scholarly journals Recent developments and challenges of the introduction of dual training for SMEs in countries around the Baltic Sea Region with a special emphasis on Lithuania

Author(s):  
Max Hogeforster ◽  
Christian Wildt

The economy of the Baltic Sea Region is characterised by small and medium-sized enterprises. One of the main limitations to growth continues to be the lack of qualified personnel. Dual training as a form of work-based learning can promote the employability of young people in the long term and attract additional workforce. Based on a review of recent literature the status of VET and dual training in the selected countries of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia are described. Complementary the first results of a recent survey of companies, schools and administrations is presented, that confirms that in most BSR countries companies are not engaged in dual education. The evaluation of the literature clearly shows that a lot has been done to encourage work-based learning in the Baltic Sea Region, but the survey indicates, that the legal changes and possibilities have yet not fully arrived at the companies that could provide train-ing spots.

2020 ◽  
Vol 192 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Nygård ◽  
Mats Lindegarth ◽  
Alexander Darr ◽  
Grete E. Dinesen ◽  
Ole R. Eigaard ◽  
...  

AbstractBenthic habitats and communities are key components of the marine ecosystem. Securing their functioning is a central aim in marine environmental management, where monitoring data provide the base for assessing the state of marine ecosystems. In the Baltic Sea, a > 50-year-long tradition of zoobenthic monitoring exists. However, the monitoring programmes were designed prior to the current policies, primarily to detect long-term trends at basin-scale and are thus not optimal to fulfil recent requirements such as area-based periodic status assessments. Here, we review the current monitoring programmes and assess the precision and representativity of the monitoring data in status assessments to identify routes for improvement. At present, the monitoring is focused on soft-bottoms, not accounting for all habitat types occurring in the Baltic Sea. Evaluating the sources of variance in the assessment data revealed that the component accounting for variability among stations forms the largest proportion of the uncertainty. Furthermore, it is shown that the precision of the status estimates can be improved, with the current number of samples. Reducing sampling effort per station, but sampling more stations, is the best option to improve precision in status assessments. Furthermore, by allocating the sampling stations more evenly in the sub-basins, a better representativity of the area can be achieved. However, emphasis on securing the long-term data series is needed if changes to the monitoring programmes are planned.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 33-56
Author(s):  
Alexander Sergunin

This study examines Russia’s policies towards and within the Councilof the Baltic Sea States in the aftermath of the Ukrainian and other internationalcrises. More specifically, this paper analyses Russia’s interest in andexpectations from the CBSS, as well as Moscow’s institutional behaviour in theCouncil. The CBSS is viewed by Russia as both a centrepiece and cornerstoneof the regional governance system. Moscow also sees the CBSS as an importanttool for overcoming the politico-diplomatic isolation where Russia founditself with the start of the Ukrainian crisis. With the help of the CBSS, it retainsits ability to influence socioeconomic, political, environmental, and humanitariandevelopments in the Baltic Sea region. Russia supported the Council’sthree long-term priority areas: a regional identity, a sustainable and prosperousregion, and a safe and secure region. Russia favoured further the Council’sinstitutionalization and strengthening of its role in the regional governancesystem. Despite the fact that Russia’s relations with other CBSS member-statesremain tense and that Moscow does not always manage to use the Councilto promote its interests in the region, the CBSS is still seen by Russia as animportant platform for regional cooperation.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1419-1433 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Schimanke ◽  
H. E. M. Meier ◽  
E. Kjellström ◽  
G. Strandberg ◽  
R. Hordoir

Abstract. Variability and long-term climate change in the Baltic Sea region is investigated for the pre-industrial period of the last millennium. For the first time dynamical downscaling covering the complete millennium is conducted with a regional climate model in this area. As a result of changing external forcing conditions, the model simulation shows warm conditions in the first centuries followed by a gradual cooling until ca. 1700 before temperature increases in the last centuries. This long-term evolution, with a Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and a Little Ice Age (LIA), is in broad agreement with proxy-based reconstructions. However, the timing of warm and cold events is not captured at all times. We show that the regional response to the global climate anomalies is to a strong degree modified by the large-scale circulation in the model. In particular, we find that a positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) simulated during MCA contributes to enhancing winter temperatures and precipitation in the region while a negative NAO index in the LIA reduces them. In a second step, the regional ocean model (RCO-SCOBI) is used to investigate the impact of atmospheric changes onto the Baltic Sea for two 100 yr time slices representing the MCA and the LIA. Besides the warming of the Baltic Sea, the water becomes fresher at all levels during the MCA. This is induced by increased runoff and stronger westerly winds. Moreover, the oxygen concentrations in the deep layers are slightly reduced during the MCA. Additional sensitivity studies are conducted to investigate the impact of even higher temperatures and increased nutrient loads. The presented experiments suggest that changing nutrient loads may be more important determining oxygen depletion than changes in temperature or dynamic feedbacks.


2016 ◽  
Vol 169 ◽  
pp. 74-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Bergström ◽  
O. Heikinheimo ◽  
R. Svirgsden ◽  
E. Kruze ◽  
L. Ložys ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1369-1407 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Schimanke ◽  
H. E. M. Meier ◽  
E. Kjellström ◽  
G. Strandberg ◽  
R. Hordoir

Abstract. Variability and long-term climate change in the Baltic Sea region is investigated for the pre-industrial period of the last millennium. For the first time dynamical downscaling covering the complete millennium is conducted with a regional climate model in this area. As a result of changing external forcing conditions the model simulation shows warm conditions in the first centuries followed by a gradual cooling until c. 1700 before temperature increases in the last centuries. This long-term evolution, with a Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and a Little Ice Age (LIA), is in broad agreement with proxy-based reconstructions. However, the timing of warm and cold events is not captured at all times. We show that the regional response to the global climate anomalies is to a strong degree modified by the large-scale circulation in the model. In particular, we find that a positive NAO-phase simulated during MCA contributes to enhancing winter temperatures and precipitation in the region while a negative NAO-anomaly in the LIA reduces them. In a second step, the regional ocean model RCO is used to investigate the impact of atmospheric changes onto the Baltic Sea for two 100 yr time slices representing the MCA and the LIA. Besides the warming of the Baltic Sea the water becomes fresher at all levels during the MCA. This is induced by increased runoff and stronger westerly winds. Moreover, the oxygen concentrations in the deep layers are slightly reduced during the MCA. Additional sensitivity studies are conducted to investigate the impact of even higher temperatures and increased nutrient loads. The presented experiments suggest that changing nutrient loads may be more important determining oxygen depletion than changes in temperature or dynamic feedbacks.


Author(s):  
Evgenia Salin ◽  
Jeremy Woodard ◽  
Krister Sundblad

AbstractGeological investigations of a part of the crystalline basement in the Baltic Sea have been performed on a drill core collected from the depth of 1092–1093 m beneath the Phanerozoic sedimentary cover offshore the Latvian/Lithuanian border. The sample was analyzed for geochemistry and dated with the SIMS U–Pb zircon method. Inherited zircon cores from this migmatized granodioritic orthogneiss have an age of 1854 ± 15 Ma. Its chemical composition and age are correlated with the oldest generation of granitoids of the Transscandinavian Igneous Belt (TIB), which occur along the southwestern margin of the Svecofennian Domain in the Fennoscandian Shield and beneath the Phanerozoic sedimentary cover on southern Gotland and in northwestern Lithuania. It is suggested that the southwestern border of the Svecofennian Domain is located at a short distance to the SW of the investigated drill site. The majority of the zircon population shows that migmatization occurred at 1812 ± 5 Ma, with possible evidence of disturbance during the Sveconorwegian orogeny.


Author(s):  
Anneli Adler ◽  
Almir Karacic ◽  
Ann-Christin Rönnberg Wästljung ◽  
Ulf Johansson ◽  
Kaspars Liepins ◽  
...  

AbstractThe increased demand for wood to replace oil-based products with renewable products has lifted focus to the Baltic Sea region where the environment is favorable for woody biomass growth. The aim of this study was to estimate broad-sense heritabilities and genotype-by-environment (G×E) interactions in growth and phenology traits in six climatically different regions in Sweden and the Baltics. We tested the hypothesis that both bud burst and bud set have a significant effect on the early growth of selected poplar clones in Northern Europe. Provenance hybrids of Populus trichocarpa adapted to the Northern European climate were compared to reference clones with adaptation to the Central European climate. The volume index of stemwood was under low to medium genetic control with heritabilities from 0.22 to 0.75. Heritabilities for phenology traits varied between 0.31 and 0.91. Locally chosen elite clones were identified. G×E interactions were analyzed using pairwise comparisons of the trials. Three different breeding zones for poplars between the latitudes of 55° N and 60° N in the Baltic Sea Region were outlined. The studied provenance hybrids with origin from North America offer a great possibility to broaden the area with commercial poplar plantations in Northern Europe and further improve the collection of commercial clones to match local climates. We conclude that phenology is an important selection criterion after growth.


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