
Baltic Studies Centre (BSC) is a private non-profit research institute specialising in studies of sustainable rural and regional development, agro-food systems, farming and innovations
About
Baltic Studies Centre (BSC) is a private non-profit research organisation in the field of social sciences. Since establishment in 1991 BSC has carried out over 40 research projects including 15 EU Framework Programme projects. The areas of BSC expertise include sociology, sustainable agriculture, food supply chains, innovation networks, peri-urban agriculture, community development, public policy analysis.
BSC undertakes action oriented research strategies and cooperates with producers’ organisations, policy makers, municipalities, SMEs, and other research and advisory organisations nationally and internationally. This helps to focus the research on the needs of practitioners and enhance practical innovations.
A video about BSC's dissemination, exploitation, communication and outreach activities can be found here.
Blog


Shall we weed vegetable gardens through augmented reality glasses? BSC researchers contribute to the European discussion on the Long Term Vision for Rural Areas and the role digitalisation will play in shaping rural futures.


In October, students of the undergraduate programme in sociology (University of Latvia) were engaged in the project SINFO to conduct three focus group discussions (FGD). In these discussions we wanted to gain a more in-depth understanding of issues raised in the public opinion survey.


In September-October 2020, BSC provided an opportunity for sociology bachelor students from the University of Latvia to participate in the organisation of focus groups with consumers within the framework of the project SINFO ("Social innovation in food provision: Pathways to sustainable production and consumption"), thereby contributing to student training and involvement in scientific research.


Have you ever wondered - can I commercialise berries, mushrooms or other wild products? Answer these two questions and you will receive an answer on how to do it!


My colleagues and I are currently working on a project called SINFO. The overall purpose of the project is to gain a better understanding of social innovation in food provision and think about how we could enable practical innovations towards sustainable food production and consumption in Latvia. One of the first things we did, whilst still working on the conceptual framework, was to create a database of sorts of all the initiatives in Latvia that are related to food in general and more sustainable approaches to consumption and distribution in particular. One of the initiatives we looked at is the internet platform svaigi.lv.


Last week Anda and I attended the third seminar dedicated to the cultural strategy of Tukums. As far as I understand, this will likely be the last seminar for a good while, unless additional input from stakeholders is necessary to develop the document. The next event in this series will probably be the presentation of the first draft of the cultural strategy, and it will take place sometime in June 2020.
Team
PROJECTS
PUBLICATIONS


BSC has published multiple academic articles during last decades. Click "Continue Reading" to get more information.


In our studies we have been participating in a large number of research projects. Here are the links to most of research reports. Click "Read more" to continue.


Some of our studies have been reflected in mass media. Here are some sources where our studies have appeared.


Many of our studies have been practically oriented and have had policy recommendations as one of outputs. Here are some of the policy recommendation documents.