Evaluation of Sustainable Development in Rural Territories in Latgale Region (Latvia) by Using the Conception of Smart Specialization

Abstract

One of the approaches to achieve sustainable development is based on smart specialization. Rural areas are of particular importance in ensuring sustainable development, the smart development of which largely determines the balanced sustainable development of a state as a whole. The present study reflects the quantitative and the qualitative assessment of sustainable development in the region of Latgale (Latvia) on the level of 19 districts; the assessment has been carried out on the basis of the concept of smart specialization. The assessment has been performed within the framework of the project 5.2 of the National Research Programme EKOSOC-LV. The quantitative assessment is based on scientific and practical experience taking into consideration the distinguishing features of the development of Latvian regions and districts, and it has resulted in the establishment of an integrated index (Smart Development Index), which comprises four dimensions ñ Resources, Population, Economy, and Management. The qualitative assessment is based on the views concerning the cornerstones of smart specialization and the factors influencing it expressed by experts from the state administration, business and scientific environment. Expert opinions have been collected by using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. The results of the research might facilitate the understanding of the support measures of smart specialization and the opportunities for sustainable development in rural areas, taking into account the level of the regional socio-economic development and the rate of development, as well as regional differences on the level of districts. The example of Latgale has shown that a small number of people and a low rate of development in most of the region districts simultaneously create both the acute need for and a great challenge in the sphere of sustainable development. By contrast, as a result of both the quantitative and the qualitative assessment the population has been recognised to be the main driving force of the development of rural areas in Latgale region.

Smart Growth as a Tool for Regional Convergence: Evidence from Latgale Region of Latvia

“…Performing a hierarchy analysis, every expert's ratings were processed individually and then summarised, and global priority vector values were calculated for every criterion. The overall indicators allowed constructing an integral vision on the formation and development of a smart territory in Latgale region (Zvirbule et al, 2016;Šipilova et al, 2017b).…”

“…The methodology and some methods of the EU ESPON project were used as well (ESPON, 2013). The new typology was created based on the processes of regional development (Šipilova et al, 2017a, 2017bZvirbule et al, 2016).…”

“…For this reason, researchers in Latvia have increasingly focused on examining a smart specialisation strategy for small rural territories in Latvia (e.g. Zvirbule et al, 2016;Šipilova et al, 2017a, 2017bKreslins and Stefenberga, 2016;Melbarde and Ore, 2016).…”

Research on the Spatial–Temporal Synthetic Measurement of the Coordinated Development of Population-Economy-Society-Resource-Environment (PESRE) Systems in China Based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

“…The conflicts of various elements in human-land systems are becoming more prominent, and the effects of negative feedback are accumulating [2]. Therefore, the issue of how to realize the coordinated development of various elements in human-land systems, or, in other words, how to achieve the of these indexes [22][23][24]. Consequently, a large number of studies have been carried out, and different countries, regions, research institutions, and scholars have proposed and developed their own index systems.…”

Voluntary and Involuntary Career Transitions: A Narrative Study

“…The current economic and social situation in Latvia envisages the possible encounter of individuals with involuntary career transitions that can be quite devastating for those unprepared for such challenges. The presented study was conducted in the economically less developed region of Latvia, i.e., Latgale (Sipilova et al 2017) with the biggest challenge related to the loss of human capital, social problems, weakened private sector (Latgales planosanas regions 2019), that makes the current descriptive study especially urgent and essential.…”