On June 12-13, 2019 the 10th International Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region 2019 “Reduce - Reuse - Rethink” was convened in Gdansk (Poland), attracting over 700 participants of different fields and professions from more than 40 countries. This year Forum was devoted to the hot topic of circular economy and ways to meet recent development challenges in the Baltic Sea region and, at the same time, in the whole world.
In one of the Forum's parallel sessions, researchers from Lithuanian Institute of Agrarian Economics (Further - LAEI), Department of Rural Development Dr. Živilė Gedminaitė-Raudonė and Dr. Rita Vilkė presented the interim results of the international project “LARS - Learning Among Regions on Smart Specialization”, implemented under INTERREG Baltic Sea Region Program.
The report presented by LAEI scientists titled "Agri-business driven innovation for circular economy" received multiple attention from the participants of the Forum due to the unique insights made from the research results in Lithuania using the original methodological basis called „Quadruple Helix Model of Innovation“.
During the Forum, Lithuanian Institute of Agrarian Economics was introduced to the public by presenting major research topics and other activities of the Institute. Possibilities for international cooperation were discussed with number of Forum participants during the „Networking village“ event.
LARS project is implemented together with partners from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Latvia, Germany and Lithuania. The project is coordinated by the Regional Council of Ostrobothnia (Finland) and is implemented in collaboration with 11 science and public sector institutions. Duration of the project: May 25, 2017 - September 30, 2020. At current stage, the following interim results of the LARS project have already been achieved:
- Development and validation of regional innovation system research methodology, based on the Quadruple Helix Model of Innovation;
- International regional specialization survey has been carried out in all seven partner countries according to a unified methodology;
- The results of the implemented research are systematized in the prepared comparative analysis (2019);
- Scientific article “Unused potential for Smart Specialization development through collaboration: Lithuanian case” was prepared exploring the results of the part of the research carried out in Lithuania and approved for publication in impacted journal Agricultural Economics (AGRICECON).
More information on the 10th International Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region 2019 is available at: https://strategyforum2019.eu/.
For more information on the LARS project, please visit the website: http://projects.interreg-baltic.eu/projects/lars-93.html
Project is coordinated in Lithuania and implemented by dr. Živilė Gedminaitė-Raudonė
Tel. (8 5) 261 7978, el.p.zivile.gedminaite@laei.lt;
Alongside the project is implemented by:
Dr. Dalia Vidickienė (8 5) 2613169, el.p. Dalia@laei.lt
Dr. Rita Vilkė (85) 2624156, el.p. Rita.vilke@laei.lt