The purpose of this article is to establish the social and/or economic impact of the implemented Cohesion Fund (CF) projects on development of regions of Latvia. Three tasks are addressed to achieve this goal - to study CF projects by regions; analyse distribution of funding by sectors of economy and their compliance with CF objectives; to draft recommendations for improving the absorption of funds and achieving the goals of the European Union (EU) regional policy. The article consists of three chapters, an introduction and conclusions. New scientifically grounded recommendations are developed for improving socio-economic impact of the CF in Latvia. The key recommendation relates to the EU involvement in dealing with problems of increase in costs, namely - by proving that the increase in costs affects several of the new EU member states or Community regions, the EC will have to take part in addressing the problem. Further assessment of the socio-economic impact of the CF on development of regions of Latvia requires additional research.

The Baltic Sea problems in context of erosion always have been very topical and since ancient times have been caused by uncontrollable and unpredictable natural factors (storms). These factors combine with the impact of human economic activities of the direct effect of factors -building offshore and aquatorium, deficit of sediment and marine dredging and growth of recreational tourism growth that promote load of coastal vegetation and dune relief. The identification of costs and benefits is significant step for evaluation of the impact of the Project and usefulness of the costs. The positive impact or benefits can occur at once, after a while or long term perspective. The economic evaluation techniques particularly cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis for coastal protection in this case used for ascertain the most effective alternative. The sensitivity analysis was made for verifying impact of alternatives on taken solution. The aim of research is to verify the economic methods for application to coastal management in Latvia. The world’s coastal scientists believe that the future of coastal policy will become increasingly polarized and discussed; therefore, gradual implementation of the assessment process and development of socio-economic indicators is recommended.

This paper aims to deal with the phytoremediation approach for protection of environment and preventing the streaming of contaminant flows to hydrological systems. Phytoremediation is a cost-effective environmentally friendly clean-up technology, which uses plants and microorganisms in rhizosphere for soil and groundwater treatment. Phytoremediation is enhancing degradation of organic pollutants and improving stabilization of inorganic contaminants where plants can be used to treat soil and water polluted with hydrocarbons, chlorinated substances, pesticides, metals, explosives, radionuclides as well as to reduce the excess of nutrients. Selection of species for this type of treatment processes is based on evapotranspiration potential and ability to bioaccumulate contaminants. The project entitled “Phytoremediation Park for treatment and recreation at glassworks contaminated sites” (PHYTECO) aimed at cross-sector international partnership. The challenge of project was to develop remediation strategy where negative consequences from centuries long anthropogenic influence are turned to be something positive – development of the recreation park from the glass dump. New “Knowledge in Inter Baltic Partnership Exchange for Future Regional Circular Economy Cooperation” (PECEC) project is sequential continuation.

The aim of this paper is to summarise the experience gained at different levels of tourism destination planning in Latvia, identify the problems encountered during strategy planning and implementation, analyse the causes, and search for solutions. Theoretical aspects of the tourist destination planning have been extensively reviewed in publications, yet the research on what main problems planners have faced during the planning process, has been insufficient. In the last twenty years of Latvian tourist destination planning, at different levels, part of the plans were developed as documents; however, not all of them were implemented. The qualitative research summarises the experience of municipalities and tourism destination planning in Latvia. The research results show formally drafted tourism development documents of different levels and types in Latvia conform to modern planning theory and practice. In some cases even the latest knowledge and experience; create unique, innovative and competitive solutions. Tourism planning at the local level is often a painful process which raises a number of unresolved issues and unimplemented activities. The most significant differences observed from a comparison of theory and good planning practices in tourism development planning in Latvia are that the planning process is implemented within the boundaries of one municipality without taking into account the larger boundaries of tourist destinations. The involvement of entrepreneurs has only been formal and major, large-scale investment projects have not been planned or implemented.

The South-Esatern Anatolia Project (GAP) is a multi-sector and integrated regional development project in Turkey. The project area covers 9 administrative provinces - Adiyaman, Batman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Kilis, Mardin, Siirt, Sanliurfa, and Simak - in the basins of the Euphrates and Tigris. The GAP planned in the 1970s consists of projects for irrigation and hydraulic energy production on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The development program encompasses such sectors as irrigation, hydraulic energy, agriculture, fish farming, rural and urban infrastructure, forestry, education, and health. This project envisages the construction of 22 dams and 19 hydraulic power plants and irrigation of 1.7 million hectares of land. The total cost of the project is estimated as US $ 32 billion. The construction of several dams will cause an increase in total capacity of more than 600 000 tons of fish in the region. Aquaculture will be an important source of income for the people and the economy of the country, a sum of US $ 1.8 billion of income will be obtained each year.