Suchergebnisse

Research problem: the paper deals with the following problem questions: In which EU documents and how is the policy of promoting social innovation emphasised? How is the policy of promoting social innovation implemented in the EU? Research subject: EU social innovation promotion policy and its implementation.Research aim: to analyse EU social innovation promoting policy and its implementation.Research methods: Content analysis and generalisation of EU strategic documents, legislation and information materials, case studies of implementation of social innovation.In the European Union, innovation promoting policy is developed through strategic and legal regulation documents adopted in EU institutions. Investments into fundamental research dominate, the importance of application of innovations for the growth of the economy of the country is emphasised, and a broad concept of innovations is applied, encompassing the implementation of innovations in business and public sector. However, innovation promoting policy and its implementation seldom put an emphasis on social innovations as an important part of the general system of innovations; the place and the importance of social innovations for the social environment of the society are given insufficient attention.According to the newest understanding of the European Commission, social innovation is new ideas that meet social needs, create new social relationships and develop new forms of collaboration. These innovations can be products, services or models, which meet unsatisfied social needs in a more efficient way. Social innovation is a means integrating various interested parties for the realisation of social needs. Such understanding of social innovations is closely linked with other concepts, oriented towards meeting social needs, such as social company, social entrepreneurship, social economics, and social policy experimentation.Social innovations are based on the ingenuity of the population, civic society organisations, local communities, institutions and companies. They also offer an opportunity for the public sector and all participants of the market to ensure that products and services correspond not only to the individual but also to collective aspirations. Stimulating innovation, entrepreneurship and knowledge society are the main EU policy directions in "Europe 2020" strategy. Social innovations differ from other innovations in that their main aim is to create social change. In comparison with the general concept of innovation, social innovations have an additional motive, which is social mission and social values.The authors of social innovations can come from all layers of society, from public or private sector or from non-governmental organisations. Most often the most valuable sources of new ideas come from collaboration of different sectors. Various groups can make valuable contributions to social innovations: these are businessmen, experts, politicians, representatives of communities and civic society. They can act on different levels: from new ideas and pilot projects to implement them to the formation of the new policy.Social innovations play a major role in EU cohesion policy. The topics of these innovations are oriented towards thematic targets in the five spheres of investment policy: 1) research and development, 2) employment, 3) education, 4) social policy, 5) strengthening administrative abilities.For the implementation of the model initiative "Innovation Union" of "Europe 2020" strategy, the European Commission has adopted a programme consisting of 10 measures. Group 9 of the mentioned measures emphasises the importance of social innovations. It is pointed out that the public sector has to improve the implementation of innovations in order to meet the expectations of the users of public services in a better way.In Europe, there are various examples of different social innovations: heart diseases prevention programmes meant for the whole society; social services to help lonely old-age people provided through the networks of neighbours; ecologic maps of cities that provide information for the local communities about the progress in decreasing pollution; ethical banks, which provide financial products in order to increase social benefits of innovations, etc. There are a lot of good ideas; however, the impact of social innovations is still insufficient. It is necessary to encourage experimenting. It is necessary to develop and disseminate new innovation creation and implementation methods that are superior to the existing practices. For that we need competent intermediaries, efficient incentives and networks, which would speed up and facilitate learning. There are such infrastructures all over Europe in the sphere of business innovations; however, their correspondent structures in the sphere of social innovations are insufficient. More exact methods of innovation evaluation are necessary, too.A bulletin of the outcomes of EU innovation implementation published by the European Commission in 2017 shows that the outcomes have improved for 15 countries, although there are major differences among these member states. In global terms, the EU is catching up with Canada and the USA, however, South Korea and Japan are ahead of it. Among foreign competitors, the most rapid progress is made by China. Within the EU, the leader of innovations is Sweden, followed by Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, the UK and Germany. Lithuania is ascribed to the average innovators group; nevertheless, Lithuania is the most rapidly developing innovator. Lithuania moved from the 24th place in 2010 up to the 16th place in 2016 among the 28 EU member states. The growth of innovative developments in Lithuania during this period was the most rapid one and made up 21 percent.Since 2012, the European Commission has been announcing an annual contest of European social innovations, the number of applications ranging from 600 to 1,400. 30 applications with the best prospects are selected for the semi-finals, and then to the finals of 10 ideas, the teams of which are invited to develop these ideas in the social innovations centre in one of the member states. The members of the semi-finals get support for teaching and further development of their ideas, while three best ideas get prizes between 20,000 and 50,000 EUR. Besides, other social innovations contests are organised, too, e.g., "RegioStars" nominations and Social Innovations Tournament.The European Commission also performs direct financing of social innovations through EU investment programmes. It creates networks helping organizations all over Europe to join, learn from each other and share their experiences via the Social Innovations Community site. The conditions for social innovations and social companies in Europe are being improved; efforts are made to attract private investors. Information about the use of social innovations and methodologies of evaluating their outcomes is collected and disseminated. Incubatory structures meant for social innovations in Europe are supported and networks of EU incubators are created. Research is carried out, new ideas, programmes or spheres for social innovations are pursued, papers and articles on social innovations are published and stored.This scientific article is funded by the Research Council of Lithuania according to the project "Social innovation in the context of regional development: socioeconomic development of suburban (low urbanization level) territories and improving the quality of life" (2017–2018), registration No. TAP LB-17-012. ; Straipsnyje nagrinėjama socialinių inovacijų sampratos traktuotė Europos Komisijos dokumentuose ir šių inovacijų vaidmuo Europos Sąjungos sanglaudos politikoje. Analizuojama, kaip Europos Komisija ir kitos ES institucijos atlieka socialinių inovacijų įgyvendinimo finansavimą per ES investicines programas, kokia tvarka organizuoja socialinių inovacijų konkursus, kaip kuria virtualius tinklus ir siekia pritraukti privačius investuotojus. Pagrindžiama faktais, kad Lietuva yra tarp sparčiausiai augančių novatorių Europos Sąjungoje. Pateikta Europos Komisijos konkursuose premijuotų socialinių inovacijų projektų pavyzdžių.

The aim of the research is to substantiate the methodological foundations of empirical research by revealing the concept of the expression of dimensions of smartness in cultural management. The article formulates theoretical construct based on expression of smartness dimensions in cultural management. This construct is formulating by combining cultural management and smart governance concepts and closely linking cultural management with the implementation of cultural policy and seeing the specifics of smart cultural management. The expression of smartness dimensions at culture management model consist of six main dimensions: strategics, creative development, harmonization of interests in the cultural sector, empowered cultural sector parties, harmony of intellectual and technological capital, the culture of shared value creation. Methodology strategy is based on two philosophical approaches by combining induction and deduction which result is abduction approach. Qualitative analysis was performed of theoretical sources of foreign countries and Lithuania. Another part of qualitative research is based on the interviewing chosen respondents to get information about the expression of smartness dimensions at culture management model functioning. There would be chosen about 30 experts (till data saturation) by using quadruple helix. Experts are chosen from government, science, business and nongovernmental organizations' sphere. Gained results let to form research results conception which consists of three parts: theoretical model, current situation model, perspective situation model. The trajectory of the change from the current situation model to the perspective situation model helps to highlight the areas requiring improvement of the functioning of the cultural field, planned directions (trends) of change. In future research, it is planned to form the indicators for all 6 theoretical dimensions of the expression of smartness dimensions at culture management model. Analysis based on this theoretical model also will ...

The aim of the research is to substantiate the methodological foundations of empirical research by revealing the concept of the expression of dimensions of smartness in cultural management. The article formulates theoretical construct based on expression of smartness dimensions in cultural management. This construct is formulating by combining cultural management and smart governance concepts and closely linking cultural management with the implementation of cultural policy and seeing the specifics of smart cultural management. The expression of smartness dimensions at culture management model consist of six main dimensions: strategics, creative development, harmonization of interests in the cultural sector, empowered cultural sector parties, harmony of intellectual and technological capital, the culture of shared value creation. Methodology strategy is based on two philosophical approaches by combining induction and deduction which result is abduction approach. Qualitative analysis was performed of theoretical sources of foreign countries and Lithuania. Another part of qualitative research is based on the interviewing chosen respondents to get information about the expression of smartness dimensions at culture management model functioning. There would be chosen about 30 experts (till data saturation) by using quadruple helix. Experts are chosen from government, science, business and nongovernmental organizations' sphere. Gained results let to form research results conception which consists of three parts: theoretical model, current situation model, perspective situation model. The trajectory of the change from the current situation model to the perspective situation model helps to highlight the areas requiring improvement of the functioning of the cultural field, planned directions (trends) of change.In future research, it is planned to form the indicators for all 6 theoretical dimensions of the expression of smartness dimensions at culture management model. Analysis based on this theoretical model also will be ...

The relevance of the research. The emergence of temporary employment as an atypical form of work organization has become a relevant topic in the research of human resource management processes. Researchers analyze temporary employment not only as an atypical form of work organization, but also note that its practical use in labour market is characterized by flexibility while integrating workers into labour market and improving the productivity of the companies.The problem of the research. There is the lack of research and findings in scientific literature on temporary employment companies, empowering to reveal the flexibility of temporary employment management, its improvement and factors affecting it. There is little discussion among researchers about temporary employment as a flexible form of work organization, the tripartite relationship between a temporary employee, a temporary employment company and a user of temporary work. Specific and narrow issues are most often analysed. The description of the problem in this article can be summarized by the following problematic question:What are the factors that influence the management of a temporary employment company?Object of the research: factors that influence the management of a temporary employment company.Aim of the research: to disclose the factors determining the management of the activities of a temporary employment company.Research methods: Focus group, analysis of scientific literature, systematization, generalization and comparison, analysis of the contents of legal acts, statistics and other documents, methods of deduction and theoretical modelling, analysis, comparison and generalization of scientific statements and empirical research findings based on them, presentation of interpretations.Temporary employment is one of the forms of precarious employment and non-standard employment relationships. Unconventional employment patterns, in particular short-term and temporary work, have spread in many countries over the last few decades, but there is no universally accepted definition of temporary employment in scientific literature, as each country sets up their own specific regulation of employment. Temporary workers are usually considered to be workers who have concluded employment contracts for a specific period or for specific jobs, or those who have seasonal, casual or occasional work. It is widely recognized that temporary work improves the flexibility of labour market, has a positive economic impact, reduces unemployment and rapidly addresses temporary human resource shortages in companies. The form of temporary employment is convenient for disabled people, people with children and students for flexible integration into labour market, as it allows to take into consideration the mutual interests of the company and the temporary worker.Temporary employment services are provided by companies and agencies officially registered for these activities, which include the following functions: search and selection of employees, employee work accounting, employment contracts, etc. In Lithuania, the activities of temporary employment companies are regulated by the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania, and the criteria evaluation system of temporary employment companies is used to evaluate the activities of temporary employment companies. Every year, a temporary employment company has to submit a notice to the State Labour Inspectorate that it meets the established criteria.This article analyses a temporary employment company, coded as X at the request of its employees in order to maintain confidentiality. Information about the activities of this company in 2019 was provided by five company employees. The company has been providing temporary employment services in Northern Lithuania since 2012. The annual average number of temporary employees is about 70. The customers of the company – the users of temporary employment – are companies operating in manufacturing sector. The company establishes a tripartite employment relationship between a temporary employment user, a temporary employee and a temporary employment company, it employs a temporary employee and then sends an employee to work for a temporary employment beneficiary.The demand for services provided by Company X is determined by internal factors of collaboration with customers. Customers strive to minimize time and other resources and receive quality service. Manufacturing companies apply to Company X due to temporary increase in the scope of work, seasonality, sickness or holidays of employees. Company X expeditiously seeks the necessary employees for temporary employment in its existing database of job candidates or in labour market and then performs the necessary recruitment procedures. The company's activities are strongly influenced by external factors: legislative system, economic and demographic situation of the country, unemployment rate, the education level of employed employees and qualification improvement system of the country.A probabilistic analysis of opportunities of Company X and their impact on its business has disclosed that there is a high probability that a company can attract more customers in the course of different events and that this would have a significant impact on the company's business. The establishment of new divisions in other Lithuanian cities would also have a significant impact on this business, however, such establishment is unlikely.A probability analysis of threats and their impact on its business of Company X suggests that automation of workplaces for the company would be the factor that has the greatest negative impact on the company's business, as it would reduce the need for temporary workers. New competitors, as a medium impact factor, have negative impact, however, due to the fact that the terms and conditions for engaging in these activities for temporary employment companies are high, the likelihood of this threat is low. The highest probability of threats is related to temporary workers, their experience, their qualifications and competencies, low motivation to work, low wages and the impact of emigration.There are five temporary employment companies operating in Šiauliai city and region. The analysis of the competitive environment of Company X revealed that the price of the service is the most important factor for success of five companies in Šiauliai city and region, as the importance of this factor was evaluated by high scores of 2-3,5 by competitors. This is followed by the available base of temporary staff, the image of the company in society and among customers. The timing of service orders is significantly more important to Company X than to other four companies, and conversely, the cost of temporary employment service is much more important to other four companies. In terms of competitiveness, Company X is the second of five companies. As the gap in the estimates of competitiveness is not large, it can be stated that all five temporary employment service companies operating in Šiauliai city and region are similarly competitive. ; Straipsnyje išanalizuoti laikinojo įdarbinimo teoriniai ir teisiniai pagrindai, atlikta Šiaulių regione veikiančios laikinojo įdarbinimo įmonės veiklos analizė. Tyrimo tikslas – atskleisti veiksnius, lemiančius Šiaulių mieste ir regione veikiančios laikinojo įdarbinimo įmonės veiklos valdymą. Pateikta bendra įmonės charakteristika, išnagrinėti įmonės vidiniai ir išoriniai bendradarbiavimo su klientais (gamybos įmonėmis) veiksniai, teisinis veiklos reglamentavimas, atlikta įmonės veiklos galimybių ir grėsmių bei jų poveikio įmonės verslui tikimybinė analizė, penkių Šiaulių regione veikiančių laikinojo įdarbinimo įmonių konkurencinės aplinkos analizė.

The relevance of the research. The emergence of temporary employment as an atypical form of work organization has become a relevant topic in the research of human resource management processes. Researchers analyze temporary employment not only as an atypical form of work organization, but also note that its practical use in labour market is characterized by flexibility while integrating workers into labour market and improving the productivity of the companies. The problem of the research. There is the lack of research and findings in scientific literature on temporary employment companies, empowering to reveal the flexibility of temporary employment management, its improvement and factors affecting it. There is little discussion among researchers about temporary employment as a flexible form of work organization, the tripartite relationship between a temporary employee, a temporary employment company and a user of temporary work. Specific and narrow issues are most often analysed. The description of the problem in this article can be summarized by the following problematic question: What are the factors that influence the management of a temporary employment company? Object of the research: factors that influence the management of a temporary employment company. Aim of the research: to disclose the factors determining the management of the activities of a temporary employment company. Research methods: Focus group, analysis of scientific literature, systematization, generalization and comparison, analysis of the contents of legal acts, statistics and other documents, methods of deduction and theoretical modelling, analysis, comparison and generalization of scientific statements and empirical research findings based on them, presentation of interpretations. Temporary employment is one of the forms of precarious employment and non-standard employment relationships. Unconventional employment patterns, in particular short-term and temporary work, have spread in many countries over the last few decades, but there is no universally accepted definition of temporary employment in scientific literature, as each country sets up their own specific regulation of employment. Temporary workers are usually considered to be workers who have concluded employment contracts for a specific period or for specific jobs, or those who have seasonal, casual or occasional work. It is widely recognized that temporary work improves the flexibility of labour market, has a positive economic impact, reduces unemployment and rapidly addresses temporary human resource shortages in companies. The form of temporary employment is convenient for disabled people, people with children and students for flexible integration into labour market, as it allows to take into consideration the mutual interests of the company and the temporary worker. Temporary employment services are provided by companies and agencies officially registered for these activities, which include the following functions: search and selection of employees, employee work accounting, employment contracts, etc. In Lithuania, the activities of temporary employment companies are regulated by the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania, and the criteria evaluation system of temporary employment companies is used to evaluate the activities of temporary employment companies. Every year, a temporary employment company has to submit a notice to the State Labour Inspectorate that it meets the established criteria. This article analyses a temporary employment company, coded as X at the request of its employees in order to maintain confidentiality. Information about the activities of this company in 2019 was provided by five company employees. The company has been providing temporary employment services in Northern Lithuania since 2012. The annual average number of temporary employees is about 70. The customers of the company – the users of temporary employment – are companies operating in manufacturing sector. The company establishes a tripartite employment relationship between a temporary employment user, a temporary employee and a temporary employment company, it employs a temporary employee and then sends an employee to work for a temporary employment beneficiary. The demand for services provided by Company X is determined by internal factors of collaboration with customers. Customers strive to minimize time and other resources and receive quality service. Manufacturing companies apply to Company X due to temporary increase in the scope of work, seasonality, sickness or holidays of employees. Company X expeditiously seeks the necessary employees for temporary employment in its existing database of job candidates or in labour market and then performs the necessary recruitment procedures. The company's activities are strongly influenced by external factors: legislative system, economic and demographic situation of the country, unemployment rate, the education level of employed employees and qualification improvement system of the country. A probabilistic analysis of opportunities of Company X and their impact on its business has disclosed that there is a high probability that a company can attract more customers in the course of different events and that this would have a significant impact on the company's business. The establishment of new divisions in other Lithuanian cities would also have a significant impact on this business, however, such establishment is unlikely. A probability analysis of threats and their impact on its business of Company X suggests that automation of workplaces for the company would be the factor that has the greatest negative impact on the company's business, as it would reduce the need for temporary workers. New competitors, as a medium impact factor, have negative impact, however, due to the fact that the terms and conditions for engaging in these activities for temporary employment companies are high, the likelihood of this threat is low. The highest probability of threats is related to temporary workers, their experience, their qualifications and competencies, low motivation to work, low wages and the impact of emigration. There are five temporary employment companies operating in Šiauliai city and region. The analysis of the competitive environment of Company X revealed that the price of the service is the most important factor for success of five companies in Šiauliai city and region, as the importance of this factor was evaluated by high scores of 2-3,5 by competitors. This is followed by the available base of temporary staff, the image of the company in society and among customers. The timing of service orders is significantly more important to Company X than to other four companies, and conversely, the cost of temporary employment service is much more important to other four companies. In terms of competitiveness, Company X is the second of five companies. As the gap in the estimates of competitiveness is not large, it can be stated that all five temporary employment service companies operating in Šiauliai city and region are similarly competitive.

The relevance of the research. The emergence of temporary employment as an atypical form of work organization has become a relevant topic in the research of human resource management processes. Researchers analyze temporary employment not only as an atypical form of work organization, but also note that its practical use in labour market is characterized by flexibility while integrating workers into labour market and improving the productivity of the companies. The problem of the research. There is the lack of research and findings in scientific literature on temporary employment companies, empowering to reveal the flexibility of temporary employment management, its improvement and factors affecting it. There is little discussion among researchers about temporary employment as a flexible form of work organization, the tripartite relationship between a temporary employee, a temporary employment company and a user of temporary work. Specific and narrow issues are most often analysed. The description of the problem in this article can be summarized by the following problematic question: What are the factors that influence the management of a temporary employment company? Object of the research: factors that influence the management of a temporary employment company. Aim of the research: to disclose the factors determining the management of the activities of a temporary employment company. Research methods: Focus group, analysis of scientific literature, systematization, generalization and comparison, analysis of the contents of legal acts, statistics and other documents, methods of deduction and theoretical modelling, analysis, comparison and generalization of scientific statements and empirical research findings based on them, presentation of interpretations. Temporary employment is one of the forms of precarious employment and non-standard employment relationships. Unconventional employment patterns, in particular short-term and temporary work, have spread in many countries over the last few decades, but there is no universally accepted definition of temporary employment in scientific literature, as each country sets up their own specific regulation of employment. Temporary workers are usually considered to be workers who have concluded employment contracts for a specific period or for specific jobs, or those who have seasonal, casual or occasional work. It is widely recognized that temporary work improves the flexibility of labour market, has a positive economic impact, reduces unemployment and rapidly addresses temporary human resource shortages in companies. The form of temporary employment is convenient for disabled people, people with children and students for flexible integration into labour market, as it allows to take into consideration the mutual interests of the company and the temporary worker. Temporary employment services are provided by companies and agencies officially registered for these activities, which include the following functions: search and selection of employees, employee work accounting, employment contracts, etc. In Lithuania, the activities of temporary employment companies are regulated by the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania, and the criteria evaluation system of temporary employment companies is used to evaluate the activities of temporary employment companies. Every year, a temporary employment company has to submit a notice to the State Labour Inspectorate that it meets the established criteria. This article analyses a temporary employment company, coded as X at the request of its employees in order to maintain confidentiality. Information about the activities of this company in 2019 was provided by five company employees. The company has been providing temporary employment services in Northern Lithuania since 2012. The annual average number of temporary employees is about 70. The customers of the company – the users of temporary employment – are companies operating in manufacturing sector. The company establishes a tripartite employment relationship between a temporary employment user, a temporary employee and a temporary employment company, it employs a temporary employee and then sends an employee to work for a temporary employment beneficiary. The demand for services provided by Company X is determined by internal factors of collaboration with customers. Customers strive to minimize time and other resources and receive quality service. Manufacturing companies apply to Company X due to temporary increase in the scope of work, seasonality, sickness or holidays of employees. Company X expeditiously seeks the necessary employees for temporary employment in its existing database of job candidates or in labour market and then performs the necessary recruitment procedures. The company's activities are strongly influenced by external factors: legislative system, economic and demographic situation of the country, unemployment rate, the education level of employed employees and qualification improvement system of the country. A probabilistic analysis of opportunities of Company X and their impact on its business has disclosed that there is a high probability that a company can attract more customers in the course of different events and that this would have a significant impact on the company's business. The establishment of new divisions in other Lithuanian cities would also have a significant impact on this business, however, such establishment is unlikely. A probability analysis of threats and their impact on its business of Company X suggests that automation of workplaces for the company would be the factor that has the greatest negative impact on the company's business, as it would reduce the need for temporary workers. New competitors, as a medium impact factor, have negative impact, however, due to the fact that the terms and conditions for engaging in these activities for temporary employment companies are high, the likelihood of this threat is low. The highest probability of threats is related to temporary workers, their experience, their qualifications and competencies, low motivation to work, low wages and the impact of emigration. There are five temporary employment companies operating in Šiauliai city and region. The analysis of the competitive environment of Company X revealed that the price of the service is the most important factor for success of five companies in Šiauliai city and region, as the importance of this factor was evaluated by high scores of 2-3,5 by competitors. This is followed by the available base of temporary staff, the image of the company in society and among customers. The timing of service orders is significantly more important to Company X than to other four companies, and conversely, the cost of temporary employment service is much more important to other four companies. In terms of competitiveness, Company X is the second of five companies. As the gap in the estimates of competitiveness is not large, it can be stated that all five temporary employment service companies operating in Šiauliai city and region are similarly competitive.

The aim of the paper is to disclose the importance of social innovation and generalize innovation promotion policy in the European Union, assessing the actual situation in Lithuania. The need for social innovation is inevitable as different social problems touch modern society. Business, governments, non-governmental organizations have distinct roles and encourage social innovation in different ways, but political will and financial possibilities can lead to great changes. The policy of promoting innovation in Lithuania is in line with the provisions of EU documents, however, in the general innovation system context, little attention is paid to social innovation. Following the evaluation of Lithuania's performance of the research and innovation system, it has been determined that the indicators which were evaluated as weaknesses are primarily related to social problems.

The aim of the paper is to disclose the importance of social innovation and generalize innovation promotion policy in the European Union, assessing the actual situation in Lithuania. The need for social innovation is inevitable as different social problems touch modern society. Business, governments, non-governmental organizations have distinct roles and encourage social innovation in different ways, but political will and financial possibilities can lead to great changes. The policy of promoting innovation in Lithuania is in line with the provisions of EU documents, however, in the general innovation system context, little attention is paid to social innovation. Following the evaluation of Lithuania's performance of the research and innovation system, it has been determined that the indicators which were evaluated as weaknesses are primarily related to social problems.

The aim of the paper is to disclose the importance of social innovation and generalize innovation promotion policy in the European Union, assessing the actual situation in Lithuania. The need for social innovation is inevitable as different social problems touch modern society. Business, governments, non-governmental organizations have distinct roles and encourage social innovation in different ways, but political will and financial possibilities can lead to great changes. The policy of promoting innovation in Lithuania is in line with the provisions of EU documents, however, in the general innovation system context, little attention is paid to social innovation. Following the evaluation of Lithuania's performance of the research and innovation system, it has been determined that the indicators which were evaluated as weaknesses are primarily related to social problems.

The paper analyses the key theoretical and legal aspects of the concept of fiscal decentralisation; on the basis of statistical and legal documents it examines the situation of fiscal decentralisation in Lithuania and compares the key indicators of this situation with corresponding indicators of other European Union states. The present research ascribes EU states to five levels of fiscal decentralisation according to 3 features: local taxes, expenses, and subsidies. Fiscal decentralisation is geared towards increasing financial independence and responsibility of the local self-government. However, it can have such negative consequences as corruption, greater social fragmentation and influence of various interest groups. The level of fiscal decentralisation in the state is indicated by the percentage of municipal expenses of the GDP and percentage of the total expenses of the public sector. The present research has demonstrated that fiscal decentralisation indicators are highest in the old-timer EU states (Sweden, Finland, Germany, France), which have strong local self-government and long-time democratic traditions. Lithuania can be ascribed to the countries with medium fiscal decentralisation.

The importance and main issues of the research. The National Health Insurance Fund, under the Ministry of Health, together with five Territorial Patient Funds (those of Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys) comprises a unified system, ensuring a proper management of the budget of the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund. As has been demonstrated by the research, the management of the documents of Šiauliai Territorial Patient Fund (further TPF) is an important and constantly developing process, because with the increase in the number of agreements with partners, with new tasks commissioned by various governmental institutions, etc., the quantity of documentation also increases, and information accessibility, extraction and usage becomes more and more problematic. [.]

The importance and main issues of the research. The National Health Insurance Fund, under the Ministry of Health, together with five Territorial Patient Funds (those of Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys) comprises a unified system, ensuring a proper management of the budget of the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund. As has been demonstrated by the research, the management of the documents of Šiauliai Territorial Patient Fund (further TPF) is an important and constantly developing process, because with the increase in the number of agreements with partners, with new tasks commissioned by various governmental institutions, etc., the quantity of documentation also increases, and information accessibility, extraction and usage becomes more and more problematic. [.]

In scientifi c literature green plantations are defi ned as a signifi cant means compensating for the consequences of human intervention in the nature, which helps to maintain ecological stability of a territory. The article reviews the theoretical scientifi c literature, analyzes planting documents and juridical base of the Republic of Lithuania for regulating the green plantation protection and management. Šiauliai region greenery planting management is analyzed and problems in this area are highlighted: it is necessary to improve the juridical regulation of greenery planting and coordinate its implementation, creating a greenery planting development management system; many greenery planting documents are in juridical acts of different levels; experts give negative evaluation to situation of urbanized areas of Šiauliai region. To calculate the prognoses for the condition of Šiauliai region stands a linear trend method was used. Productivity of stands in the region has a tendency to grow, in 2013 it may be about 198 m3 /ha, although in 2005 it was only 174 m3 /ha. In the answers of six experts responsible of environment protection in Šiauliai region the dominant tendency is that Šiauliai region needs greenery planting management system, it would help to implement preventive protection of green plantations and a single coordinated system would become available. The problems of systematicity of urbanized territories and absence of common strategy of greenery planting in the region are raised in the article. Priorities of management of development of greenery planting in Šiauliai region territories have been formulated and substantiated in the article, namely: 1) Green areas management system including international, state, and regional legislation has been formed with the aim being to achieve the consistent management of juridical documents of green environment. 2) Rational and sustainable use of greenery, biodiversity protection, increasing of forest resources in the region while ensuring the recreational, cultural, and healthy life requirements of the society. 3) Doing of educational, motivational, and environment-protection activities, and providing training in order to create a healthy natural environment for present and future generations.

The relevance of the research. The paper analyses the situation in the children's rights protection system in Lithuania and substantiates the priorities of strategic management of this system. According to the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 3.4 thousand children who have suffered from criminal actions were registered in 2008. About 2% of Lithuanian children are raised in care institutions, another 4% are brought up in social risk families. According to the data provided by the Department of statistics, at the end of 2009 there were 11,121 social risk families in Lithuania, with 24,222 children raised in them. Every year a few thousand children are deprived of their parents' care, but only an insignificant part of them are real orphans. Lithuania is among the European Union leaders in terms of the numbers of children being raised in state institutions. [.]

Res­arch topicality and problematicalness. In the end of the 20th century rural places of the European Union (EU) countries experienced similar difficulties as the current Lithuania – great disjuncture between city and countryside, ageing of rural places' residents and the decline of the rural places. In 1991 the Eu­ropean Commission a­nounced LEADER initiative, which was aimed at the involvement of all interested in rural place's welfare partners (business and local government representatives) into the rural development process. In 2004 when Lithuania became the EU member, possibilities open ed to use the EU structural funds' support for countryside development and together with other members of the EU to seek for one of the most important EU aims – economic and social cohesion. LEADER+ nature means methodology is meant for preparation and implementation of countryside development strategies. In Lithuania in order to implement this means, from 2001-2009 51 local activity groups were formed (henceforth – LAG). Most LAGs encompass particular districts' territories of municipalities rural places and towns and join most particular districts' rural places' communities. In order to quicken the countryside development and implement LEADER+ mean s' aims and tasks, trial integrated strategy of rural places' development for 2004-2006 was set up in 2004 by Radviliskis district LAG "Radviliskis Leader". Currently, this LAG implements the improved strategy "Life Quality Improvement in Radviliskis District Rural Places" for 2007-2013. In Lithuanian scientific literature, LAG activity is frequently researched only in the LEADER+ programme's implementation Lithuanian context. [.]