The article examines public participation and mechanisms of citizens' involvement in the governance of the electrical energy sector. Three aspects of public engagement are analysed: 1) the participants of this process; 2) the level of engagement; 3) the phase of the governance process during which the public is involved. To provide a comprehensive review of the main characteristics of the governance of the Lithuanian electrical energy sector, a semi-structured interview of experts was carried out. Institutions that formulate and implement governance policies are reviewed, the possibilities of public participation and the potential tools of engagement are analysed. Finally, the mechanisms that create proper conditions for citizens' involvement in the governance of the electrical energy sector (as consumers and active electricity sector participants) are discussed. ; Straipsnyje gvildenamas elektros energetikos sektoriaus viešasis valdymas, ypač daug dėmesio skiriant visuomenės dalyvavimui. Analizuojamas Lietuvos atvejis, skiriant tris piliečių įtraukimo aspektus: 1) dalyvius; 2) piliečių įsitraukimo (dalyvavimo) lygį; 3) valdymo proceso, į kurį visuomenė yra įtraukta, etapą. Siekiama atskleisti visuomenės dalyvavimo Lietuvos elektros energetikos sektoriaus veiklos politiką formuojančių ir įgyvendinančių institucijų veikloje prielaidas, ištirti piliečių įtraukimo galimybes. Taikant kokybinio tyrimo metodus atlikta ekspertų apklausa, leidžianti išsamiau apžvelgti nagrinėjamo reiškinio ypatumus. Straipsnis baigiamas mechanizmų, sudarančių sąlygas piliečiams dalyvauti elektros energetikos valdyme kaip vartotojams bei visuomenės atstovams ir kaip aktyviems sektoriaus dalyviams, aptarimu.
Interest groups play an important role in public policy-making and decision-making in public sector governance. While abroad, interest groups have been extensively analysed by scholars, but the assessment of the influence of interest group activities on public policymaking in Lithuania is insufficient.The problem of the research is that this field has not been thoroughly analysed until now. There is no universally agreed and defined definition about kind of activity of interest group and its influence in Lithuania. Thus, in the context of existing research, there is a need for a deeper insight into the activities of interest groups with a focus on assessing their impact on public governance. The object of this article is interest groups and their activities in the Lithuanian renewable energy (RE) sector.The aim of the research described in this article is to investigate the interest groups acting in the RE sector and the influence of the activities on public policy-making in 2008–2018.Authors, based on the functions of interest groups, distinguish the main principles of their activities: to properly analyse the situation, to express themselves publicly and to communicate with society, to form a positive attitude, which would be accepted by both the interest group and the society. In addition, interest groups communicate directly with government officials, attend public hearings, report on current political issues, and appear in the media.Involvement of interest groups can be defined as the process by which interest groups or their representatives, together with officials, are involved in raising issues of major importance to society, formulating policy, discussing and deciding on issues relevant to the management of the RE sector.It can be argued that although the public policy is formulated and implemented by public authorities during the public governance process, there are various interest parties involved at different stages of the process. They can formally become influential interest groups according to the value of their influence and the relevance of the issue. All interested parties have an opportunity to participate in the process of developing the legal framework, but the proposals of all of them are not considered due to the aspect of renewable energy.There is no unified database in Lithuania, which contains all interest groups acting in Lithuania. Therefore, it is necessary to typologize them. The typology is based on Kaunas University of Technology scientists' group project 2015–2017:Interaction between parties and interest groups: nature, causes, consequences, according to the specifics of the Lithuanian RE sector.In order to investigate the activities of the interest groups, the methods of document analysis and descriptive statistics were applied. Comprehensive data collection and systematisation was carried out on the basis of the Seimas committees' meeting documents, and on the basis of the received analysis data, typology of interest groups and their impact assessment was performed.In order to find out the involvement of interest groups in the public-governance of the ER sector, the analysis of meetings of the Seimas committees and commissions in 2008–2019 was carried out. During the period 2007–2010, issues relevant to the RE sector were discussed. In the documents of meetings invited persons and those who actively made proposals have been highlighted, thus identifying interest groups.In the second stage of research, based on the typology presented in the article earlier, interest groups were categorized by adapting the table accordingly to the interest groups involved in public governance in the RE sector.The third stage identifies the most influential interest groups acting in the public sector of the RE, according to the number (activity) of proposals submitted to the draft laws and accordingly the number of submitted proposals. This is how the percentage of influence was derived.As the results of the research have shown, that interest groups have the greatest influence in the public government process of the RE sector at the stage of public policy making. However, the balancing of interests does not produce the desired results due to insufficient influence of the interest group.By researching the activities of interest groups in the RE sector policy making stage, types of interest groups can be established according to their members' goals, activities, aspirations, and relationships.After research of the Seimas activities in 2008–2018 related to activities in RE policy-making, it can be stated that the public administration organizations and their associations are most active interest groups in submitting amendments to the law. They have submitted 867 proposals during the analysed period. Members of the Seimas have submitted 414 proposals. During the period which was under review, 250 business proposals were submitted by business interest groups and only 28 by public interest groups. ; Interesų grupės vaidina svarbų vaidmenį formuojant viešąją politiką atsinaujinančios energetikos srityje, tačiau ne visos veiklos yra rezultatyvios (pvz., ne visos siūlomos įstatymo pataisos yra priimamos) ir daro įtaką sektoriaus veiklai. Straipsniu siekiama ištirti atsinaujinančios energetikos sektoriuje veikiančias interesų grupes ir jų veiklos įtaką viešosios politikos formavimui 2008–2018 m. Tyrimo metu buvo nagrinėti Seime registruoti teisės aktai bei jų pakeitimai; interesų grupių dalyvavimas Seimo komitetų posėdžiuose; interesų grupių teikiami siūlymai, šių pateiktų siūlymų priėmimo dažnumas. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad aktyviausios teikiant įstatymų pataisas interesų grupės yra viešojo valdymo organizacijos ir jų asociacijos, Seimo nariai ir komitetai, verslo intereso grupės, mažiausiai aktyvios – visuomeninio intereso grupės; didžiausia įtaka išsiskyrė Seimo narių teikiami siūlymai.
Interest groups play an important role in public policy-making and decision-making in public sector governance. While abroad, interest groups have been extensively analysed by scholars, but the assessment of the influence of interest group activities on public policymaking in Lithuania is insufficient. The problem of the research is that this field has not been thoroughly analysed until now. There is no universally agreed and defined definition about kind of activity of interest group and its influence in Lithuania. Thus, in the context of existing research, there is a need for a deeper insight into the activities of interest groups with a focus on assessing their impact on public governance. The object of this article is interest groups and their activities in the Lithuanian renewable energy (RE) sector. The aim of the research described in this article is to investigate the interest groups acting in the RE sector and the influence of the activities on public policy-making in 2008–2018. Authors, based on the functions of interest groups, distinguish the main principles of their activities: to properly analyse the situation, to express themselves publicly and to communicate with society, to form a positive attitude, which would be accepted by both the interest group and the society. In addition, interest groups communicate directly with government officials, attend public hearings, report on current political issues, and appear in the media. Involvement of interest groups can be defined as the process by which interest groups or their representatives, together with officials, are involved in raising issues of major importance to society, formulating policy, discussing and deciding on issues relevant to the management of the RE sector. It can be argued that although the public policy is formulated and implemented by public authorities during the public governance process, there are various interest parties involved at different stages of the process. They can formally become influential interest groups according to the value of their influence and the relevance of the issue. All interested parties have an opportunity to participate in the process of developing the legal framework, but the proposals of all of them are not considered due to the aspect of renewable energy. There is no unified database in Lithuania, which contains all interest groups acting in Lithuania. Therefore, it is necessary to typologize them. The typology is based on Kaunas University of Technology scientists' group project 2015–2017: Interaction between parties and interest groups: nature, causes, consequences, according to the specifics of the Lithuanian RE sector. In order to investigate the activities of the interest groups, the methods of document analysis and descriptive statistics were applied. Comprehensive data collection and systematisation was carried out on the basis of the Seimas committees' meeting documents, and on the basis of the received analysis data, typology of interest groups and their impact assessment was performed. In order to find out the involvement of interest groups in the public-governance of the ER sector, the analysis of meetings of the Seimas committees and commissions in 2008–2019 was carried out. During the period 2007–2010, issues relevant to the RE sector were discussed. In the documents of meetings invited persons and those who actively made proposals have been highlighted, thus identifying interest groups. In the second stage of research, based on the typology presented in the article earlier, interest groups were categorized by adapting the table accordingly to the interest groups involved in public governance in the RE sector. The third stage identifies the most influential interest groups acting in the public sector of the RE, according to the number (activity) of proposals submitted to the draft laws and accordingly the number of submitted proposals. This is how the percentage of influence was derived. As the results of the research have shown, that interest groups have the greatest influence in the public government process of the RE sector at the stage of public policy making. However, the balancing of interests does not produce the desired results due to insufficient influence of the interest group. By researching the activities of interest groups in the RE sector policy making stage, types of interest groups can be established according to their members' goals, activities, aspirations, and relationships. After research of the Seimas activities in 2008– 2018 related to activities in RE policy-making, it can be stated that the public administration organizations and their associations are most active interest groups in submitting amendments to the law. They have submitted 867 proposals during the analysed period. Members of the Seimas have submitted 414 proposals. During the period which was under review, 250 business proposals were submitted by business interest groups and only 28 by public interest groups.
Interest groups play an important role in public policy-making and decision-making in public sector governance. While abroad, interest groups have been extensively analysed by scholars, but the assessment of the influence of interest group activities on public policymaking in Lithuania is insufficient. The problem of the research is that this field has not been thoroughly analysed until now. There is no universally agreed and defined definition about kind of activity of interest group and its influence in Lithuania. Thus, in the context of existing research, there is a need for a deeper insight into the activities of interest groups with a focus on assessing their impact on public governance. The object of this article is interest groups and their activities in the Lithuanian renewable energy (RE) sector. The aim of the research described in this article is to investigate the interest groups acting in the RE sector and the influence of the activities on public policy-making in 2008–2018. Authors, based on the functions of interest groups, distinguish the main principles of their activities: to properly analyse the situation, to express themselves publicly and to communicate with society, to form a positive attitude, which would be accepted by both the interest group and the society. In addition, interest groups communicate directly with government officials, attend public hearings, report on current political issues, and appear in the media. Involvement of interest groups can be defined as the process by which interest groups or their representatives, together with officials, are involved in raising issues of major importance to society, formulating policy, discussing and deciding on issues relevant to the management of the RE sector. It can be argued that although the public policy is formulated and implemented by public authorities during the public governance process, there are various interest parties involved at different stages of the process. They can formally become influential interest groups according to the value of their influence and the relevance of the issue. All interested parties have an opportunity to participate in the process of developing the legal framework, but the proposals of all of them are not considered due to the aspect of renewable energy. There is no unified database in Lithuania, which contains all interest groups acting in Lithuania. Therefore, it is necessary to typologize them. The typology is based on Kaunas University of Technology scientists' group project 2015–2017: Interaction between parties and interest groups: nature, causes, consequences, according to the specifics of the Lithuanian RE sector. In order to investigate the activities of the interest groups, the methods of document analysis and descriptive statistics were applied. Comprehensive data collection and systematisation was carried out on the basis of the Seimas committees' meeting documents, and on the basis of the received analysis data, typology of interest groups and their impact assessment was performed. In order to find out the involvement of interest groups in the public-governance of the ER sector, the analysis of meetings of the Seimas committees and commissions in 2008–2019 was carried out. During the period 2007–2010, issues relevant to the RE sector were discussed. In the documents of meetings invited persons and those who actively made proposals have been highlighted, thus identifying interest groups. In the second stage of research, based on the typology presented in the article earlier, interest groups were categorized by adapting the table accordingly to the interest groups involved in public governance in the RE sector. The third stage identifies the most influential interest groups acting in the public sector of the RE, according to the number (activity) of proposals submitted to the draft laws and accordingly the number of submitted proposals. This is how the percentage of influence was derived. As the results of the research have shown, that interest groups have the greatest influence in the public government process of the RE sector at the stage of public policy making. However, the balancing of interests does not produce the desired results due to insufficient influence of the interest group. By researching the activities of interest groups in the RE sector policy making stage, types of interest groups can be established according to their members' goals, activities, aspirations, and relationships. After research of the Seimas activities in 2008– 2018 related to activities in RE policy-making, it can be stated that the public administration organizations and their associations are most active interest groups in submitting amendments to the law. They have submitted 867 proposals during the analysed period. Members of the Seimas have submitted 414 proposals. During the period which was under review, 250 business proposals were submitted by business interest groups and only 28 by public interest groups.
Effective development of the legal framework promotes the production of energy from renewable energy sources (RES) that provide an alternative to fossil fuel energy and environmental protection. According to these provisions, the article performs content analysis of the Lithuanian RES legal framework and discloses regulatory grounds and barriers to RES development
Sparčiai besikeičiančios socialinės sąlygos ir technologinė plėtra formuoja viešojo sektoriaus valdymo modernizavimo poreikį ir inovatyvių valdymo elementų diegimą, ypač piliečių įtraukimo ir dalyvavimo priimant viešuosius sprendimus, bendradarbiavimo ir kitose srityse. Norint įgyvendinti šiuos valdymo pokyčius, būtinas visuomenės potencialas (žmogiškasis kapitalas), gebantis dalyvauti naujojo viešojo valdymo procesuose. Pažymėtina, kad pastaruoju metu daug dėmesio skiriama žinių visuomenei, apimančiai naujų žinių kūrimą, pritaikymą ir sklaidą, tačiau, norint įgyvendinti naujojo viešojo valdymo principus, būtinas platesnis visuomenės bruožų kontekstas, kurį atspindi sumanios visuomenės koncepcija, siejanti žinių ir pilietinę visuomenę, išryškinanti socialinio ir intelektinio kapitalų, dalyvavimo ir bendradarbiavimo svarbą. Siekiant visuomenę įgalinti, būtina išgryninti dominuojančius viešojo sektoriaus valdymo principus ir nustatyti tokios visuomenės charakteristikas. Tam pasiekti išsikeltas tikslas – išskirti sumanios visuomenės bruožus viešojo valdymo modernizavimo kontekste; numatyti uždaviniai: išnagrinėjus viešojo valdymo raidą ir prielaidas sumaniai visuomenei suformuoti, apžvelgti visuomenės bruožus, būtinus realizuojant naujojo viešojo valdymo principus, bei išnagrinėti tinklaveiką kaip sumanios visuomenės formavimosi elementą.Straipsnyje, naudojant lyginamojo istorinio, literatūros mokslinės analizės, duomenų sisteminimo tyrimų metodus, nustatyta naujojo viešojo valdymo ir sumanios visuomenės sąveika per tinklaveiką. Ši sąveika padeda išgryninti sumanios visuomenės bruožus ir apibrėžti pagrindinius visuomenės įgalinimo principus, apimančius nuolatinį mokymąsi, bendradarbiavimą, bendro tikslo siekimą, efektyvumą, informacijos prieinamumą, dalyvavimą, pilietiškumą, technologinį potencialą.
This article analyses the problems of relationships between Lithuanian municipalities and non-governmental organisations in two Lithuanian municipalities. Aiming to disclose the problems of interaction between Vilnius city and Ukmergė district municipalities and non-governmental organizations, the authors have carried out three surveys based on in-depth interviews and "participatory" research. The article not only proves the insufficient level of social capital at the interaction of municipalities and non-governmental organizations, but also presents the measures to improve it by promoting higher level of interaction, enhancing the potential of non-governmental organisations, and reducing the asymmetrical information, which means uneven and unfair distribution of information from the ruling elite disposing information. In many ways asymmetrical information creates disproportional power relations and increases unnecessary transactional costs. Asymmetrical information was a greaterproblem in Ukmergė district than in Vilnius city.http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.10.1.233
The level of social capital in society is one of the most important elements for the success of state development, which is increasingly emphasized on political agendas. In research, social capital covers a wide range of areas due to the interdisciplinarity of social capital. Still, the dominant components stand out: trust in society, trust in public authorities, involvement in civic activities. While trust in public authorities and trust in other members of society are more often used in research and heard in the media, civic activities often lack such interest. However, it is one of the most effective ways for government decisions to invest most effectively in improving social capital in society. The primary tool for the state to increase public involvement in civic activities is the promotion of voluntary activities, which contributes to the state's sustainable development, and the creation of the welfare state is enshrined in international documents. With this article, the authors seek to examine the peculiarities of Lithuanian volunteering in the context of social capital formation. The aim is to: 1) examine the theoretical assumptions of the impact of volunteering on the formation of social capital; 2) study the expression of social capital and voluntary activity in the context of state performance evaluation indicators; 3) carry out empirical research (expert interview) examining the peculiarities of volunteering in Lithuania. It should be noted that some of the results of the empirical research were used in the report of the applied research "Development of Youth Volunteering in Lithuania" (prepared by the Lithuanian Council of Youth Organizations (LiJOT) project "Strengthening the Participation of the Lithuanian Council of Youth Organizations in Public Management Decision Making"). The development of volunteering and the improvement of social capital indicators are named Lithuania's long-term strategic goals, but the indicators in international indices are low compared to other countries.The analysis of the results of the empirical research allows us to state that: 1) In Lithuania, volunteering is often treated in various ways, e.g., in connection with unpaid work or other activities which are not, in principle, activities carried out of the person's own free will; outstanding long-term and short-term volunteering (up to 6 months); 2) organizers of voluntary activities (usually non-governmental non-profit organizations (NGOs)) lack managerial skills; 3) In recent years, Lithuania has started to develop long-term volunteering programs, which are associated with better social capital formation, and it is expected that this measure will help to improve the quality and indicators of volunteering, especially among young people. ; Straipsnyje analizuojamos savanoriškos veiklos ypatumai socialinio kapitalo formavimo kontekste. Savanorystės vystymas, socialinio kapitalo rodiklių gerinimo siekimas yra įvardinti kaip strateginiai Lietuvos tikslai ilguoju laikotarpiu, tačiau rodikliai tarptautiniuose indeksuose yra žemi, lyginant su kitomis valstybėmis. Atliktas kokybinis tyrimas apklausiant ekspertus, sudarė prielaidas išskirti savanoriškos veiklos vystymo trikdžius (visuomenėje vyraujančios nuostatos, savanoriškos veiklos organizavimo ypatumai ir kt.), pateikti rekomendacijas viešojo valdymo institucijoms.
Civil participation is the main component of effective governance. The topicality of this paper lies in civil participation in decision-making defined by the principles of "new public governance" of the 21st century. This study aims to analyze the impact of civil participation in decision-making on waste management at the municipal level. In this work, the following aspects were considered: theoretical assumptions of civil participation; civil participation in the activities of institutions responsible for environmental protection; issues regarding the development of opportunities of citizens' involvement in municipal waste management. The article is devoted to the theoretical assumptions about civil participation, theoretical model of analysis, and activity of institutions. To develop a theoretical model of analysis, a classification of civil participation was carried out. Among the methods used, one can mention the questionnaire. The analysis was focused on a legal basis for the activity of institutions; the actual activity of institutions and survey of representatives of the national environmental authorities in Lithuania. The results showed that currently there is no mechanism in Lithuania to ensure civil participation in municipal waste management. Civil participation is still formal and limited. Overall, citizens are informed about the decisions made, but they do not participate actively in decision-making. The analysis of civil participation capacity in waste management leads to the conclusion that Lithuania has no single mechanism to ensure civil participation in waste management. To enhance civil participation in decision-making on waste management, it is suggested to set up a council where the representatives of civil population are delegated.
Civil participation is the main component of effective governance. The topicality of this paper lies in civil participation in decision-making defined by the principles of "new public governance" of the 21st century. This study aims to analyze the impact of civil participation in decision-making on waste management at the municipal level. In this work, the following aspects were considered: theoretical assumptions of civil participation; civil participation in the activities of institutions responsible for environmental protection; issues regarding the development of opportunities of citizens' involvement in municipal waste management. The article is devoted to the theoretical assumptions about civil participation, theoretical model of analysis, and activity of institutions. To develop a theoretical model of analysis, a classification of civil participation was carried out. Among the methods used, one can mention the questionnaire. The analysis was focused on a legal basis for the activity of institutions; the actual activity of institutions and survey of representatives of the national environmental authorities in Lithuania. The results showed that currently there is no mechanism in Lithuania to ensure civil participation in municipal waste management. Civil participation is still formal and limited. Overall, citizens are informed about the decisions made, but they do not participate actively in decision-making. The analysis of civil participation capacity in waste management leads to the conclusion that Lithuania has no single mechanism to ensure civil participation in waste management. To enhance civil participation in decision-making on waste management, it is suggested to set up a council where the representatives of civil population are delegated.
The paper presents a study, which describes the current governance model of the electricity sector in Lithuania. Electricity and energy production and distribution is highly regulated worldwide. This is also true in Lithuania, where the electricity sector is highly politically prominent, and policy is highly centralized. There are geopolitical concerns towards Russia, which is an important supplier of electricity, and Lithuania's grid is highly integrated with that of Russia. In addition, Lithuania is a small country dominated by a small number of large state-owned producers and has no regional administrations. Lithuania rhetorically has adopted increased citizen participation as a strategic policy goal. The study investigates how far the rhetorics are followed up by policy planning, implementation, and development of new governance modes. The authors base the study on interviews with 19 experts and regulation analysis. The study found that regulation process is transparent, but this causes lower public interest and consequently lower citizen participation. Existing stakeholder involvement at the policy level is highly arbitrary and favorable to large electricity producers. As production is set to decentralize, this has the potential to overburden the regulatory system and cause conflict between different producers.
Today, when we talk about development, irrespective of the level of the analysed subject – a state, a sphere of economic activity, a region or a company – first of all we think about sustainable development. The following concept of sustainable development has been formed in the global environmental and in economic development forums, and has become the classic definition: it is development that meets the current needs of a society without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This concept is based on three components – environmental, economic and social development. The definition of sustainable development allows for the conclusion that it is a compromise between the environmental, economic and social objectives of a society. It involves a process of transformations when economic advancement is coordinated with environmental, social and cultural changes. On the other hand, it must always be stressed that the main basis for both social and environmental development is economic development. However, the economic objectives should not be maximized without observing the environmental and social limitations. Such limitations shape a reverse effect on the economic development. The social and ecological developments have a similar interrelationship. Sustainable development (SD) is especially relevant when we talk about regional politics, the objective of which is to reduce the differences in economic development between individual states or regions within a country. Where regional politics are ineffective, social tensions grow and this is expressed through the amount of emigration, criminality, higher death-rates, lower birth rates, etc. Besides this, the ecology of the region suffers: water and air pollution increases, and the natural resources are used inefficiently. Therefore, sustainable development in a region can be seen as a critical condition for effective regional policies. In order to better understand the phenomenon of sustainable development and to manage it purposefully, two tasks need to be performed: first, a quantitative assessment of the state of the components for sustainable development at a certain time; and second, their interrelationship needs to be determined. In the general process of development, the main role is played by economic development; therefore, it is important to determine its impact on the other two components of sustainable development and especially on the environment. Economic and social, as well as environmental development, is a complex phenomenon that is expressed by many aspects. The criteria reflecting the development are expressed by different dimensions, besides which their directions of impact can be different, i.e. some of them may be maximizing (the situation improves when the value of the indicator increases), while the others are minimizing (the situation is deteriorating when the value of the indicator increases). Given this contradictory situation, multicriteria methods are best suited for the quantitative assessment of the state of a complex phenomenon, and in recent years these methods have been applied more widely for solving various tasks due to their universality (Ginevičius et al., 2011; Ginevičius & Podvezko, 2012; Mardani et al., 2015; Mardani et al., 2016; Zolfani et al., 2015). This article attempts to analyze how to calculate the indexes of economic and ecological development based on multicriteria methods in a manner that will allow for an analysis of their interrelationships.
Today, when we talk about development, irrespective of the level of the analysed subject – a state, a sphere of economic activity, a region or a company – first of all we think about sustainable development. The following concept of sustainable development has been formed in the global environmental and in economic development forums, and has become the classic definition: it is development that meets the current needs of a society without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This concept is based on three components – environmental, economic and social development. The definition of sustainable development allows for the conclusion that it is a compromise between the environmental, economic and social objectives of a society. It involves a process of transformations when economic advancement is coordinated with environmental, social and cultural changes. On the other hand, it must always be stressed that the main basis for both social and environmental development is economic development. However, the economic objectives should not be maximized without observing the environmental and social limitations. Such limitations shape a reverse effect on the economic development. The social and ecological developments have a similar interrelationship. Sustainable development (SD) is especially relevant when we talk about regional politics, the objective of which is to reduce the differences in economic development between individual states or regions within a country. Where regional politics are ineffective, social tensions grow and this is expressed through the amount of emigration, criminality, higher death-rates, lower birth rates, etc. Besides this, the ecology of the region suffers: water and air pollution increases, and the natural resources are used inefficiently. Therefore, sustainable development in a region can be seen as a critical condition for effective regional policies. In order to better understand the phenomenon of sustainable development and to manage it purposefully, two tasks need to be performed: first, a quantitative assessment of the state of the components for sustainable development at a certain time; and second, their interrelationship needs to be determined. In the general process of development, the main role is played by economic development; therefore, it is important to determine its impact on the other two components of sustainable development and especially on the environment. Economic and social, as well as environmental development, is a complex phenomenon that is expressed by many aspects. The criteria reflecting the development are expressed by different dimensions, besides which their directions of impact can be different, i.e. some of them may be maximizing (the situation improves when the value of the indicator increases), while the others are minimizing (the situation is deteriorating when the value of the indicator increases). Given this contradictory situation, multicriteria methods are best suited for the quantitative assessment of the state of a complex phenomenon, and in recent years these methods have been applied more widely for solving various tasks due to their universality (Ginevičius et al., 2011; Ginevičius & Podvezko, 2012; Mardani et al., 2015; Mardani et al., 2016; Zolfani et al., 2015). This article attempts to analyze how to calculate the indexes of economic and ecological development based on multicriteria methods in a manner that will allow for an analysis of their interrelationships.
