Klaipėdos universitetas

Economy operates in a broader social system, composed of households and enterprises but also by all institutions created by people. Law and politics is created and introduced in institutions in parallel to educational, administrative activities as well as any other social activities, including those related to the natural environment we live in. These institutions operate thanks to the social capital i.e. interconnected human resources. The quality of the social capital is dependent on mutual trust and relations in the society. For this reason, social capital is of key importance for sustainable development, both as a controller of the impact of the economy on the environment as well as the basis for the future development. The environment evolves continuously, there are rapidly changing economic processes and, in consequence, their impact on the environment is changing rapidly, tool. This brings some specific challenges to the resource and quality of human knowledge and the competence level of the human capital, as the only tool for a possible reduction of all imperfections.

The article analyzes the possibilities of use of innovative methods of instruction for adult learning in the regions with the purpose to intensify the knowledge management system and ensure the principle of equal opportunity for the inhabitants of the regions. The data were acquired in the course of implementation of the national programme Support for Vocational Education with the Aim to Develop Professional Skills and Competences of People Involved in Agriculture and Forestry within the project Vocational Education 2005–2006. The project was being implemented in the time period from 2006 to 2008 inclusive. In the course of project implementation, trainings in 21 regions of the Republic of Latvia had been carried out. All in all, 2,562 people in 119 groups had been trained.

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.

For successful economic transition to the new stage of development improvements in business environment, as also the entrepreneurswho are ready to start your own business and to set up new companies. One of the main challenges the EU Member States face isthe need to boost their level of entrepreneurship and to become more competitive in the global market. That was one of the mainobjectives set by the Lisbon European Council, in March 2000, with a view to improving the Union’s performance in terms of employment,economic reform and social cohesion. Entrepreneurship is not only a driving force in the creation of new jobs, but it alsoincreases and enhances competitiveness and growth, personal fulfilment and the achievement of social objectives. The authors payspecific attention to the need to examine factors that affect the business environment development and entrepreneurship in regions ofLatvia, which determinethe complexity of the existing conditions and factors in each region in Latvia.

Author analyzed the ways of overcoming the negative tendency to the degradation of the human capital in the provincial regions of Russia and other countries of the Eastern Europe. It’s shown that the important role in the processes of solving the problem should be played by the technical universities, situated in the small towns of the region. The development of the universities should be carried on according to the specific strategy, which’s goal is a training of the qualified specialists, and to take as the students the local young people, which are going to live and get a job in the region in future. There are also presented a set of requirements for this kind of the strategy, which are based on the idea of the institutional projecting of the University Technopolis.

We are living in world of dynamic changes, and transformations of global systems and the environment around us leave an impact

Innovation and entrepreneurship in regions is one of essential tools, in added value creation in economics and in development in national level. It is very important to encourage creativity, new ways of thinking and continuous process of learning of individuals. There are some different approaches how to measure competitiveness of state economy and competitiveness in regional level. Global Competitiveness Index shows competitiveness of state among other world economies based on the 12 pillars of competitiveness, which is difficult to apply in regional or entrepreneurial level due to lack of data at regional level. Innovation is a key factor for development and competitiveness in individual (individual, enterprise) and institutional (local governmental institutions, regional, national and global level. Scientific problem of article is that impact of creativity, knowledge creation and dissemination and cooperation could not be measured trough quantitative data. Aim of the article is to define support model for cooperation of individual – institutional level in innovative entrepreneurship and its impact on regional development. Methods ar analysis of scientific literature, and political planning documents for define of support model in dynamic external environment.

Innovation and an innovative approach in management, education and leadership have been changing over decades, according to the dynamic world we are living in. Changes start at an individual level, with the personality, and only those who have changed themselves can start to lead others towards global change. The Latvian National Development Plan defined aspects of polycentric development for all the regions of Latvia. Each region has resources, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, but human resources are the most important resource for change, creative ideas and sustainable development. The education system changes very slowly, from lecture learning to a more inclusive ‘learning by doing’ approach. This approach has been used in northern countries for a while, but Latvia has just now started to implement the approach. The term ‘innovation’ today is wider than product, process, service or organisational innovation. At a national and regional level of development, it is crucial to encourage inhabitants of the region to stay in or return to rural areas, and create knowledge and enterprises in the region and their home town.The aim of the paper is to evaluate the involvement of residents in management activities and regional development processes, and their willingness to participate in the creation of knowledge and innovative entrepreneurship and co-creation. The paper is a review of literature on theoretical aspects of the creation of innovation in the region in a combination of survey analyses of residents. The methodological approach is based on two steps: a review of research literature, and an analysis of the results of a survey of residents of the region of their willingness to be involved in processes and tasks for regional development, and some aspects of analysis of entrepreneur opinion about innovative solutions in their companies. The article consists of four main parts: 1) the theoretical findings of a systemic approach to innovation and development; 2) the role of the innovation process in development from different perspectives; 3) an analysis of a survey of the region’s residents about their willingness to be involved in processes of regional development; 4) aspects of innovation used in regional entrepreneurship. The significance of the paper is to define aspects of regional development relating to innovation and co-creation.

The self-evaluation of health in Latvia has recently gained a special awareness, due to the financing for health being among the lowest in the European Union. Latvia has recently faced various difficulties, such as problems paying the salaries of medical personnel, and medical personnel emigrating to work in other countries.The aim of the study is to analyse the self-evaluation of health by inhabitants in the regions of Latvia.Research methods used in the preparation of this paper: the analysis of scientific publications and results of previously conducted research; the analysis of the results of a survey on household income and expenses conducted by the EU-SILC and the European Central Bank, compared with the results from other EU countries. The results of the survey are analysed using descriptive statistics indicators and cross-tabulations for the regions of Latvia. For areas, urban-rural living and ANOVA analysis of variance are used. To analyse self-evaluations by regions, the correlation of the relationship between health self-evaluation and educational level is used. The results of the analysis indicate that the situation of the regions of Latvia in the context of health self-evaluation is very different, and that there are very big demands on decision makers to find the best possible solution.