Latvia's forest reference level (FRL) should take in account the future impact of dynamic age-related forest characteristics in order to avoid unduly constraining the forest management intensity as a core element of sustainable forest management practice, with the aim of maintaining or strengthening long-term carbon sinks. The basic for calculations of GHG projections is AGM (Forest growth model) and EPIM (Emissions Projections and Inventory Model). The scope of the study is to verify applicability of the AGM model in elaboration of the forestry projections for elaboration of the FRL according to regulation (EU) 2018/841.

The collection of 82 collection numbers of the plant Symphyotrichum Nees genus has been accumulated in the period of 1923 - 2018 at Vytautas Magnus University Botanical Garden. The collection consists of Symphyotrichum cordifolium, S. dumosum, S. ericoides, S. laeve, S. lanceolatum, S. lateriflorum, S. novae-angliae, S. novi-belgii, S. oblongifolium, S. pilosum, S. × salignum, S. tradescantii, S. turbinellum, S. urophyllum, and their infraspecific taxa and cultones. The major part of the collection consists of S. novi-belgii (32 collection numbers) and S. novae-angliae (19 collection numbers) infraspecific taxa and cultones. 57 collection numbers were acquired by sproutings from other botanical gardens, private collections, nurseries, the origin of 21 collection numbers is unknown, 4 collection numbers were acquired by seed exchange with other botanical gardens. Phenological observations and biometric measurements of plants were performed according to methodological manual "Methodology of phenological observations, biometric measurements and assortment formation of ornamental herbaceous plants" prepared by J. Vaidelys in 2005. When assessing the phytopathological status of plants, powdery mildew (Erysiphe cichoracearum) was determined as the main disease affecting the plants. S. dumosum and S. novi-belgii interspecific taxa and cultones were the most susceptible to the disease. Plants grown in the same location for more than 3 years were more susceptible to the disease. The aim of the study was to review the Symphyotrichum collection and to evaluate the susceptibility of different groups of cultivars to powdery mildew.

The capabilities of modern electronics for autonomous environmental monitoring with wireless data transmission and storage are diverse and give the network operator some freedom in performing any task. The aim of the study is to develop a sensor system for monitoring and controlling the active drying process of grain. An experimental prototype was developed and installed on the farm for two grain drying tanks of the same volume; for one of which the intake air was blended with ozone as a grain drying agent. The paper analyzes the desired and minimum number of monitoring parameters, sensor requirements, their optimal placement in grain drying tanks, data collection, transmission and storage, and data processing and display capabilities. By way of example, the preliminary results of grain drying in tank with ozone-enriched intake air are demonstrated.

Innovation – it is a term that we use for decades, but true meaning of this term changes also for decades, according to dynamic environment we are living in. There is now beginning of the 4th industrial revolution and what has been said in World Economic forum, issues are not about technologies anymore, they are about society. Innovation and entrepreneurship in regions is one of essential tools, in added value creation in economics and in development in national level. It is very important to encourage creativity, new ways of thinking and continuous process of learning of individuals. There are some different approaches how to measure competitiveness of state economy and competitiveness in regional level. Statistical data shows situation from point of view in national level, Regional level and local community level have to be researched detailed, and every situation, which can make impact on level above, have to be taken into account. Research methods, used for these studies were analysis of scientific papers, strategic planning documents and guidelines of EU and Latvia and survey of inhabitants of local community what are their opinion about participation in the processes to make changes in development of region and local community. Main results were related with issue, that tenants of region at very low level evaluate impact of state as institution and management system in national level, better evaluation of local government institutions, but at the same time there is lack of desire to participate actively in processes of local community to encourage changes in regional level. Key words: innovation, regional development.

The scientific problem addressed by the article is the lack of the ways for identification and solution of the issues of financial autonomy in rural municipalities. The aim of the article is to identify the problem areas of financial autonomy in Lithuanian rural municipalities. The problem areas of financial autonomy in rural municipalities have been identified under the methods of scientific literature analysis, document analysis, and statistical data analysis, and comparative analysis. The problematics of definition of the phenomenon of financial autonomy of rural municipalities has been noticed; problem areas of expenditure, revenue, financial transfers and borrowing in the municipalities have been identified. The empirical study of the data on 50 Lithuanian rural municipalities reflecting their respective financial autonomy in the period 2014-2018 (municipality revenue structure, revenue per capita, the dynamics of the share of the personal income tax (PIT)) revealed that the major share of the revenues of rural municipalities is collected by means of the PIT. There are four donor municipalities in Lithuania – Vilnius city, Kaunas city, Klaipėda city and Neringa municipalities – with their PITs used to support rural municipalities. The central authorities of Lithuania apply inter-budgetary reallocation of funds in order to introduce the financial equalization measures to adjust for the unequal allocation of potential financial resources between the municipalities with the ultimate objective of eliminating the territorial, social and economic disparities between the municipalities. However, the revenue and expenditure remain unequalized between the municipalities.

Concrete is one of the most popular construction materials in the world. The concrete properties depend from many factors. One of them is aggregates quality, which can be defined as an impurity level. The most unwanted materials in fine aggregates are clay and soil particles. These particles can impure aggregates due to irregular sands in quarry and during the digging process. In the present paper were estimated how impurity impact the properties of concrete. During the research the aggregates were impured with clay and soil particles. The change of fresh concrete workability, hardened concrete density, compression strength, water absorbability and frost resistance were evaluated. The results show that aggregates impurity with clay and especially with organic materials (soil) is very dangerous. The concrete workability, frost resistance is decreasing. The clay and soil have a different effect on hardened concrete density and compression strength. Soil decreased both parameters while well mixed clay increased these characteristics. However, generalizing all results, can be stated, that keeping the same level of concrete workability it is necessary to raise water and cement ratio and it will give strength loss effect.

The expansion of global economy and the rise of living standards are set to force the world’s consumption of raw material to nearly double by 2060, thus consumption of wood resources is forecasted to increase more than twofold. In Latvia, forests cover 52% of the total area. The total forest area in Latvia has continued to grow since the beginning of the 20th century – in 1923 the forests covered only 27% of the country’s area; accordingly, the question is whether the value of forests continues to grow proportionally. One of the criteria for determining the value of forest is forest capital. A higher economic value of forest reflects the forest’s capability to produce more wood, and this allows generating higher revenues from forestry. It is the value of plantations of certain tree species as well as the quality of wood produced that increase the price of wood and consequently result in higher revenues. The largest supplier of wood in Latvia is the state-owned joint stock company Latvian State Forests (JSC LSF), which managed 1.6 million hectares of forestland in 2018. In 2018, 12.8 million cubic metres of roundwood were harvested in Latvia, of which 6 million cubic metres were harvested by the JSC LSF. Therefore, the research aims to design and assess potential scenarios of increasing the value of forest capital for the JSC LSF. The authors simulated potential scenarios for the JSC LSF in order to identify changes to be made in the current forest management pattern with the aim of increasing the value of forest capital. A higher value of forest capital would also mean greater public attention to the future use of existing resources. Calculations of the economic value of forests were carried out to identify necessary changes to be made in the management of state-owned forests in Latvia and to compare several management enhancement scenarios. The potential scenarios were assessed by five qualified experts, academics, representatives of business and public administration by employing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The experts rated the possible scenarios for enhancing forest management relatively equally, giving slightly higher ratings to the potential scenario of quotation of the national forest management company on the stock exchange. The value of forest capital was calculated for each of the potential scenarios using the most commonly used net present value method (NPV). It was concluded that the potential scenario of lowering the diameter threshold for felling trees by two centimetres would lead to the greatest increase in the value of forest capital.

The main objective of the article is to present the level of education in some selected countries, and to explain how education determines a sustainable growth. Education is the main factor to achieve both economic and employment growth. At the same time, education plays an important role for a sustainable improvement of the standard of living in the world. Supporting education is also one of the aims of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Goal 4), but education appears in a number of other SDG targets too. The countries that allocate the most capital for education are Norway, Denmark, Sweden, United Kingdom, Belgium, Finland (over 6.7% of GDP). The share of GDP allocated for education in Romania is only 2.7. This directly affects both the physical conditions for carrying out educational and research activities in school units and the qualitative level of the educational act. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) between the real GDP/capita (VAR01) and share of GDP for education (VAR02) for our study is 0.694, which again underlines the close correlation between the allocation of funds for education and research and the level of development from a country. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) between supporting education from GDP and top 100 universities is relatively low (r = 0.287), reflecting an insufficient correlation between the two variables. As a result, the education system in a country must be adjusted and supported both financially and through the adoption of viable policy decisions that will ensure increased performance in the educational system.

The modern agricultural system is wasteful, with Europe generating some 700 million tonnes of agricultural and food waste each year. In the context of the agri-food chain, the ‘circular economy’ aims to reduce waste while also making best use of the ‘wastes’ produced by using economically viable processes and procedures to increase their value. In this paper we will try to frame the key issues associated with food waste into the emerging bioeconomy and circular-economic mode, suggesting that these three concepts are intertwined, and considering them unitarily might provide win-win solutions that minimize wastage, promote income growth and job creation, and prompt sustainable local development. In terms of performance and economic considerations, peat is in many ways an ideal constituent of soilless growing media. Peat has become the material of choice throughout plant production systems from propagation to saleable ‘finished plant’ material. However, the extraction of peat has well documented negative impacts on the environment; arguably the most important of these is the release of stable, sequestered carbon into the active carbon cycle, thereby exacerbating climate change. During the last 20 years, peat extraction has come under increasing scrutiny throughout Europe and particularly in the UK. This has generated an abundance of studies examining a diverse range of alternative materials (as compost, vermicompost, digestate, biochar). In the selection of new materials, environmental considerations have become as important as performance and economic cost. In this context there has been a justifiable emphasis on organic materials derived from agricultural, industrial and municipal waste streams. For future urban sustainability it is necessary to develop integrated processes, which can be part of a circular bio-economy. However the challenge still remains of simultaneously recycling the nutrients from the waste. The greenhouse horticulture applied to nutraceutical species is the ideal sector for improving the conversion rate of organic waste into food and health friendly products. On farm composting/vermicomposting/pyrolysis/anaerobic digestion and the use of the end-product to the partial substitution of peat in nursery activity allows reducing the environmental and economic costs in the production of potted plants.

Soil berms are typically built on the sides of ditches and are designed to purify water from agricultural fertilizers and to limit the transport of sediments to water bodies. However, for soils with fine particles, water filtration is limited and wet soil conditions can occur, which in turn reduces the soil's hydrologic conductivity capacity and hinders tree growth in the forest. The aim of the study is to develop a methodology for automatic modeling of the furrows in soil berms. Open source software QGIS and GRASS GIS is used in data processing. LiDAR data with minimum ground point density of 1.5 points per square meter were used in DEM creation. Local maximum analysis and further data filtration were used in determination of locations of soil berms. The results show that by making one furrow for every 185 m of ditches it is possible to reduce the area of the depressions by up to 91.8%.