Culturally and historically, agriculture is a traditional occupation of the population of Latvia, but the improvement of the standard of living reduces the individual scope of practice and economic motivation. Growing food in Latvia is a cultural-historical and often family tradition. However, urban agriculture in its latest global trends, as an urban sustainability, technologically innovative and community cohesion-building practice, is a new, not yet widely adapted agricultural approach in Latvian cities and is mostly implemented for household self-consumption, therefore it is essential to evaluate the aspects and possibilities of urban agriculture in the Latvian situation. Thesis hypothesis: urban agriculture in Latvia has development perspectives, which are directed towards solutions to the problems of a socially active and involved society, the viability of households and the resilience and sustainability of the urban environment. The aim of thesis is to determine the aspects affecting development and the potential of practice in Latvia by studying the types of urban agriculture and international research experience. Tasks developed and solved to achieve the aim: 1) to research and summarize the scientific theoretical guidelines, conceptualization, development of urban agriculture and determine the role of urban agriculture in sustainable development; 2) to collect and determine the legal framework affecting urban agriculture in Latvia; 3) to identify and analyse the factors affecting urban agriculture in Latvia and the potential of functions; 4) to characterize the experience of urban agriculture in Latvia and determine the development perspectives. To achieve the goal, the research outline is structured in four chapters with sub-chapters. The first chapter describes the development of urban agriculture, its functions in urban development and sustainability. The scientific studies of various authors on the aspects of urban agriculture – factors, functions, motivation, examples of practice – have been analysed. The functions of urban agriculture have been identified and explored. The second chapter analyses the role of urban agriculture in the sustainability of cities and Latvian and international development strategies, identifying the potential of urban agriculture in the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. The legal aspects affecting the urban agriculture of the Republic of Latvia have been analysed and the institutional framework of urban agriculture in Latvia has been defined. The third chapter describes urban agriculture in Latvia and analyses the external environmental factors affecting urban agriculture. An analysis of the implementation of the functions of urban agriculture in Latvia was carried out, using expert structured interviews and content analysis. The fourth chapter analyses the practice of urban agriculture and its characteristic aspects in Latvia, using case analysis for the analysis of exemplary examples of community and commercial practice and a survey of Latvian residents for the analysis of the extent, motivation and attitude of the practice. Three perspectives for the development of urban agriculture in Latvia have been developed – the dominant one has been determined using the analytic hierarchy process. The thesis formulates the main research results, conclusions, identified problems and put forward proposals for solving them. The thesis for obtaining the scientific degree of Doctor of Sciences (Ph.D.) consists of 204 pages. The work contains 35 tables, 36 figures, 29 appendices, 464 sources of information are used, including 243 sources in English.

The food growing practice is connected with Latvia’s cultural-historical heritage and traditions, due to which agriculture, especially in the form of micro-farming for household self-consumption, is a developed practice in Latvia, including in cities. Trends of urban agriculture, which are characterised by inclusion in dimensions of the sustainability, develop the practice of community gardens that in Latvia are currently in the development stage. This highlights the need to evaluate the population’s attitude and views on the aspects of urban agriculture in Latvia. The agricultural sector in Latvia is developed and rural regions are relatively close to urban areas, therefore, agricultural practices in cities for the realization of production can create a different, even negative attitude of society towards urban agriculture and its relevance in Latvia. Therefore, the aim of this study is the assessment of the attitude of the population in Latvia towards practices and products of urban agriculture. In order to achieve the aim, two tasks have been set: 1) to analyse the attitude of Latvia’s population towards the practice of urban agriculture; 2) to analyse the population's attitude towards urban agricultural products, in the context of their food choice criteria. To fulfil the tasks, a survey of Latvia’s population was conducted. In general, the population's attitude creates supportive aspects for urban agriculture in Latvia, but challenging are aspects of the attitude regarding the potential pollution of food in the urban environment, its role and performance in cities, which population do not associate with agricultural practices.

A review of the available literature revealed that there was no information about public opinions on start-ups; therefore, the authors set the main aim to theoretically examine the nature of start-ups and identify the opinions of residents on start-ups in Latvia. The specific research tasks were defined as follows: 1) to conduct a theoretical review of literature on start-ups and the ecosystem thereof in Latvia; 2) to identify the knowledge and opinions of residents aged 18 to 75 about start-ups in Latvia. As part of the present research, the authors conducted a survey in Latvia to identify the population’s knowledge of start-ups, differences between start-ups and other kinds of enterprises as well as the role of start-ups in entrepreneurship. The research employed the monographic and descriptive methods, the descriptive statistics method and a sociological method – an Internet survey using quota sampling. The survey was conducted in January 2023 and involved 1005 respondents throughout Latvia. The survey found that most of the respondents (73%) generally knew or had heard about start-ups and, according to the respondents, the main features that distinguished start-ups from other kinds of enterprises were innovation (54%), use of modern technologies (48%) and fast growth (41%). 63% of the respondents who had heard about start-ups noted that the start-ups, compared with other kinds of enterprises, were generally important for further development of the business environment in Latvia.

Current paradigm of economic development is sustainable development. Sustainable development is the challenge for governments, companies and households because significant additional investments and innovations, changes in production and consumption habits are required. These changes have to be made because resources are limited and existence of our world is endangered – too much resources are used and too much waste is generated by people. This problem is recognized by the United Nations that set 17 Goals of Sustainable Development in 2015. Review of scientific literature indicates that countries measure their sustainable development in different ways because countries have different development levels, as well as different social, economic and environmental problems. Thus the aim of this research is to identify Latvian approach measuring sustainable development and assess sustainable development in Latvia. Sustainable development in Latvia is measured by indicators defined in Sustainable Development Strategy in Latvia until 2030. The methods applied in this study are literature review and regression analysis. This study reveals Latvian progress in sustainable development and relationship among strategic indicators of sustainable development in Latvia.

Today, the age structure of the population of Latvia is close to the average for the European Union, but the share of senior citizens is rapidly increasing. Population aging is one of the most significant trends in demographic processes, which brings changes to all areas of society. This article analyses some risks both for seniors themselves and for society resulting from these trends, and the reasons why Latvia is falling behind in addressing these risks. The primary goal of this article is to summarise and interpret a variety of scientific publications and legal documents from a global perspective, also using methods such as monograph analysis, content analysis, descriptive statistics, and compilations of experiences and best practices. The author of the article put forward arguments in favour of the inclusion of seniors in lifelong education in Latvia, as one of the elements of social policy to reduce the negative effects of population aging. According to the author, it is necessary to promote and develop a fully lifelong learning system for seniors in Latvia.

Topicality of the research is given by migration processes that are going on in 2022 in Europe. Over 7 million of Ukrainian refugees registered in Europe since the war started in February 2022. All of these people have different situations and needs, but at some point, part of the refugees will face employment problem. The aim of the study was to try to understand how Ukrainian refugees in Latvia are trying to solve their employment situation, what they are hoping for, how they are comparing employment possibilities in Latvia and in Ukraine. Methodology includes theoretical research on the topic and small qualitative research which consists of four questions. The questions covering respondents plans towards job hunting, their view on comparison of job opportunities at home and in Latvia, their satisfaction with previous job. The results show that Ukrainian refugees are quite optimistic on their opportunities in job searching in Latvia. Theoretical research shows that refugees might have some problems with career adaptability and that is the case where career counsellor service might be needed.

The abstracts of the conference cover the latest research of the Latvian scientists in crop cultivation, horticulture and animal husbandry, as well as the projects implemented by agricultural scientists in 2023 are presented in the edition. The conference was held in presence and online at the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Jelgava, Latvia on February 23 and 24, 2023.

Social benefits are essential in providing support to families with children, especially in the first years of the child’s life as well as to families at risk of poverty (large families, parents raising a child alone). Social insurance benefits ensure parents with income while taking care of a child. Latvia’s strategic planning documents have defined social protection for families with children as one of the priority areas for several planning periods simultaneously emphasising the need to increase social security and promote the birth rate in the country. The research aim is to assess the social benefits system for families with children in Latvia. The research results allow concluding that the expenditure for social support for families with children as percentage of GDP in Latvia is lower than the average EU Member States indicator as well as it is the lowest one among the Baltic States. Support for families with children in Latvia is gradually growing; however, it is necessary to regularly increase the childbirth allowance taking into account inflation in order not to worsen the financial situation of these families as well as to allocate a larger proportion of GDP to support families with children in Latvia.

Global climate change impact has increased in recent decades and put urgency on implementing effective climate change mitigation (CCM) activities. Rewetting of drained peatlands is an acknowledged measure to reduce GHG emissions from organic soils in the agriculture and land use sectors. Under waterlogged conditions, decomposition of organic matter in peat decreases, and emissions of CO₂ are reduced. Thus, the soil carbon stock is saved, and wet management of the site reactivates carbon sequestration. To reach CCM targets, the first rewetting and paludiculture trials have been implemented in Latvia. In this article, we review the current status of paludiculture in Latvia and evaluate the pros and cons of their wider implementation. The majority of paludiculture projects and pilot studies in Latvia have not been published so far and are reported here for the first time. Our assessment of paludiculture shows that trails on <i>Alnus</i>, <i>Phalaris</i>, <i>Phragmites</i>, <i>Sphagnum</i>, and <i>Typha</i> installed by the private enterprises have promising results for upcoming large-scale implementation. There are available areas for paludiculture in Latvia, but the current legislation and national framework policies (environment, agriculture, forest, and climate) do not fully support such activities yet and must be adapted.

African swine fever (ASF) emerged in Latvia in 2014. In 2020, the virus has been detected in the German federal state, Saxony. In both regions, the virus was probably introduced by infected wild boar coming from affected neighboring countries. As the current ASF control strategy at EU level had not yet been developed at the time of ASF introduction into Latvia, disease control measures in both study areas differed over time. Assessing the course of ASF in Saxony and the implemented control strategies, the first 18 months of the ASF epidemic were epidemiologically compared between Saxony and Latvia. ASF wild boar surveillance data were analyzed and the prevalence of ASF virus-positive wild boar was estimated. For estimating the wild boar density, the numbers of wild boar per km&sup2: were calculated for the respective geographical areas. The number of samples collected from hunted wild boar and wild boar found dead was higher in Saxony. The ASF virus prevalence in Latvia was significantly higher than in Saxony, indicating that Saxony has had more time for getting prepared for dealing with an ASF incursion. Experience from other countries and the rapid implementation of new control strategies may have helped Saxony deal with ASF.