Book Citation Index - Science (Web of Science)

This chapter presents an overview of the general Social Enterprise (SE) context in the country, analysing factors that shaped SE development, and discusses three main models of social enterprise in Lithuania, namely work-integration social enterprises, social-business organisations and entrepreneurial non-profit organisations, and their links to the EMES indicators. The Lithuanian Law on Social Enterprises was adopted in 2004 and amended in 2011. In 2019, new initiatives were launched with a view to legally defining and promoting the notions of “social business” and “social enterprise”. The aim of Work-Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) is the reintegration into work of excluded persons belonging to specific target groups, through production or service-provision activities. The leading players promoting WISEs are business-sector companies. Social-business organisations are businesses in which the social mission is the most important mission, and the main aim is to find solutions for social problems in society.

This chapter provides information about the earlier issues by presenting a cross-case analysis of rural social enterprises from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Social enterprises seek to produce goods and services with a social or environmental purpose, and they pursue the general interest of local communities, people and/or social groups. The orientation towards the public good does not imply that social enterprises do not undertake strategies to achieve economic and financial efficiency; on the contrary, they must constantly create economic value to guarantee their survival over time. The successful operation of rural social enterprises is highly dependent on their relationships with their stakeholders. Many interest groups can indeed be involved in social enterprises; they can be divided into external stakeholders and internal stakeholders. Rural emigration and migration to cities is a major issue in the three countries, following the economic and social changes of the 1990s.

This chapter focuses on experiences of incoming short-term exchange students at a Lithuanian university. Combining data from focus group discussions and a student feedback survey, we focus on motivations to undertake short-term international mobility, reasons for choosing Lithuania, social integration during mobility, and perceived gains. Survey data showed that general motives like new experiences, living in a foreign country, and getting to know a new culture prevailed over academic or professional motives. The possibility to study in English was among the key motives for choosing Lithuania as a destination country, whereas interest in Lithuanian language was minor, and focus group data revealed that pre-arrival knowledge about the country was scarce. Overall, focus group participants reflected positively on their mobility experiences. However, social and academic integration was mainly restricted to the international student community.

The purpose of the edited collection “Families in Economically Hard Times: Experiences and Coping Strategies in Europe” is to provide readers with novel and unique sociological knowledge on European families’ experiences and behavioural strategies decade after economic crisis at the beginning of 21st century. Particular importance of the topic conditioned by new reality in which last economic crisis went. It much diverged from previous, new phenomena emerge, and already known coping strategies not necessary work. Prominent scholars from Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, and Switzerland, and the United Kingdom joined efforts and, based on their latest researches, seek to answer the questions: how challenges emerged during recent economically hard times influenced way of life of European families? Which known and unusual behaviour strategies are specific to families of various structures in solving vital issues caused by the latest economic crises? Novel empirical findings, holistic approach towards explored experiences and strategies, as well, international dimension constitute the main benefits of the book. Hardships, functional solidarity, and issues of vital human needs, including practices of co-residence, sharing of money, food acquisition explored in the main nine chapters. Some investigations conducted at national level, whereas other – at international level. Quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, as well, international comparative dimension applied. Authors hope that this new volume will find place on worktable of scientists, teachers, students, specialists and others who work or just would like to know more on families in economically hard times. International perspective presented in the book let to suppose worldwide interest in it.

Co-creation can be defined as the involvement of citizens in the initiation and/or the design process of public services in order to (co)create beneficial outcomes and value for society. Mediated public open spaces are ideal environments for co-creation to emerge due to the involvement of the community and ICT in the knowledge creation. The aims of the research presented in the chapter are two-fold: to conduct a mapping activity in order to collect the insights on civic technologies promoting the creation of open public spaces through the use of ICT and to define the critical dimensions in designing cocreative ecosystems. The mapping strategy was conducted by evaluating the civic technologies in Lithuania and Bulgaria. The insights from the empirical exercise allow to draw managerial and organizational recommendations for strengthening the collective efforts of citizens, IT developers, public and governmental institutions in creating open, inclusive and reflective open public spaces.

Fire is an important element of earth system. It is considered a “global herbivore”, a force of nature that shaped the ecosystems and made us “humans” and survive until today. Despite this, nowadays the society understands fire as an evil with extremely negative impacos on the ecosystems. Fire has an important ecological agent, however, can induce soil degradation, especially after high severity fires and recurrent fires. The current sate of our forests, management strategies (e.g. fire suppression, monocultures plantations) and the increasing severity and length of drought spells as consequence of climate change. These unwanted high severity and recurrent fires have detrimental impacts on soil properties and induce a long term degradation (e.g reduction of soil fertility and erosion rates increase). Post-fire restoration is a common practice to reduce erosion rates, nevertheless, these should only be applied in areas affected by high severity fires, since normally, in areas burned at low to moderate fire severity, and vegetation recovers fast. In this chapter we will review the impacts of fire on soil properties and the post-fire restoration strategies used.

An issue of interrelation between support sharing and available to individual personal network ready to be involved in that, are of particular importance in economically hard times. It especially concerns youth and members of their families who just started creation of their personal and family networks. In the research presented in this chapter, we mainly ask: which family practices build personal networks that are ready to share with resources and provide help to each other? In order to give comprehensive image of interplay among support sharing, personal networks and family practices, we analyse three-fold research objects: (1) sharing of help and support in the context of problematic situations, (2) personal and family networks in the contexts of sharing of help and support, (3) family practices that create personal networks ready to share with help and support in problematic situations. The aim of the research is to explore interrelations among support sharing, personal networks and family practices in the period of latest economic crisis and in a short period after it in Lithuania. In order to achieve the research aim, the following research hypotheses formulated: H1: A type of help and support directly related to the problematic situation to which certain help and support provided. That is, in financially difficult situation financial support is provided, in emotional stress emotional / psychological support provided, and so on. H2: Once institution of the family goes through pluralization, more persons from the extended family and beyond the family are involved actively into the process of help and support provision, despite of problematic situation. H3: Different family practices create personal networks ready to provide certain type of help and support only. The test of the hypotheses is based on empirical data of the national representative quantitative survey carried out in Lithuania between November, 2011 – January, 2012, i.e. few years after the global economic crisis. The sample cover 2000 respondents who represent habitants of Lithuania, as well, four selected for survey birth cohorts: 1950-1955, 1960-1965, 1970-1975, and 1980-1985.