Researches of Department of Region and Urban Studies
Changes and Prospects in the Tourism Sector Following the COVID 19 Pandemic
Head of the research tem: dr. Darius Liutikas
Duration: 2021 11 03 – 2023 09 01
No. 01.2.2-LMT-K-718-05-0057, Research Council Lithuania
Members of the research team: dr. D. Liutikas, dr. D. Burneika, dr. E. Kriaučiūnas, dr. G. Pociūtė – Sereikienė, dr. V. Baranauskienė
Summary:
The aim of the project is to analyse the development potential of the local and inbound tourism sector following the COVID-19 pandemic and to propose innovative forms of tourism activities related to new technologies, services and products. Tourism is one of the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 global pandemic. As the prospects of the tourism sector depend to a large extent on its renewal and innovation, the project participants focus on and focus on these aspects of the sector. In analysing the future prospects of the sector, it is necessary to take into account not only the changed social and health environment, but also the challenges of environmental protection, adaptation to climate change and digitisation. The development and deployment of tourism innovation is impossible without an innovative and creative society, and the project aims to assess not only the positive benefits of innovation but also social threats and risks and to propose measures to manage them.
The study examined the development of Lithuanian inbound and domestic tourism during and after the pandemic period. The impact on the tourism sector was found to be ambiguous and not necessarily negative. In addition to providing an opportunity for some local tourism activities, the pandemic has also provided a stimulus for innovation and change. Analyse state aid and its benefits, which, although very important, as the preliminary results show, have not been adequately distributed among all players in the tourism sector.
Peripheral Regions in Lithuania: Migration and Local Communities
Head of the research tem: dr. Edis Kriaučiūnas
Duration: 2021 09 01 – 2024 03 31
No. S-MIP-21-57, Research Council Lithuania
Members of the research team: dr. E. Kriaučiūnas, dr. D. Burneika, dr. R. Ubarevičienė, dr. V. Baranauskienė
Summary:
The main objective of the study is to investigate and reveal in the context of migration Procesi the importance and impact of communities and their leaders on the socio-economic development of small peripheral regions in Lithuania. The project is implemented by RESEARCHERS from THE LSMC SI Regional and Urban Research Unit without external partners. This is an interdisciplinary study analysing the geographical, social and demographic characteristics of rural development in Lithuania. The ongoing project identified in the first phase the prevalence of peripheral rural regions, the specificities of social, demographic and economic transformation in them, and migration trends. This phase of the study was based on an analysis of the statistics. The project also carries out a qualitative study of local leaders (elders, chairmen of communities) and newcomers, which will identify the views of local actors and possible influence on the development of these territories.
Spatial Differentiation of Adolescent Fertility in Lithuania: Socioeconomic Environment, the Role of Sexual Education and Individual Experiences
Head of the research tem: dr. G. Pociūtė-Sereikienė
Duration: 2017 09 01 – 2019 10 31
No. S-MIP-17-115, Research Council Lithuania
Members of the research team: dr. G. Pociūtė – Sereikienė, V. Tretjakova, dr. Rūta Ubarevičienė, dr. L. Šumskaitė
Summary:
The project addresses the social phenomenon of childbirth under the age of 20. This is associated with many adverse effects, both on the mother and on the baby. Girls who get their first child when they are under the age of 20 often fall out of the education system are less likely to have secondary or higher education and are therefore more likely to experience poor economic conditions. Girls who have been born at a young age are often later included in the group of social risk families. Infants of adolescent mothers have lower weights and higher morbidity, and more often are born dead than infants of older mothers, so an analysis of the situation of premature births is important from both a demographic and social point of view, as well as from the point of view of public health and well-being. The aim of the project is to examine the regional differentiation of childbirth in adolescence, to identify the individual, family, Community and regional socio-economic factors that determine it, and to highlight the role of sexual education. The project looked at regions with high rates of childbirth among adolescents.
Regional Disparities of Welfare in Lithuania
Head of the research tem: dr. V. Daugirdas, dr. D. Burneika
Duration: 2017 – 2018
No. GER-005/2017, Research Council Lithuania
Members of the research team: dr. V. Daugirdas, dr. D. Burneika, dr. E. Kriaučiūnas, prof. J. Mačiulytė, dr. A. Pocius, dr. G. Pociūtė-Sereikienė, dr. G. Ribokas, V. Tretjakova
Summary:
In Lithuania, territorial exclusion is increasing, long-term problem regions are formed, and regional differences in the well-being of the population are emerging. The spread of these territories and the characteristics of the well-being of their inhabitants must be known in order to anticipate the growing imbalances in the territorial development of the country. The aim of the project is to reveal regional differences in prosperity and their causes in Lithuania and to justify measures to reduce these differences. This study will identify Lithuania’s long-term problem regions, the extent of their spread and the nature of the problems prevailing, establish and calculate an index of territorial exclusion of problem regions, assess the changing importance of urban and rural settlements in the settlement system, analyse population demographic, social, socioeconomic structure and trends, assess the characteristics of labour market and distribution of labour resources (working people), assess the territorial differentiation of national unemployment, employment and activity, its dynamics, assess the well-being of young people (aged 15-29), recent trends in rural areas have been analysed, assessing EU support to Lithuanian agriculture and rural communities, trends in land use and land tenure change, their impact on the well-being of the population, and potential threats to the development of the country’s problem regions have been highlighted. An important result of the project was the preparation of recommendations and proposals to public administrations to reduce the social, demographic and economic disparities in the wellbeing of the population.
Growing Urban Regions and Spatial Segregation of Their Residents in Lithuania
Head of the research tem: dr. Donatas Burneika
Duration: 2014 – 2016
No. MIP-086/2014, Research Council Lithuania,
Members of the research team: dr. D. Burneika, R. Ubarevičienė, dr. V. Valatka, dr. G. Pociūtė-Sereikienė, dr. V. Daugirdas, prof. D. Krupickaitė
Summary:
The object of this study is the Augantas regions of Lithuanian cities and the Soca-spatial transformation of their population. The project sought to answer the question of who (from a social, economic and cultural point of view) and where he lives in the three major cities of Lithuania. The urban areas of wool, Kaunas and Klaipėda are much larger than their urban municipalities and their actual boundaries and population structure have changed significantly. These regions are among the “hottest” spatial transformation zones in Lithuania. The former rather homogeneous and even “socialist” city, where spatial segregation of the population was minimal, is largely reformulated in the context of neo-liberal economic policy. Social stratification of society inevitably leads to its spatial segregation. Living conditions in urban areas are increasingly differentiated. This post-Soviet territorial transformation of metropolitan society was the main result of the study presented in a monograph entitled “metropolitan regions of Lithuania: spatial differentiation of the population at the beginning of 21 a”, 2017).