Mokymosi visą gyvenimą laboratorija / Lifelong Learning Laboratory

Public responses to climate change are influenced by interpretations of scientific information and individual differences. Understanding these factors can improve targeted climate communication. Methods: We conducted a nationally representative survey of Lithuanian adults (N = 1,005; fieldwork 21 June–7 July 2024) to examine (a) distinct profiles of climate-change beliefs, (b) the science attitudes differentiating these profiles, and (c) whether personality traits relate to climate-change attitudes directly and indirectly via science attitudes. Latent profile analysis (LPA) identified belief profiles, binary logistic regression assessed predictors of profile membership, and mediation analyses tested indirect effects through attitudes toward science. Results: LPA using three climate-belief indicators supported a two-class solution among respondents with complete data (n = 930): Lower Endorsement (29.2%) and Higher Endorsement (70.8%). Stronger endorsement of science’s problemsolving capacity, support for unrestricted scientific inquiry, and support for state funding of research significantly increased the odds of belonging to the Higher Endorsement class (n = 652 with complete predictor data). Mediation analyses indicated that science attitudes were positively associated with climate-change attitudes and partially mediated the relationships between conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and climate-change attitudes. Discussion: The findings reveal heterogeneity in climate-change beliefs in Lithuania and suggest that audience segmentation and psychologically informed communication strategies may enhance climate-related science communication.

CEL NAUKOWY: Ukazanie specyfiki współpracy z rodzicami w edukacji przedszkolnej i wczesnoszkolnej w Polsce i na Litwie oraz wyzwań związanych ze zmianą tradycyjnego postrzegania roli rodziców; podkreślenie ich potencjału we wspieraniu rozwoju dziecka, odwołując się do koncepcji partnerstwa i towarzyszenia w rozwoju jako inspiracji do budowania kultury organizacji, w której współpraca jest wartością priorytetową. PROBLEM I METODY BADAWCZE: Problem badawczy dotyczy specyfiki współpracy nauczycieli z rodzicami w edukacji przedszkolnej i wczesnoszkolnej w Polsce i na Litwie. Zastosowano analizę podstaw prawnych, literatury przedmiotu oraz przegląd i interpretację wyników wybranych badań z obu krajów, które zestawiono i poddano krytycznej refleksji w kontekście kultury organizacyjnej. PROCES WYWODU: Ukazano partnerstwo edukacyjne i towarzyszenie w rozwoju jako model współpracy z rodzicami wobec rosnącej złożoności problemów dydaktycznowychowawczych. Analizę osadzono w perspektywie międzynarodowej, odwołując się do wyników PISA (2022), pod-kreślających współpracę z rodzicami jako czynnik różnicujący osiągnięcia i poczucie dobrostanu uczniów. Opisano także podstawy prawne współpracy z rodzicami oraz wybrane badania tej problematyki w obu krajach. WYNIKI ANALIZY NAUKOWEJ: Ukazano rozbieżności między prawnym założeniem partnerstwa a praktyką oraz przykłady partnerstwa warte upowszechnienia. WNIOSKI, REKOMENDACJE I APLIKACYJNE ZNACZENIE WPŁYWU BADAŃ: Wobec rosnących wyzwań dydaktyczno-wychowawczych kluczowe jest pogłębianie refleksji nad uwarunkowaniami współpracy z rodzicami oraz wzmacnianie partnerstwa na wielu płaszczyznach. Oparcie współpracy na koncepcji partnerstwa buduje współodpowiedzialność za jakość edukacji oraz trwałe zmiany w kulturze szkoły/przedszkola. Nadanie relacjom z rodzicami rangi priorytetu od początku edukacji sprzyja ich długofalowemu zaangażowaniu.

The school becomes the very first social institution that migrant children are confronted with in their destination country. Schools are where they spend most of their time outside the home, and there, young migrants encounter the destination country’s culture, societal norms, and values for the first time. Teachers and peers are among the most important agents of socialization in new environments; their attitudes and perceptions can strongly impact migrant children’s school experiences (Popyk 2023). For many years, the majority of migrants (around 82%) were returning Lithuanians, but from 2022, due to the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, a large influx of Ukrainian immigrants has been observed: 7,761 children have arrived in Lithuania since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Thus, local educational systems are facing the daunting task of developing responsive policies and praxis to help incoming students settle and integrate into new environments. This study examined teachers’ educational practices in the context of the schooling of migrant children. To examine teachers’ experiences, a qualitative research methodology was constructed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine teachers in their workplaces. Feeling underprepared to work in culturally diverse classrooms, teachers are willing to develop their intercultural competences and competencies to deal with refugee children suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Without adequate intercultural sensitivity, awareness, and competencies, teachers often merely reproduce discrimination and the othering of migrant children. In this study, teachers shared their perspectives on how to improve their school’s inclusiveness.

The research presents how Russia’s caused war in Ukraine challenged Lithuanian general education system and provided opportunities to build more culturally, linguistically, and psychologically sensitive and supportive schools. The study underscored to need embed multiculturalism and multilingualism as well as trauma-informed courses into teacher training and professional development. The research reveals broader challenges schools in many European countries accepting migrants faced, with particular focus on Lithuania, historically homogenous country that suddenly faced big scale of war affected Ukrainian children and adolescence. It pointed to the need to include intercultural intelligence, inclusive curriculum development and trauma informed teaching into national teacher preparation system to build a resilient and socially coherent society.

By highlighting municipal capacity to cope with adversities, this study raises important questions about how the maturity of digital governance interacts with various resilience strategies and how that interaction influences municipalities' crisis response. Although most of the existing research (Shen et al., 2023; Profiroiu and Nastacă, 2021; Carlsson et al., 2023) reveals that digital transformation serves as a facilitator that enables the transition from recovery resilience to transformative resilience, others (Gangneux and Joss, 2022) argue that the pandemic was a major driver for digital transformation. Thus, this study attempts to reveal the interconnections between digital governance and organizational ability to cope with adversities through their resilience. Using different levels to explore digital maturity, that is, digital consistency, digital adaptation, and digital transformation, and different levels to explore resilience, that is, bounce-back, bounce-forward, and bounce-beyond, we analyze these interconnections to find out whether higher digital governance municipalities demonstrate higher resilience levels and vice versa. Methodology/methods. Systematic literature review and nonparametric structural equation modeling (SEM-PLS) methodology. Results (preliminary). The systematic literature review results allowed us to conclude that digital governance has been pivotal during the pandemic, enabling organizations to continue to function during crises across different contexts. However, we observed that most studies address resilience from a general perspective, such as resilience, capacity to change, or crisis. The same was concluded about digital governance. We found that most articles examining organizational capacity to cope with adversities by enhancing digital governance capacity approached it from a general perspective or used the concept of digital transformation, which in some cases was used to signal separate elements of digitalization instead of true digital transformation. Thus, these findings suggest exploring the municipal capacity to cope with adversity from the perspective of different levels of digital and resiliency maturity. Further, using the data collected from all sixty municipalities in Lithuania, we will explore the interconnectedness amongst different levels of digitalization and resilience, which could provide insights into whether higher levels of digital governance enhance municipal resilience. Originality. In seeking to understand more about the resilience development patterns in municipalities through the different maturity levels of digitalization, we have turned our attention to the interactions that provide more profound knowledge about the development patterns of municipal capacities to cope with adversities through the enablement of digital governance. This project has received funding from the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), agreement No. S-VIS-23-10.

Different Digital Governance maturity models are established; however, limited research has examined their applicability at the local government level, particularly concerning the interrelations among dimensions such as Strategy, Employees, and Processes. Understanding these connections is vital for municipalities striving to enhance resilience through Digital Governance amidst uncertainties. This study aims to develop, justify, and empirically test a Triadic Model capturing the relationships among its dimensions, assessing Digital Governance maturity in local governments during crisis response. To achieve this, a quantitative survey was conducted across all 60 Lithuanian municipalities, and the collected data were analyzed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to validate the factor structure and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the hypothesized relationships among variables and latent constructs. The findings reveal significant interrelations among the model’s dimensions in enhancing municipal resilience. Research proposes a comprehensive framework for assessing Digital Governance maturity at three levels—Digital Consistency, Digital Adaptation, and Digital Transformation—and examines their interactive influence during crises. The results highlight how the dimensions of the Triadic Model collectively reflect municipal responses, emphasizing the importance of an integrated, staged approach to digitalization. This validated framework advances understanding of Digital Governance in local authorities and underscores the relevance of interrelated key dimensions for fostering resilience in uncertain contexts. In addition to model validation, the study also explores practical variations in Digital Governance maturity among Lithuanian municipalities, demonstrating the model’s applicability as a diagnostic tool for local governments.

Climate change poses urgent challenges globally, yet public understanding and trust in climate science are undermined by widespread misinformation. Small countries, such as Lithuania, contribute to climate research and face unique challenges in engaging their citizens with scientific knowledge. In this study, we present a bibliometric analysis of climate-related research outputs from Lithuania (2005–2024) as a basis to inform a more extensive investigation into public attitudes toward science. The growth and orientation of Lithuania’s climate research are contextualized against European and global trends, revealing a rapid expansion in output and increasing integration into international collaboration. We analyze publication trends, topical clusters, co-authorship networks, influential authors, institutions, and journal prominence. Additionally, we conducted a quantitative analysis of projects funded by the Research Council of Lithuania, the main funding body of R&I institutions in Lithuania. Results from both studies indicate that while Lithuania’s climate research strengths lie in technical and environmental domains, there is a gap in social science perspectives. We discuss how this gap can be addressed through targeted communication strategies and public engagement interventions.