel a lack of variety in social
services. Also, their initiatives in the sphere of social service are limited.
The European Union data surveys give evidence of the growing trend of population ageing in the Member States. The aim of the study was to analyse the social structure of population in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in comparison with the average population in the EU-27 and present recommendations for policy makers for further improvement of the social policy development in these countries. The authors used monographic method to study theoretical aspects of society aging and welfare and statistical data analysis of secondary data aggregated by Eurostat reports, Eurobarometer survey and databases of national institutions. The analysis of the society aging indicators in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland clearly shows that the policy makers of these countries so far have been mainly focusing on unpopular measures – either increasing taxes or raising the retirement age, which have caused citizens’ dissatisfaction with the existing social policy that does not provide any hopes for the existing and becoming pensioners to approximate to successful aging. The authors consider that the national institutions responsible for society’s welfare issues should further encourage socially innovative solutions by finding unusual ideas for obtaining multidimensional support, including the assistance provided by policy-makers and involving local agents to enhance inclusion of the aged population in the labour market, especially in creating jobs for themselves, being able to retain employment as temporary workers or being encouraged to work in other professions.
Labour places sustainable development in rural regions are determinate the stratification internal and external, from different management levels, environment. The environment factors constantly changeable and interdependent. The open labour places development process is not self-contained, there is need professional management of the process considering many factors, which can be ascribable to the internal (near and distant) and external (near and distant) environment (regional, national, EU) factors groups. The aim of this research is to identify the factors of labour places sustainable development in Lithuanian rural regions. There were used analysis and synthesis, graphic depiction, logical and systematic thinking, comparison, SWOT, structured interviews, deep personal interviews, abstraction and other methods. In the research were analysed labour places sustainable development theoretical aspects, defined labour places sustainable development, identified determining factors of labour places sustainable development in Lithuanian rural regions, was find the possibilities for sustaining development of labour places and the benefits of rapprochement between working positions and place of residence. Interaction of all above factors (synergy) must be considered during the investigation along with the above factors in order initiate development and employment cycle of rural areas.Executed pilot SWOT analysis of job development in rural areas has shown that there are some restricted ranges of issues that abandon job development in rural areas. Liberality of labour forces, non-focused employment of the above resources, and lack of competitive advantage relevancy needed for territory development, absence of sustained and balanced development could be named as common subjects of all municipalities. For a long time workplaces and employment rates have been non-core preferences in case of decision making and implementation of strategic solutions, social and development policies. Implementation of measures, established within Lithuanian rural area development programmes, has been directed towards solution of problems occurred long time ago (not to development of countryside potential). Yet the problem could conceal the opportunity, not all figures involved in the development of rural areas could identify it, it means that long-term development of rural areas could show only initial signs of sustained development, and the balance between other development directions and (or) targets, i. e. economic, social and environmental, used for implementation of active work places is rather weak.Integrated employment development remains the main challenge based on the ongoing monitoring and responding to external changes. Research area is broad and complicated, but it is necessary to investigate vitality and resilience of labour places, the degree of labour places sustainability in the future.
Kaimo vietovių vystymosi procesas tampa vis labiau atviras ir kompleksiškas. Aiškesnis ir skaidresnis suinteresuotų veikėjų poveikis kaimo vietovėse priimamiems sprendimams ir atliekamiems veiksmams. Vystymosi iniciatyvų sėkmę ir efektyvumą garantuoja suinteresuotų veikėjų tikslai, neatsiejami nuo kaimo organizacijų vystymosi tikslų. Kaimo vietovių vystymosi organizacinis mechanizmas sinchronizuoja suinteresuotų veikėjų ir kitų mechanizmo elementų veiksmus, jų sąveiką, organizacinius pokyčius: derinami suinteresuotųjų interesai ir motyvuojama prisidėti prie kaimo vietovių vystymosi iniciatyvų, siekiant spręsti esamas problemas. Šio straipsnio tikslas – apibrėžti kaimo vietovių vystymo organizacinį mechanizmą ir nustatyti jo funkcionavimu suinteresuotas šalis. Atliekant tyrimą išanalizuota mechanizmo sąvokos raida, kuri sudarė prielaidas sukurti kaimo vietovių vystymo organizacinio mechanizmo sąvoką. Išanalizuotos Lietuvos 2007–2013 m. vietos plėtros strategijose numatytos 51-os vietos veiklos grupės misijos, leidusios identifikuoti kaimo vietovių vystymo organizacinio mechanizmo funkcionavimu suinteresuotus veikėjus.
Straipsnyje daugiausia dėmesio skiriama pažangių kaimų vystymo problemai, kuri susijusi su tvaria kaimo plėtra. Nagrinėjami mokslinių tyrimų rezultatai, vietinių ir tarptautinių organizacijų patirtis. Gerosios praktikos pavyzdžiai padėjo suvokti pažangaus kaimo vystymosi varomąsias jėgas ir pagrindines modelio dedamąsias. Nustatytos kaimo vietovių pažangos ir pažangaus kaimo vystymosi varomųjų jėgų prielaidos. Atliekant tyrimą taikyti mokslinės literatūros, dokumentų, gerosios praktikos pavyzdžių analizės, sisteminimo, lyginimo ir kiti metodai. Analizuoti ir vertinti tik sėkmingi gerosios praktikos pavyzdžiai. Nustatytos pažangaus kaimo vystymosi varomosios jėgos: tikslusis ūkininkavimas (žemdirbystė); skaitmeninės ir kitos atviros inovacijoms platformos; dalijimosi ekonomika; žiedinė ekonomika; bioištekliais (atsinaujinančiais) pagrįsta ekonomika; atsinaujinančioji energija; kaimo turizmas, apimantis ekologinį, sveikatai palankų maistą ir poilsį, rekreacinį turizmą; socialinės inovacijos kaimo paslaugų ir verslumo srityje; įtraukios socialinės infrastruktūros, partnerystės organizacinio mechanizmo kūrimas ir diegimas. Pažangaus kaimo vystymosi modelis turėtų būti grindžiamas partnerystės organizacinio mechanizmo, t. y. informavimo, konsultavimo, įtraukimo ir dalyvavimo, sprendimais, kelių veiklų ir sinchroniškai veikiančių suinteresuotųjų funkcionavimu.
Iššūkis, kurį siekiama paversti unikalia galimybe, yra Europos žalioji kryptis. ES ir jos piliečiai prioritetą teikia regioninėms ir vietos maisto sistemoms, trumposioms maisto tiekimo grandinėms, kurios sudaro galimybes puoselėti sveikesnę gyvenseną ir stiprinti vietos ekonomiką. Tyrimo tikslas – apibrėžti, kaip organizuojama vietos maisto sistema ir nustatyti tuo suinteresuotus veikėjus Raseinių rajone. Atliekant tyrimą išanalizuota vietos maisto sistemos termino raida sudarė prielaidas apibrėžti vietos maisto sistemos organizavimą, nustatyti ir išanalizuoti suinteresuotųjų elgsenos veiksnius. Atliekant tyrimą išanalizuoti užsienio ir Lietuvos mokslininkų tyrimų rezultatai, dokumentai, atliktas empirinis tyrimas. Nustatyta, kad suinteresuotieji vietos maisto sistema yra labai įvairūs: namų ūkiai, žemės ūkio ir maisto produktų gamintojai, darželiai, mokyklos, ligoninės, kavinės, turgavietės, „Maisto bankas“, maisto perdirbimo įmonės, bendruomeninės organizacijos, turizmo centrai, ūkininkus telkiančios organizacijos, visuomenės sveikatos biurai, rajonų savivaldybės administracijos. Vietos maisto sistemoje galima skirti keturias potencialias suinteresuotųjų bendradarbiavimo sritis: bendradarbiavimas stengiantis pasiekti išteklius ir jais dalintis; stengiantis pagerinti organizavimo operacijas; palaikyti santykius su vartotojais; siekiant ūkių tvarumo ir atsparumo išoriniams pokyčiams.
Economic and social indicators need to be given more importance in the management of results-oriented rural social infrastructure (RSI) in order to become an integral measure in the monitoring of country’s development. The research aim – to prepare and test a methodology for the assessment of RSI condition in order to ensure the territorial cohesion. The following objectives have been set out: 1) to summarize theoretical aspects of rural social infrastructure development in the context of social territorial cohesion; 2) to prepare a methodology for the assessment of RSI; 3) to reveal inequalities and critical areas of Lithuanian RSI development. The analysis of Lithuanian RSI data revealed differences in RSI development in different rural regions which negatively affect Lithuania’s competitiveness and social territorial cohesion. While the articles notes that there have been some positive changes in the use of investment projects over the last couple of years, it also indicates that management of RSI availability and accessibility with respect to locations and sectors is not optimal.