...European Union – Yes or No For now we have been member of the EU about 11 years. During that time have come out good sides and some bad sides of this membership. For small country like Estonia is quite important to belong into some union. Mostly because of our safety. Our neighbor is not very kind one – Russia. And for that we are member in NATO. I think that belonging into EU is best option for us in economic terms. We are too small to be completely independent and free. We do not have special mineral resource like Norway or specific service like Switzerland has its bank services. To them these values give freedom to be independent. For my opinion till now we have got more from EU than we have to have to pay. Our agriculture is much better shape at the moment than it would be if we are not in EU. Estonia has got agricultural support a lot and it has improved our agricultural life a lot. I have seen several village centers build up with help of PRIAs support money. Thanks to that village people has places to gather together. The other big thing is that our borders in EU are open now. It promotes easier travelling which improves our tourism. And as well – it helps to go to work to our member country. As well known – in Finland work about 60 thousand Estonians. It is quite big amount. And not very good to Estonia – our country life is not so active anymore because there is no work and because of that younger people goes to cities or foreign countries. Prices increase as...
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...Culture Directorate C: Lifelong learning: higher education and international affairs European Institute of Innovation and Technology; economic partnership Public open tender EAC/37/2009: CONTENTS CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Scope of report Introduction to UBC Elements in the UBC Ecosystem 5 5 5 5 AIMS & METHODOLOGY Introduction Objective Process for selection Basis for selection Countries considered in the selection of the cases Case study partners 7 7 7 7 8 8 9 CASE STUDIES Case study key insights Classification of countries Nature of case study Case study quick-find 10 10 12 12 13 NORTHERN Europe Case 1: SEA, Denmark Case 2: ETM, Estonia Case 3: Demola, Finland Case 4: REAP, Ireland Case 5: Mobility at UL, Latvia Case 6: CSE, Sweden Case 7: SMIL, Sweden Case 8: SPEED, UK Case 9: IDI/Digital City, UK Case 10: Acua Limited, UK 18 19 25 30 35 41 46 52 57 63 70 76 80 84 90 96 EASTERN EUROPE Case 11: GIS, Bulgaria Case 12: TTO Pécs, Hungary Case 13: The Science and Economy Project, Poland Case 14: WCTT, Poland Case 15: Q-PlanNet, Romania 75 1 © Science-to-Business Marketing Research Centre CONTENTS SOUTHERN EUROPE Case 16: MUHC, Malta Case 17: PNICube, Italy Case 18: TTO Milano, Italy Case 19: InnoCash, Spain Case 20: INNOVA, Spain Case 21: INNPACTO, Spain 102 103 108 113 117 122 127 133 140 145 150 155 160 167 173 178 WESTERN EUROPE Case 22: Science Fit, Austria Case 23: FFG, Austria Case 24: TTI, Belgium Case 25:...
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...The Baltic Sea is surrounded by nine countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Covering 103,000 square kilometers (40,000 square miles), it receives runoff from a massive area covering about 1.6 million square kilometers (630,000 square miles) and containing more than 70 million people. Approximately 15% of the world's industrial production occurs in the sea's basin. The Baltic Sea was a relatively clean body of water before the mid-1960s. Today it is one of the most polluted surface waters in the world. A wide assortment of pollutants sully its waters. They come from factories, sewage treatment plants, agriculture, forestry, and shipping. The Baltic Sea is extremely vulnerable to pollution for other reasons as well. First, its waters tend to stratify Freshwater flowing into the sea from its many tributaries mixes incompletely with the saltwater, forming an upper layer with a slightly lower salt content. The saltier bottom layer is heavier. This stratification tends to reduce exchange between the layers, which results in extremely low oxygen levels in deeper waters. Any factors such as pollution that lower oxygen levels further can have a devastating effect on bottom-dwelling and deep-water sea life. Second, the Baltic's connection with the North Sea is a narrow channel, so it takes about 50 years for the Baltic...
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...In order to develop an analysis concerning a job, we have chosen the most popular method to collect information : interview. The interview took place on the 22nd September and was an individual meeting with the members of our group, during which the respondent was questioned about her job caracteristics. We choosed an informal place where to meet, in order to relax in an enjoyable environment, suitable for semi-formal interview. We had already prepared some questions to ask and we got the answers which helped us building this job analysis. It was a quite smooth and clear conversation and we did not face any surprise during the oral survey. Our respondent , whose name isBulestone, left us her phone number, on which we are able to contact her in case of unexpected uncertainty - 000000000. The company that employs Ms. Bulestone is ------. This is a company that aims at making safer, cheaper and faster the transportation of goods in the current market. They import and export products all over Europe, especially in eastern Europe and Scandinavia. They always work in compliance with the requirements of a customer. After having descovered his needs, they choose the most adapted vehicle, appoint optimal freight transportation variant and routes, solve the problems arised in the course of transporting freight „from-door-to-door“. Job identification. Our interviewee, Lizza Bulestone is working as a accountant for the company, ltd. Dilisas in the Financial Section....
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...Study 5 Economic Turmoil in Latvia September 11, 2014 General Description and Central Issue of the Case The Republic Latvia is a country of 24,938 square miles on the Baltic Sea, with 310 miles of shoreline. The country shares borders with Lithuania, Belarus, Estonia, and Russia. Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus are three Baltic States that gained independence after the fall of the Soviet Union (Hill, 2013). Latvia declared independence on May 4, 1990. The population of Latvia is 2,165,165 with an ethnic makeup of Latvian 61.1%, Russian 26.2%, Belarusian 3.5%, Ukrainian 2.3%, Polish 2.2%, Lithuanian 1.3%, other 3.4% (CIA, 2014). Natural resources include peat, limestone, dolomite, amber, hydropower, timber, and arable land. Latvia is often too wet and in need of constant drainage. Approximately 3,953,686 acres of farmland or 85% of Latvia has been improved by drainage for agriculture. Latvia’s primary agricultural products are grain, rapeseed, potatoes, vegetable, pork, poultry, milk, eggs, and fish. Industry includes processed foods, processed wood products, textiles, processed metals, pharmaceuticals, railroad cars, synthetic fibers, and electronics (CIA, 2014). The labor force sector that makes up Latvia’s GDP composition is 4.9% agriculture, 25.7% industry, and 69.4% services. Taxes make up 35.9% of Latvia’s GDP, with a public debt of 39.2%. The unemployment rate is 9.8%, and the industrial growth rate is 4.2%. Latvia has 10.9 billion in revenue and...
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...Effective Logistics Is an Essential Factor Affecting the Finnish Economy One of the general trends of the transport and logistics sector is the growing demand for mobility. In the EU area transport has a total expenditure of around 1000 billion euros, generating over 10 % of the Union’s GDP. It is also a very vital issue for Finland’s economy. The following brief article illustrates logistics questions from the Finnish point of view and gives some examples of the current logistics R&D activities of VTT, the Technical Research Centre of Finland. Photo: VTT Remote position cReates challenges foR the value chain in finland Because of Finland’s geographical location, maritime transport is vital to the Finnish economy. Maritime transport is by far the most important form of transport in the Finnish export trade. The Baltic Sea provides a transportation route that connects Finland with other parts of Europe, our most important market. About 70 % of Finnish imports and about 90 % of Finnish exports use seaborne transport. Thus it is vital for the Finnish economy to find sound and reliable solutions for yearround service. Here the winter provides challenges for Finnish society due to the fact that our coast-line is ice covered for several months every year. Competitiveness in logistics is an important factor for us, and all means to improve our effectiveness are vital. The high price of oil is also significantly affecting the profit margins of the transport sector. geneRal dRiveRs...
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...Ksenija Tihomirova November 29th, 2015 Professor Alp Tuncaci Politics of Russia and EE 01:790:381 Article Reaction #2 The article that I chose to respond to for the November reaction paper assignment was published online on the Washington Free Beacon website on November 4th, 2015 and was gathered by Daniel Wiser. Being a relatively new editorial, this piece of writing tends to grasp and touch upon recent events sprouting around Russia and the influence it aspires on the global spectrum. One of these events, a matter to be more precise, is concerning the Russian mass media and the role it plays in certain parts of the world, specifically the Eastern Europe; hence the name of the article- “Russia’s Propaganda Creating ‘Separate Reality’ in Eastern Europe”. Mass media, as we might have experienced and noticed that already, has a tendency to be biased towards one or another sphere of authority. The aforesaid tabloid, therefore, suggests that Russia’s publicity in the near West (Eastern Europe that is) is not just predisposed to pro-Russian news, but is actually forcing, to a certain extent, all the proRussian activities and procedures to the ethnic Russian minorities living in that area. That being the case, the article argues just how through “the weaponization of information, the Kremlin uses news and analysis as a means of provoking strong negative emotions, potentially leading to hatred, incitement and, ultimately, the justification of violence” (Wiser)...
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...RESEARCH FINDINGS (SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS/DETAILS OF EMERGING TREND[S] OF THE IDENTIFIED COUNTRY MARKET) References: http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal/analysis/tab TOP FIVE CONSUMER TRENDS Consumers remain optimistic about their financial futures In recent years Latvian consumers have come back from several challenges. As noted in a recent article in the Financial Times, “The Baltic state of Latvia endured a harsh recession following the global financial crisis, with 25% pay cuts in the public sector and an exodus of young workers to friendlier economic climates. However, tough austerity measures meant its economy was one of the first in Europe to bounce back”. Consumer confidence wavered slightly in late 2013 due to uncertainty about transition to the Euro. But the changeover in early 2014 worked relatively well, with little immediate price or inflation rises and, as a result, optimism returned. According to a recent study of consumers and households by the Swedbank Institute of Private Finance, 37% of Latvians believe that there were no significant changes to their family budgets in 2014; 30% believe that their financial situations improved; and 30% believed their financial situations got worse. Compared to 2013 results, Latvians were clearly more optimistic. At the same time, the same study identified consumers’ primary concerns over the coming short term. These included rising electricity costs (cited by 72% of respondents), rising food costs (57% of respondents) and...
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...Latvia: Education and Women’s Rights Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, which is bordered to the north by Estonia and to the south Lithuania. Latvia is the size of the state of West Virginia with a population of 2.3 million people, with 49% living in urban areas, 38% living in rural areas and the last 13% living in intermediate areas. Latvia has a republic political system and the lives of those living are struggling to make ends meet. Although Latvia is struggling with their depopulating state there are still many who claim Latvia as their home. Many battles are faced, many lives are lost, but through it all Latvia is still standing. Many people have faced inequalities daily, discrimination, while others suffer and have suffered by living poor lifestyles within and around the poverty line. Through it all Latvia is still standing and slowly gaining back their economic efficiency. The age and sex distribution is very clear that women live longer than men and there are way more women in Latvia than men as well. Looking up the ratio of women to men in Latvia, I found a chart that has exactly what I was looking for. It is a chart from 2010 that has the number of women compared to the number of men by age. The age starts from 0-4 years old and goes all the way up to 80+. With this graph I noticed that there are more men in between the ages 15-29. I was a little shocked to see that there are more men than women in their early teenage to mid adulthood...
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...Baltic Energy Forum for Students 2012 Cooperation of the Baltic companies to get along with regulations of the EU [Sélectionnez la date] Prepared by Vytautas Magnus University students: Povilas Brilius Žygintas Dovydėnas Karolina Mališauskaitė Table of contents Introduction 3 Key aspects of the Baltic States’ energy companies 3 Common situation 5 Context of the European Union 7 Conclusions and recommendations 8 References 9 Introduction Recent events in global and local spheres are important to Baltic States’ energy economics. Among those are a) late collaboration initiatives between Baltic States’ governments to endorse regional projects in order to get connected into the EU energy network b) new EU regulatory frameworks, in particular applying to Baltic States energy markets situation c) the declining EU position in terms of energy sector competitiveness. These facts require deeper and more thorough investigation into Baltic energy market players and their abilities to meet demands of changing environment. Authors of this short paper seek to...
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...As NATO continues to expand, Russia sees little cause for joy Nowadays, NATO is in the middle of a confused debate about its identity and role. In particularly about how it will affect relations with Russia, the security of Ukraine and the Baltic States, and the peaceful integration of Ukraine into Europe. More and more voices are being raised in the United States against this policy and therefore my claim is: NATO must not expand any further towards Eastern Europe. NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The fundamental role of NATO is to ensure the freedom and security of its member countries. It is one of the foundations on which the stability and security of the Euro-Atlantic area depends and it serves as an essential forum for consultations on matters affecting the security interests of all its members. Its first task is to defend against any threat of aggression. Russia has a very clear opinion on this debate. In the first place, NATO expansion is seen as a betrayal of unrealised promises made by the West in 1990-1991, and also as a sign that the West regards Russia not as an ally, but as a defeated enemy. Russians point out that Moscow agreed to withdraw troops from the former East Germany after NATO promised not to station its troops there. But now NATO has crossed over eastern Germany and ended up 500 miles closer to Russia, in Poland. In the second place, Russians fear that the inclusion of the Baltic States and Ukraine within NATO, will ultimately...
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...‚Knygnesys‘ was directed by Jonas Trukanas in 2011, although it represents Lithuania in the end of the nineteenth century as a part of the Russian Empire. Some viewers may notice only the mirroring of the colorful life of 19th century Lithuanian countryside, and the picture, what Jurgis experiences when he meets a book smuggler. But in my opinion, this kind of view is absolutely not racional. Nonetheless, to my mind ‚Knygnesys‘ is a short biography movie, which has a clear patriotic purpose, that is to teach Lithuanians the importance of the book and the written language. Firstly, movie makers show how hard it was back in 1869 to spread the Lithuanian books under the tsarist regime. Relationships, patriotism, loving your own language – these are the essential characteristics, which are clearly emphasized in the movie. On one hand, people were different back then, but of course, the youth of nowadays should be tought these positive stereotypes. Acting as the non-confrontational books smugglers, tolerant Lithuanian neighbourhood is quite respectable. Secondly, it is also a film about antagonistic Russian regime that was pugnacious, impetuous and absolutely not tolerant to this little neighbourhood country, which was called Lithuania. Despite of the ‚costume drama‘, those Russian gendarmes provide corny storylines, which in my opinion is well documented, because that is exactly how they used to behave in the Lithuanian countryside. Speaking about important messages to young people...
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...Latvia, a country of 2.5 million people, is one of the three Baltic states that gained independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union. For most of the 2000s, the economic story in Latvia has been one of rapid economic growth powered by a vibrant private sector. The country joined the European Union in 2004 and pegged its currency, the lat, to the value of the euro. The eventual goal for Latvia was to adopt the euro. To maintain parity against the euro, Latvia used a variation of a system known as a currency board, where local currency in circulation is backed, unit for unit, by re- serves of foreign currency, which in Latvia’s case was primarily the euro. From 2006 onward repeated warnings indicated the Latvian economy might be overheating. Increasingly, an economic boom was being sustained by inflows of foreign money into Latvian banks, particularly from Russia. For their part, the banks were using these funds to finance aggressive lending, including leading to an increasingly frothy property market, with prices being bid up by borrowers who could get access to cheap credit. Critics urged the government to rein in the lending by raising interest rates, but to no avail. What the government failed to do, the market ultimately did anyway. The boom started to unravel in 2008 as a global economic crisis that began with overvaluation in the U.S. property market rolled around the world. For Latvia, the trouble began when the nation’s largest private bank, Parex, revealed it was...
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...Latvia: Navigating the Strait of Messina | | Introduction This report indicates the history of Latvia country and the transition period of independency and the shifting to market economy. The country growth was very fast until 2008. In December 2008, facing the possibility of financial collapse and a currency crisis, they asked for a rescue and they received a $10.5 billion package funded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, EU, and several countries in the region. After that, it talks about the possibility that could help Latvia to restore a sustainable growth. Which are either Devalue the national currency or maintain the peg and attempt an “internal devaluation”. Executive Summary 1. To study economic adjustment under a fixed exchange rate system 1. Explore the meaning of a "sudden stop" in capital flows and causes of Latvia's economic boom and busts. 2. Assess the tradeoffs involved in internal and external devaluation in the Eurozone. 3. Consider historical, political, economic, and other factors that influenced Latvia's policy decisions and their outcomes. 4. Predict the long-term impact of Latvia's policy decisions during the crisis. Contents Introduction 1 Executive Summary 2 Analysis 4 Analysis 1) Historical, political, economic, and other factors that influenced Latvia's policy decisions and their outcomes (Learning objective# 5) | 2) Problems and the crisis and its causes...
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...Tolerance and Diversity Janne Susi In today’s world, the coexistence of different cultures is one of the most vital developments. Furthermore, the principles of tolerance and peaceful coexistence of different nations have often been underlined by the representatives of the European Union. The same ideas have lately been spreading in the Baltic countries. So, what are the main dangers to the tolerance and friendly coexistence in these countries? There are several phenomena which counteract the successful coexistence and integration of people from different cultural backgrounds. First and foremost, both coexistence and integration require a high level of tolerance from all those involved. Here, the major obstacle is often xenophobia which may be caused by a wide range of factors. As a rule, xenophobia occurs in big, mostly mono-cultural societies, where strangers are kept at a distance just because they have not been seen around before. On the other hand, xenophobia can result from the hyper-liberal immigration policy in some modern countries. For example France and Sweden which have warmly welcomed a huge amount of immigrants form Asia and Africa during the recent decades. However, instead of striving to integrate with the local population by learning their language and getting to know their culture, they form their own closed community which do not communicate with the indigenous population. What is more, they keep on following the laws of their native land...
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