MSD 26 PDF
MSD 26 PDF
MSD 26 PDF
BANKING SECTOR IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NEW WORLD FINANCIAL REFORM ............... 31
Valentina Mazurenko, Yegor Tkachenko
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Dear followers of idea for sustainable development,
Dear readers,
You hold serial 26-th volume (number 2/2010) of scientific journal Management and sustainable
development, published since 1999 from Faculty of Business Management at the University of
Forestry, Sofia, Bulgaria.
In this volume you can find the integral text of the part of presented papers before the XI-th
International Scientific Conference Management and Sustainable Development, held in Yundola in the
period 19-21.03.2010. From received for participation 238 aplications, with paper abstracts and
posters in Conference took part 152 scientists, practical experts, post-graduate students from 32
universities from Bulgaria, 7 universties from Europe, 3 scientific institutes of Bulgarian Academi of
Science, 2 coleges, experts from State Agency of Forests at Ministry Council, 4 NGOs and 5
enterprises. In 1 plenary and 4 parallel thematic sections were presented 86 scientific papers and 17
posters.
The important issues of management and sustainable development in an EU accession context
were discussed. Some main aspects could been summarized as follows: multifunctional forest
management have to be developed and encouraged in Bulgarian forests, because of their high
importance for environment improvement and biodiversity conservation, there are a high potential to
encourage utilization of revenuwble energy sources, based on the forest biomass; contemporary
practical and theoretical issues in human resources management; more attention have to be pointed
out to the social aspects for sustainable management; presentation and implementation of the best
practices and innovations; the practice for sustainable development shaping have to be reestablished;
more atention have to be intended to the students and post-graduated students investigations; the
more important issues have to be separated and have to be discussed into a suitable approach for
example, order of round tables, unformal discussions etc.; the all thematic fields have to be protected
and the conference have to be approved as a forum for ideas exchange.
The Faculty of Business Management leadership and the Editorial Board of Scientific Journal
Management and Sustainable Development have managed with the obligation to publish all presented
before the Conference papers and posters, but in 3 volumes - 25, 26 and 27 (1/2010; 2/2010 and 3-
4/2010) of the Journal. All papers and presentations could be find in the Internet site of the
Conference and of the Scientific Journal Management and Sustainable Development
(http://oldweb.ltu.bg/msd/index.htm).
In the same time we offer of all of you not only to read published papers. You could send to our
journal results of your investigations, ideas and papers on the issues of management and sustainable
development.
Kind regards of all our readers!
Editorial board
3
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Abstract
The paper analyses the need for modelling sustainable development as a co-evolutionary complex system, in-
tegrating economic, social and ecological perspectives. It outlines the characteristics of such a model as: hetero-
geneity (difference in nature and aims in these perspectives); equality (need to holistically integrate different priori-
ties) and human stewardship (the leading role of humanity in transforming, maintaining and/or sustaining the
Earths complex system). The paper also addresses information issues arguing that purely cybernetic models can-
not satisfy the requirements for modelling sustainable development, as they do not incorporate the required quali-
tative value-based assessment. Wide ranges of sustainability indicators are already being developed and applied for
monitoring and reporting. However allowing full access to such information through a Global Green Information
System (GGIS) can permit deliberative democracy processes to start implementing assessment and decision-
making processes that align with humans responsibility as guardians of the planet Earth.
Introduction also makes the point that full access to the in-
According to Hasna [13], sustainability re- formation required for such models can only hap-
fers to a development of all aspects of human pen through a global green information system
life affecting sustenance. The concept of sus- (GGIS) that could permit policy makers, re-
tainability has been associated with a wide searchers, industry and the wider community to
range of human activities related to the use of start implementing assessment and decision-
resources (e.g. natural, human and financial), making processes that originate from deliberation
implying long-term continuity and ability to carry and align with humans responsibility as guardi-
on with these activities indefinitely [15]. De- ans of the planet Earth.
scribed as use-inspired basic research [4], in
the last 30 years we have witnessed the emer- 1. Modelling sustainable development
gence of a new field of study in relation to sus- By their nature, scientific models are a sim-
tainability that aims at addressing complex prob- plified representation of the reality but they also
lems from a new holistic perspective. This new become themselves an object of study [7], thus
science is still in the process of defining and de- allowing for new knowledge to emerge. The
veloping its analytic and scientific underpinning, models developed in the field of sustainability
approach, tools, objectives, aims and tasks [24]. studies cover the full range of categories, namely
Although there have already been numerous at- [23]:
tempts at modelling the various aspects of sus- Pictorial visualisation models, such as
tainable development (e.g. [3, 6], the art of the most popular Venn diagram with
modelling is yet to deliver models that satisfy the three overlapping circles representing
whole range of issues related to the role of hu- the economic, social and environmental
mankind as stewards of the planet Earth who are aspects of sustainability (see Figure 1);
in a position to protect its natural environment Quantitative models, including models
for present and future generations [23]. instigating from econometrics, environ-
The paper presents an argument for the mental sciences, physics, computer sci-
modelling of sustainable development to be ences, cybernetics and engineering;
based on the concept of co-evolution and for the Physical models which are smaller or
need of information-based global models that larger physical version mainly of the en-
allow a time horizon span larger than a century in vironmental aspects of the sustainability
order for global intelligent systems to emerge. It puzzle;
4
Vladislav Todorov, Dora Marinova
Conceptual models that link sustainabil- ment lies in understanding the processes that
ity to deeper philosophical, ethical or will generate a different way for humanity to re-
other theoretical ideas, such as the lim- late to its hosting planet Earth and fully embrace
its to growth paradigm or scenarios for its stewardship. The co-evolutionary paradigm
the future; and offers a conceptual framework that can inform
Standardising models, including indica- such a shift in knowledge, thinking and practice.
tors, benchmarks and targets.
2. Co-evolution
In recent years co-evolution has attracted a
lot of attention as a concept which is yet to de-
velop its full heuristic potential. Originated as an
exotic ontological idea about universal intercon-
nectedness, nowadays co-evolution forms the
methodological basis for knowledge generation in
a wide array of areas biology, languages or
intelligent software [21]. According to Margulis
and Sagan [14], it is an example of life develop-
ing through networking rather than fighting.
This interconnectivity and mutual adjust-
ment is at the core of grasping sustainability (see
Figure 2). A co-evolutionary approach implies the
simultaneous self-development of humanity,
economy and nature in their own individual tra-
Fig. 1. Sustainability Venn diagram jectories (marked as ) under the forces, which
generate their development. The adjustments to
It is often the case that the modelling of a the external forces are marked as .
particular phenomenon or system is done Understanding the co-evolution of nature,
through a combination of models from the above the economy and humanity requires considering
categories as each one of them serves a differ- the following important aspects:
ent purpose and/or a different audience. Accord- The co-evolving entities (i.e. the co-
ing to Boulanger and Brchet [3], from a policy evolvents) are equally positioned in the
perspective sustainable development models evolution process. This implies that
should be able to: (1) adopt an interdisciplinary there is a need to balance and integrate
approach; (2) manage uncertainty; (3) provide a all the value systems and decision-
long-range or intergenerational point of view; (4) making that relate to environmental, so-
present a global and local perspective; and (5) cial and economic priorities without
involve stakeholders participation. It is yet to compromising one for the other;
find a model or class of models that can satisfy The co-evolvents difference in nature
all of the above criteria. A common weakness of makes them internally independent in
models so far has been their focus on individual the sense that each co-evolving entity is
components, states, outcomes or aspirations self-defined, has its own internal laws,
related to sustainability with less attention paid rules and regulations that make it what
on the processes themselves that are occurring it is and which are independent from the
within society, the economy and the natural en- others internal laws, rules and regula-
vironment and are generating global concerns for tions. The rules governing the economy
our future. Climate change is the most poignant are distinctively different to the ones in-
example of this. fluencing society and yet again very dis-
This is not to say that all the progress that similar to the ones describing the natural
has been achieved in modelling so far is unimpor- environment;
tant. To the contrary, we have been able to de- The co-evolvents are externally depend-
vise some useful guiding tools and achieved ent in the sense that each co-evolving
enormous progress in developing computer entity can be informed and influenced
power, networks and capabilities. However the by the others. In other words, changes
nature of the sustainability challenge at the mo-
5
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: FROM MODEL EVOLUTION TO SYSTEM COEVOLUTION FOR
6
Vladislav Todorov, Dora Marinova
Information processes are real processes tion to inform humanity about the state of the
of system interactions; global system, and its human, economic and en-
They are spontaneous and occur in an vironmental components, in relation to being sus-
environment shaped by the interactions tainable. The role of humans however would still
between the systems components; be to negotiate the value judgements that define
They are subject to the law of informa- their actions (or inactions) to respond to co-
tion relevance, which is based on the evolution.
systems hierarchy, nature and complex-
ity. 4. Global Green Information System (GGIS)
Information theory requires information to It is the first time in the history of humanity
be analysed as sets (triads) of the systems that computer power allows the following two
status related to generation, transmission and previously improbable realisations:
reception of information components described 1. Building of a global virtual (e.g. GIS-
as the semantics, syntax and pragmatics trinity. based) model of the planet Earth. Such
The process itself is transformation and trans- a model could allow not just forecasting
mission of these states while the direction and and prediction but also scenario building
content of the information process are deter- and trajectory projections within the
mined by the information potential of the sys- probability spaces for the future. It will
tem, which in turn is indicative of its system di- represent a global virtual reality that
versity [22]. could be studies, analysed, explored and
The use of this information model is for hopefully properly understood;
practical learning and knowledge generation to 2. Establishing of a global green informa-
occur and they will reflect the constant proc- tion system (GGIS) that collects, stores
esses of change triggered by co-evolution. Such and transmits sustainability information
learning is a property of intelligence, understood across the globe. The main functions of
as a non-psychological, non-epistemological GGIS should be:
category (implied, for example, in artificial intelli- Monitoring of the co-evolutionary
gence) and can be a property of a particular type processes, both globally and locally
of systems [22]. Martin [16] alludes about hu- it is extremely important that the
manity having to deal with its own human intelli- system provides a functional link be-
gence but also with automated human thought tween these two levels;
and non-human like thought. Facilitating decision-making it is
Many psychologists point to the fact that crucial that the GGIS provides an
human intelligence is essentially expressed in environment where decisions can be
various behaviours in varying contexts (instead negotiated based on signals originat-
of a general genetically inherited property) based ing from all localities. The system
on human beings hallmark their flexible central should allow for a new way of un-
nervous system that allows for learning to occur derstanding the global challenges
[20]. In humans, this learning is generated not breaking the silos between the vari-
only from the perspectives of natural sciences ous elements, disciplines and politi-
and philosophy but also from what epistemology cal boundaries and making a qualita-
considers external perspectives, such as techno- tive shift to a holistic thinking;
logical, sociological, economic, political, spiritual Information storage as any infor-
and ethical as well as experience, wisdom and mation system this is a basic func-
intuition. Human intellect is demonstrated tion, however in the case of the
through actions that are based on internal values GGIS access to these stored infor-
and motivation that are not always obvious. mation should be made available
With the advance and constantly increasing across the globe;
power of computer technology, such non- Studying the global virtual model of
epistemological intelligence will be present in a the planet Earth the data from the
new type of information machines that should be modelling process should be acces-
able to generate information processes, which sible through the GGIS.
are set-up in pragmatics. They will be in a posi-
7
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: FROM MODEL EVOLUTION TO SYSTEM COEVOLUTION FOR
What GGIS should not provide is the possi- formation about the co-evolving global system.
bility of centralised control and decision-making. According to Black [2], participation in delibera-
In other words, there should not be any particu- tive forums has shown to influence participants
lar locality that could dominate the decision- political knowledge, opinions and subsequent
making process or control the access to informa- civic participation. Similarly, it is likely that delib-
tion about the co-evolving processes. erating on sustainability issues will contribute
towards shaping peoples knowledge, opinions
5. Sustainability assessment and deliberative and subsequent civic actions. The GGIS has the
democracy potential to provide the virtual space for such
The information model for sustainable de- deliberations to occur.
velopment handled by learning and intelligent
machines can only be a facilitator for humanity Conclusion
to fulfil its stewardship role on this planet. De- The global nature of the imperatives of sus-
spite its knowledge generation power, Meadows tainable development, and climate change in par-
et al. [17] refer to information and information ticular, require global knowledge and global ac-
flow as only one leverage point to intervene in a tion. So far the art of modelling and the science
system in order to restore its sustainability. It is of sustainability have delivered outcomes that
important to accept that any modelling and are only attempting to provide a more holistic
knowledge generation outcomes will be put into way of viewing the world and gear the shift to-
use according to peoples value systems and wards sustainability. Despite some insightful
available decision-making systems and proc- knowledge generation, we are now at a point
esses. Therefore sustainability assessment (e.g. where society has unprecedented computer
[11]) becomes a crucial element. power and unparallel opportunity to put it into
According to Pope et al. [19], the most im- use for tackling the most complex and wicked
portant function of sustainability assessment is [8] problem in its history.
the ability to provide a space for deliberation and Based on the co-evolutionary paradigm, the
exchange of ideas, understanding, perspectives argument presented in this paper for the estab-
and worldviews. It is essential that such an ex- lishment of a global green information system
change occur in a non-hierarchical environment (GGIS) to facilitate deliberative democratic proc-
where there is full awareness that the tasks of esses leading towards a more sustainable pres-
achieving and maintaining sustainability are not ence and actions by the human stewards of the
only shared but cannot be achieved on an indi- blue planet Earth, could provide a way to embark
vidual basis (be it an individual person or individ- upon a road of hope.
ual country) and without cooperation. On the
other hand, sustainability as a global concept and Acknowledgments
aspiration needs to be translated into local ac- The authors wish to acknowledge the financial
tions. It requires things to be done differently support of the Australian Research Council. The first
author is also grateful for the feedback received from
with creativity, in collaboration and democrati-
the participants and referees of the International Sci-
cally.
entific Conferences on Management and Sustainable
In addition to the ever-increasing power of Development, Yundola, Bulgaria where some of the
computer technology, more recently (particularly original concepts were first presented.
after 9/11) we also started to witness the ap-
pearance of a new type of democracy, namely Reference
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making through public deliberation by the people lications, New York, 1990
following social principles, such as respect, right 2. Black, L. W. Listening to the city: Difference,
to speak and dialogue (e.g. [5, 9, 10]). identity and storytelling in online deliberative
groups, Journal of Public Deliberation, 2009, 5(1),
There are already numerous examples of de-
Article 4, services.bepress.com/jpd/vol5/iss1/art4
liberation processes happening on-line (e.g. [2]). 3. Boulanger, P. M. Thierry Brechet, T. Models for
The GGIS can be linked and can feed expert in- policy-making in sustainable development: The
formation into such on-line deliberative proc- state of the art and perspectives for research,
esses. This will allow for a distributed decision- Ecological Economics, 2005, 55, 337350
making around the globe with relevance to the
particular localities in the presence of global in-
8
Vladislav Todorov, Dora Marinova
4. Clark, W. C. Sustainability science: A room of its 17. Meadows, D., Meadows, D., Randers, R. Beyond
own, Proceedings of the National Academy of the Limits: Confronting Global Collapse, Envision-
Science USA, 2007, 104, 17371738 ing a Sustainable Future, Chelsea Green Publish-
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Liberals, Critics, Contestations, Oxford University 18. Newman, P., Kenworthy, J. Sustainability and
Press, eBook, 2002 Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence, Is-
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of Sustainable Development (New Horizons in En- 19. Pope, J. M., Morrison-Sauders, A., Annandale,
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9. Gastil, J. W. Political Communication and Delib- Bulgarian)
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2008 ment sustainability: Modelling problems (Is E-
10. Gastil, J.W., Levine, P. (eds) The Deliberative conometrics of sustainable development possi-
Democracy Handbook: Strategies for Effective ble?), Management and Sustainable Development,
Civic Engagement in the Twenty-First Century, 2006, 18(3-4), 136140 (in Bulgarian)
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11. Gibson, R. B., Hassan, S., Holtz, S., Tansey, J., ity, Proceedings of the 2009 Congress of the
Whitelaw, G. Sustainability Assessment: Criteria Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and
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nal of Engineering for Sustainable Development: of Australia and New Zealand, 2009,
Energy, Environment, and Health, 2 (1), 2007, www.mssanz.org.au/MODSIM09/MODSIM09.htm
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Books, New York, 1986 waii International Conference on Systems Sci-
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ity agenda, Journal of Economic Surveys, 2006, ory, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, Berlin,
20(4), 587606 2002
16. Martin, J. The Meaning of the 21st Century, Riv-
erhead Penguin, New York, 2007
9
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Abstract
Statistical modelling is one of the most widespread methods of research of economic and urban eco-
environment systems. The selection of methods of modelling of the urban eco-environment systems depends on a
great number of conditions (modelling components) of the system being researched. The method of statistical
modelling allows developing different scenarios of functioning of the investigated economic and urban eco-
environment systems. Most of the economic processes and urban eco-environment systems are complex entities,
consisting of a great number of interrelated subsystems (which in their turn also are complex objects and require a
detailed study), changing their positions in space and time. For researching economic and urban eco-environment
systems it is impossible to create an effective model by applying traditional analytical methods. In such cases it is
necessary to use the methods of statistical modelling using Monte Carlo method. In the process of modelling the
most frequently method used to model multivariate distribution incidental values is the parametric method of mod-
elling. In this case it is necessary to establish parameters of common distribution of incidental values characteriz-
ing the factors under consideration. Usually this is done by means of evaluation of parameters of multivariate dis-
tribution, i.e. by establishing the most suitable distribution, deriving from the available empirical data. On the basis
of the obtained model it is possible to estimate the behaviour of the investigated economic and urban eco-
environment systems in relation with probabilities and therefore its expected values what is not possible to do
with classical methods. When establishing the distribution of parameters describing the behaviour of investigated
economic and urban eco-environment systems from empirical information most frequently is insufficient for a
credible assessment of parameters offered by the function of distribution. In these cases it is necessary to use
nonparametric modelling methods, given distribution of incidental values and then modelling parameters of distri-
bution. The objective of the paper is to describe the technique of using of statistical modelling methods for inves-
tigation of economic and urban eco-environment systems.
Key words: Statistical modelling, economic and urban eco-environment systems, effectiveness
Statistical modelling is one of the most common distribution of incidental values charac-
widespread methods of research of economic terizing the factors under consideration. Usually
and urban eco-environment systems. The selec- this is done by means of evaluation of parame-
tion of methods of modelling of the urban eco- ters of multivariate distribution, i.e. by establish-
environment systems depends on a great number ing the most suitable distribution deriving from
of conditions (modelling components) of the sys- the available empirical data. On the basis of the
tem being researched. The method of statistical obtained model it is possible to estimate the be-
modelling allows developing different scenarios haviour of the investigated economic and urban
of functioning of the investigated economic and eco-environment systems in relation with prob-
urban eco-environment systems. Most of the abilities and therefore its expected values what
economic processes and urban eco-environment is not possible to do with classical methods.
systems are complex entities, consisting of a When establishing the distribution of parameters
great number of interrelated subsystems (which describing the behaviour of investigated eco-
in their turn also are complex objects and require nomic and urban eco-environment systems from
a detailed study), changing their positions in empirical information most frequently is insuffi-
space and time. For researching economic and cient for a credible assessment of parameters
urban eco-environment systems it is impossible offered by the function of distribution. In these
to create an effective model by applying tradi- cases it is necessary to use nonparametric mod-
tional analytical methods. In such cases it is elling methods, given distribution of incidental
necessary to use the methods of statistical mod- values and then modelling parameters of distribu-
elling using Monte Carlo method. In the process tion. The main objective of the paper is to de-
of modelling the most frequently method used to scribe the main ideas of using of statistical mod-
model multivariate distribution incidental values elling methods for investigation of economic and
is the parametric method of modelling. In this urban eco-environment systems.
case it is necessary to establish parameters of
10
Vladimirs Jansons, Vitalijs Jurenoks, Konstantins Didenko
X ~ DF (1)
Fig. 1. Urban waste management structure urban
statistical information system We also compute the maximum of L1, which
is the same function with parameters unre-
Main role in waste management takes in- stricted. Each zone Z has different parameters,
formation technologies. The modern degree of given the heterogeneous accident distribution.
development of information systems in social We want to find the zone which maximizes the
and economic area allows solving the problem on LR (likelihood ratio) between likelihoods L1 and
revealing factors which influence development L0:
urban social-economic systems as a whole. L
These allow an opportunity to use methods of LR( Z ) = 1 (2)
statistics (scan statistics methods) more widely, L0 Z
using greater files of the information on dynam- In the case of Poisson distribution process,
ics of development of investigated object for dif- the likelihood ratio takes the following form:
ferent social, economical points of view. For ex-
ample, a growing urban activity implies appear- c cin c cout
in out
ances of the extra-waste (black points) in no
n n
LFi = in cout
predictable place of the city street structure.
Scan statistics method allows quickly and accu- I , (3)
ctot
tot
11
STATISTICAL MODELLING OF BEHAVIOUR OF URBAN ECO-ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM
12
Vladimirs Jansons, Vitalijs Jurenoks, Konstantins Didenko
agement analysis and modelling waste manage- (black points), using the saved up statistical in-
ment processes. formation about ecological situation (waste dis-
tribution by places and by time, accidental points
spot points, noise level in every district).
Time
3 year
2 year
Fig. 7. Waste recycling mixed strategies for waste management cost reduction.
The aim of modelling waste recycling mixed the relevant sampling process. Two major con-
strategies is to ensure the recovery and recycling cerns with existing methods or approximations
of packaging waste in the most economically of a scan statistic are, knowing what really is
efficient and ecologically sound manner. correct, and what assumptions are made about
statistical distributions used in the approxima-
Conclusion tion. Scan statistic has wide area of applications:
The scan statistic methodology at this stage marketing, community infrastructure, disaster
looks at scenarios and probability models for the management, ecosystem health, air pollution,
null distribution in the time series of events, as- waste management, robotic networks, environ-
suming a constant background rate of random mental management and policy, public health
events according to the null distribution. It is im- and environment, social networks.
portant to distinguish the appropriate model for The use of scan statistics enabled:
13
STATISTICAL MODELLING OF BEHAVIOUR OF URBAN ECO-ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM
to make analysis of waste management 4. Glaz, J.; Naus, J., Wallenstein, S. Scan Statistics.
in towns and regions of Latvia; Springer Series in Statistics, 2001, 367-370
to detect clusters with utmost waste in- 5. Wallenstein, S. Scan Statistic, 2005,
http://c3.biomath.mssm.edu/wscan.html.
tensity applying scan windows of differ-
6. Ward, M.P. and Carpenter, T.E. Methods for De-
ent sizes; termining Temporal Clusters in Surveillance and
to check significance of clusters detected Survey Programs. In: Animal disease Surveillance
with highest frequency of waste (black and Survey Systems. Methods and Applications.
points) on the basis of null hypothesis Ed. Salman, M.D. Iowa State Press, Ames Iowa,
equal to value of 0,05; 2003, p 87-99
to analyse the dynamics of changes of 7. Tuia, D., Kaiser, C., Da Cunha, A., Kanevski, M.
clusters detected taking into considera- Socio-economic cluster detection with spatial
tion the time factor. scan statistics. Case study: services at intra-urban
scale, Geocomputation 2007, National University
Detection of significant clusters of waste
of Ireland, 2007, Maynooth, 3-5 September
(black points) in towns and regions of Latvia en- 2007, http://www.clusterville.org/?CaseStudies/
ables to take prompt actions for improving the ScanStat
quality of waste management in Latvia. 8. Martin Kulldorff. A spatial scan statistic.
Communications in Statistics - Theory and Meth-
Reference ods, Volume 26, Issue 6 1997 , pages 1481
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ling and Simulation, Prague, Czech Republic, June scan statistics. Case study: services at intra-urban
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parametric method, International Mediterranean termining Temporal Clusters in Surveillance and
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14
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Abstract
There are many qualitative changes in the global economy related with globalization, unbalanced develop-
ment of countries, tightening of competitiveness struggle among different countries, regions and companies. Since
Latvia have joined EU and plays more significant role in international area, more attention is paid to competitive-
ness of Latvia and its regions. The evaluation of regional competitiveness is difficult, because there is no one gen-
erally accepted definition of competitiveness at regional level. Different interpretations of competitiveness depend
on the way how to achieve the certain level of prosperity. It is not possible to discuss fully about regional competi-
tiveness, its real position and future perspectives using only traditional macroeconomic indicators. For that reason
various extra synthetic indicators are used, that are calculated by different international organizations. The system
of indicators for evaluating the Latvias regions competitiveness was worked out. It contains the main and outside
factors that have an effect on competitiveness. The most competitive region of Latvia is Riga region, which has
the highest index of competitiveness. The less competitive region is Latgale in the East of Latvia, which shows the
lowest values almost in all positions in the model of competitiveness. Great differences between regions devel-
opment is a very topical problem for further development of Latvia.
Key words: Region, competitiveness, index, indicators, inside and outside factors
Question about evaluation and increasing tiveness of region depends on the level of wel-
of competitiveness of Latvia and its regions fare in this region. Various definitions of com-
becomes more topically, because Latvia is en- petitiveness appear from the way, how to
gaged in international integration processes. achieve high and sustainable level of welfare.
Latvia is interested in providing equal possibili- Following the existing researches and
ties to get work, income, social and cultural life emphasizing the main task of regional competi-
for all inhabitants. It is necessary to work out tiveness to increase the level of region popu-
scientifically approved method and model, how lation welfare, the author gives the following
to calculate and evaluate competitiveness of definition of regional competitiveness:
definite territory to find out those factors, Regional competitiveness is the ability of
which dwarf or promote growth of competi- the region to use the existing resources effec-
tiveness. So, it will be possible to show poten- tive, to maintain and attract the necessary re-
tial trend of region development. sources, in such way to satisfy the needs of
Nowadays to characterize socio- the region population us much us possible.
economical situation in regions of Latvia Terri- The competitiveness of regions is af-
tory Development Index (TDI) is used, which is fected by various macroeconomic and micro-
calculated for planning regions annually since economic factors. The author of the article
1999 [1,24]. However, indicators, which are has worked out the model of the factors of
used to calculate this index, do not characterize regional competitiveness in Latvia, which is
all factors of competitiveness, so TDI does not shown in Figure 1.
show the competitive advantages and competi- State policy
conclude, that the best way, how to character- Economy and Competitive- Education
production
ize development and competitiveness of vari-
ness
of region
15
Ilze Judrupa, Maija Senfelde
The competitiveness of regions mainly is tions, when the values can be only positive
affected by life quality, productivity and level numbers and after the normalization they will
of employment in the region. These factors, in be in the diapason from 0 to 1.
their turn, depend on the inside factors hu- Normalization is made using the formula
man resources, social sphere, education, cul- 1:
ture, health etc. Also the outside factors - po- ai a min
litical stability of the country, strategies, mem- ai' = , (1)
bership in different international organizations, a max a min
play the important role in the evaluation of where:
competitiveness of regions. a i' - normalized value of the factor;
The 2nd step in the process of working out
the RCI is selection of the indicators that will
ai - actual value of the factor;
characterize 10 inside factors, to characterize amin and a max - minimal and maximal val-
the positive aspects of development, effective- ues of the factor [6].
ness and the negative effects, as well as let to
evaluate the necessary changes in the activi- The choose of this method is well
ties. Optimal system of indicators would allow founded, because:
to understand regularities that determine and relations among the original data are
influence competitiveness of regions, to fore- kept;
cast the trend of regional competitiveness de- regions are compared not to the mean
velopment and the necessary resources. value of the country, but to the best
Using the authors model of factors of re- or worse indicators;
gional competitiveness, there is selected lim- values of indicators are positive num-
ited amount of indicators to characterize each bers;
of the 10 factor groups. It was necessary to
the normalized values are easy inter-
take into consideration the condition, that only
preted and understandable
the statistical data could be used.
The 5th step is formation of RCI function.
There were selected 10 factors and 54 in-
RCI function for the regional competitiveness
dicators to characterize the competitiveness of
model, made by the author, is shown in the
regions. Such factors as economy and produc-
formula 2:
tion, accessibility, social and cultural sphere
RKI = ( 1 FC + 2 FS + 3 FIZ + 4 FK +
have most of all indicators. Factor groups that
are concerned with human capital develop- + 5 FV + 6 FP + 7 FIN + 8 FR + (2)
ment, possibilities to get education, medical aid + 9 FD + 10 FE ) 1,
and innovation sphere have 3 indicators. The
selection of the number of indicators depended where:
on the statistical availability and the area of the RKI index of regional competitiveness;
indicator (indicators do not overlap). 1 ... 7 - relative weights of the factors;
The 3rd step is weighting of the factors. To FC - index of human resources;
weight the factors the method of comparing
the factor pairs was used, which in point of FS - index of social sphere;
fact is the expert method [5,93]. FIZ - index of education;
The 4th step is the normalization of indica-
tors, the main task of which is to forestall FK - index of culture sphere;
situation, when one or more factors can domi- FV - index of health sphere;
nate, because diapason of values can be very
FP - index of accessibility;
different. The normalized values are calculated
from the original values that are marked in FIN - index of innovations and research;
pieces, %, km etc. In the process of normali- FR - index of economy and production;
zation the original measures disappear and
various indicators become comparable. FD - index of natural resources;
After analyses of different value normali- FE - index of ecology and environment
zation methods the author chooses min-max
normalization [0;1], which is used in situa-
16
COMPETITIVENESS OF PLANNING REGIONS IN LATVIA
indekss
0.5
applying the min-max normalization [0;1]. To Rgas reions 0.703867 0.708334 0.723757 0.754873 0.754311 0.772975 0.766693 0.769652
the arithmetical mean of definite factor groups Zemgales reions 0.42385 0.378933 0.396049 0.40797 0.425378 0.405013 0.412763 0.421199
Latgales reions 0.238376 0.232762 0.236102 0.221407 0.217658 0.200373 0.195692 0.218516
is calculated.
Fig. 3. Regional competitiveness index RCI for plan-
1 f 1 f min1 f 2 f min 2
Fn = + + ning regions of Latvia [authors calculations]
N f max1 f min1 f max 2 f min 2
(3) In the Figure 3 it is possible to see, that
f n f min n the most competitive region is Riga planning
+ ... + , region, where the RCI was 0,76965 in 2007.
f max n f min n Kurzeme region was in the 4th place after re-
where: gions Zemgale and Vidzeme. The last place
Fn - index of the regional competitive- took planning region of Latgale.
To clear up why the definite region took
ness factor;
the definite place, the indicators, used to cal-
f1 ... f n - actual values of the indicators of culate the RCI, ant their relative weights were
the definite factor; analyzed. In the Figure 4 it is possible to see
f min , f max - minimal and maximal values factors of RCI and their values in planning re-
gions of Latvia in 2007.
of the indicators of the definite factor;
N number of the indicators of the defi-
1.2
nite factor. 1
0.8
0.2
0
Kurzeme Vidzemes Zemgale Latgale
Riga regiona
region region region region
Human capital 1 0.42640629 0.25859098 0.67558007 0.20238095
Social sphere 0.7267032 0.51961294 0.43423981 0.5027162 0.23063562
Education 0.50426308 0.49901886 0.66666667 0.46959414 0.10569609
Culture 0.74297218 0.52670896 0.55519895 0.21994972 0.2827721
Health 1 0.08422015 0.34718276 0.2962527 0.50547055
Accessibility 0.86174964 0.36621211 0.42359916 0.45194071 0.20431923
Innovations and research 1 0.02948279 0.09419978 0.15271469 0.10329663
Economy and production 0.69355453 0.35479033 0.26266475 0.44153998 0.09004437
Natural resources 0.46611641 0.86610441 0.46822781 0.14727346 0.297806
Ekology and environment 0.36022209 0.34550892 0.76886949 0.85717394 0.72552118
From Figure 2 we can see, that all plan- From the Figure 4 we can also see, that
ning regions are similar by area. Relatively Riga Riga planning region took the first place almost
region is less than other regions, its specific in all positions, but Latgale region was in the
weight is 16,5% from all territory of the coun- last place.
try. The biggest is region Vidzeme 23,6% To evaluate levels of competitiveness the fol-
from all territory of Latvia. lowing values of the RCI were used:
RCI for planning regions of Latvia is 0 0,1 very low (VL)
shown in the Figure 3. 0,2 0,3 low (L)
17
Ilze Judrupa, Maija Senfelde
0,4 0,5 intermediate (I) To point out the main factors that promote or
0,6 0,7 good (G) dwarf the competitiveness of planning regions,
0,8 high (H) the table of factors and indicators that affect
0,9 1,0 very high (VH) competitiveness of definite region was made
(table 1).
Table 1. Factors that affect competitiveness of Kurzeme region in 2007 [made by the author]
Level of competitiveness
Relative
Factors Riga Kurzeme Vidzeme Zemgale Latgale
weight
region region region region region
Human capital 0,11 VH I L G L
Social sphere 0,09 G I I I L
Education 0,16 I I G I VL
Culture 0,04 G I I L L
Health 0,09 VH VL L L I
Accessibility 0,04 H L I I L
Innovations and research 0,20 VH VL VL VL VL
Economy and production 0,18 G L L I VL
Natural resources 0,02 I H I VL L
Ecology and environment 0,07 L L G H G
From the table 1 it is possible to conclude planning regions of Latvia in the area of ecology
that total level of Riga region competitiveness is and environment.
high, if we compare Riga region with other The last place took Latgale region, which
planning regions of Latvia. The most competi- competitiveness level is low or very low, except
tive areas are health, innovations and research ecology and environment (good performance).
and human capital, which have the highest rela- To work out the regional policy and state
tive weights. In the sphere of ecology and envi- assistance tools, it is necessary to take into
ronment Riga planning region competitiveness is consideration and to develop in the future fac-
low, but this factor group is not so important in tors and advantages that promote competitive-
total RCI, because its relative weights is only ness of every region. But, special attention must
0,07. be paid to those factors that dwarf competitive-
Competitiveness of Kurzeme region, if it is ness of the region, it is necessary to evaluate
compared with other planning regions of Latvia, necessity and possibility to improve them.
is below the average. The most competitive
area in Kurzeme region is natural resources. Reference
However, as the relative weight of this factor is 1. Regionu attistiba Latvija 2006., Riga: VRAA,
small (0,02), natural resources do not affect RCI 2007, 63 p.
2. Regionu attistiba Latvija 2007, Riga, VRAA,
substantially. But in the areas, which relative
2008, 64 p.
weight is higher (innovations and research
3. Vanags E., Vilka I. Pasvaldibu darbiba un attistiba,
0,2, economy and production 0,18), competi- Riga: LU Akademiskais apgads, Latvijas Pas-
tiveness of Kurzeme region is low or very low. valdbu savieniba, 2005, 382 p.
Vidzeme region competitiveness is inter- 4. Vaidere I., Vanags E., Vanags I., Vilka I. Regionala
mediate low, but it shows high results in such politika un pasvaldibu attistiba Eiropas Savieniba
areas like education and ecology and environ- un Latvija, R: LU Akademiskais apgads, LSI
ment. Education plays more important role in 2006. - 295 p.
the total RCI, because its relative weight is one 5. Magidenko A., Senfelde M. Regionu konkuretspe-
jas novertesana Latvija // Tautsaimniecibas un
of the highest 0,16.
uznemejdarbibas attistibas problemas: zin.raksti,
Competitiveness of Zemgale planning re-
Riga: RTU izdevnieciba, 2007. - 90-96. p.
gion is also intermediate low, except such 6. Sukovs A. Datu normalizacija. Ievads datu ieguve,
spheres as human capital (good performance) 2006. http://es.rtu.lv/dssg/lv/education/bsc/
and ecology and environment (high perform- DID308/lek-04-d_norm_2006.pdf. - Resurss ap-
ance). The most important is the human capital, skatits 23.01.2009
because its relative weight is 0,11. But Zemgale 7. CSB data base, http://www.csb.gov.lv/
region is the most competitive regions of all
18
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Tadeusz Trocikowski
European Scientific Foundation, Innovation Institute (under organization), Wloclawek, Poland
Abstract
Region of knowledge and innovation is the region that builds economy based on knowledge, this is learning
region, which has regional innovation strategy and efficiently operating regional innovation support system. In the
worlds economy, innovations are the basis of modern strategies for economic growth, development of enterprises
and forming the prosperity and well-being of the nations. We can notice dynamic movement of structures of well
developed economies into direction of industries and services basing on knowledge. In perception of innovation
and innovation process, there is a departure from single event in favour of complex of phenomenons and events
creating new products, processes, technologies and services. Innovation processes run in specific system of rela-
tions including networks of enterprises, scientific-research institutions and public administration. In the same time
we can see bigger and bigger role played by the correlations occurring between dynamics of creation and devel-
opment of innovative enterprises, and organization of regions and availability of specialised financial instruments.
Factor that decides about competitiveness of enterprise is innovation, while the pace of changes in engineering,
technology and organization causes that only the enterprise capable to introduce innovative changes can survive
and stay on the market. In the times of building the economy based on knowledge, all enterprises, even these
smallest ones, are under strong pressure of innovations, frequently in many disciplines/areas in the same time
(new products, processes, techniques and technologies, organization, relations with customers and suppliers).
Effectiveness of entrepreneurs within that range depends in big degree on their competences, management skills
and assumed strategies. Scientific researches point out growing role of environment, in which the enterprises are
functioning. Very important are also assumed system solutions that determine general frames for functioning of
the economy (regional innovation systems). Regional innovation system is complex, territorial and system view on
problem of innovativeness of the economy. Its functioning favours reduction of innovation risk for specific busi-
ness subject, makes it easier to absorb different kind of knowledge, provides possibility for interactive learning and
exchange of experiences. It is a base for building the competitiveness of given region in times of global economy,
where innovation, knowledge and learning process are the key factors for economic success. It allows for adapta-
tion of regional economies to globalisation process. In Poland regional innovation systems are weakly developed,
because process of their building in organizational dimension has been started just recently.
19
Tadeusz Trocikowski
nisms allowing for easier process of know-how knowledge in processes of production and pro-
transfer and knowledge commercialisation. viding services. This is the economy taking ad-
vantage of knowledge, creativity, and technol-
Economy based on knowledge ogy for producing the products and services. Key
Fundamentals of economy based on knowl- for realization of this goal is innovation.
edge were initiated together with acceptance of Development of economy based on knowl-
Lisbon Strategy, having in purpose to create on edge generates development of new type of
territory of Europe the most competitive econ- society knowledge-based society. In forthcom-
omy in the world. ing decades, existence of the Polish nation and
Economy based on knowledge is the econ- society as opposed to past centuries will not
omy, which can be characterised by fast devel- depend on military power, but it will depend on
opment of fields connected with processing of economic power. Economic power in turn has its
information and development of science, mainly source in resources of knowledge, which will be
these branches of industry that are included to gained and used by the society.
so called high technology, as well as techniques
and services of information society. Economy Researches
based on knowledge can be distinguished by a
few substantial features: investments in re-
searches and development, increase of impor-
tance of export and international connections; in Growth and
knowledge based economy there is a growth of Employment
20
REGIONAL NETWORKS SUPPORTING INNOVATIONS THEORETICAL STUDY
process of learning. Innovativeness is perceived jects. Regional networks creating learning region
as integration of information and resources by are not restricted to business subjects, but they
local environment. One of the elements of inno- also cover social, political and institutional ani-
vative environment are strong territorial and in- mators, where transferring information and
stitutional structures, which form an instrument knowledge is natural and frequent process.
necessary in management process and create Learning region concept is based in special
climate connected with learning. The most im- way on assumptions of dynamic interactive
portant interest point of innovative environments models of innovation process. Process approach
is supporting local synergies. Hence territory is to innovation has grown up on the basis of criti-
perceived both as the reason and effect of syn- cism towards traditional linear mode of innova-
ergy of the players and collective learning proc- tion pushed by science or pulled by the mar-
esses. Further works over innovative environ- ket. Innovations are understood as interactive
ment concept came to fruition with appearance process occurring between the companies and
of better established and more practically used scientific infrastructure, also between producers
theory of regional innovation systems. We define and users on inter-organizational level as well as
Regional Innovation System as network of coop- between the companies and wider institutional
eration between organizations and institutions environment. That is why innovation process
operating in given region, which goal is to de- should be perceived as interactive learning proc-
velop the innovativeness of that region by sup- ess, in which various institutional mechanisms
porting innovative potential of the enterprises. play a great role.
Another words we can state that RIS, which is The networks are the main learning source,
an abbreviation from Regional Innovation Sys- though. According to assumed interactive inno-
tem, is a flexible, creative and regional socioeco- vation model, innovation processes in the region
nomic system with the widest possible connec- run by networking rather than as a part of hier-
tions, which takes advantage of local attributes archic structures and markets. Therefore for
and resources that decide about production and realization of learning region concept, similarly as
product in adequate way to the peculiarity of in case of systems of innovation and clusters,
local market. regional dimension of networking phenomenon is
of the key importance.
Learning region As basic attribute of learning region we can
Approach stressing out a fact that enter- assume regional innovation networks perceived
prise competitiveness factors arise first of all in as effective mechanism of collective learning and
conditions of regional development was defined generating innovations.
with term of learning region. Role of public au- Innovation networks focus formally inde-
thorities is underlined here, which task should be pendent organizations under long term relations
to stimulate all factors responsible for develop- implicating exchange of information, interactive
ment of science, researches, improvement of learning process and direct cooperation. Network
human resources and applying high technology in forms of management are more preferred from
enterprises of learning region. the markets and hierarchic structures, because
The main driving force of learning region is they provide more flexibility and more enduring
continuous innovation and skills to adapt to and effective base for coordination of common
changing market conditions. actions, what can not be found in anonymous
According to OECD, model of learning re- market relations. It is also worth to notice here,
gion sets a direction, in which regions should that despite of justified associations and similari-
follow for effective reaction to challenges result- ties between innovation networks and innovation
ing from appearance of learning economy. Key environment, abovementioned concepts have to
issue for learning region is an ability to be flexi- be distinguished. Innovation network is organiza-
ble and support interaction including exchange of tional system of cooperation and exchange es-
knowledge between various subjects in region in tablished in purpose of development of knowl-
the face of changing economical circumstances. edge, products and services. Whereas innovation
Learning region can be characterised by regional environment it is existing ability of the region in
institutions, which facilitate individual and organ- more institutional dimension, which leads to de-
izational learning by coordination of flexible net- velopment of innovation networks.
works including economical and political sub-
21
Tadeusz Trocikowski
22
REGIONAL NETWORKS SUPPORTING INNOVATIONS THEORETICAL STUDY
centres, technological parks, business surround- about market potential. This sphere includes
ing institutions, etc. Effectiveness of gaining and wide spectrum of research-development institu-
taking advantage of knowledge of these institu- tions and universities, which are the source of
tions has influence on successes of the enter- technological services, scientific solutions as
prises. Therefore regional innovation system well as advisory and education. The third pillar of
should be perceived in categories of cooperating innovation system, or another words its subsys-
organizations involved in process of creating, tem, is formed by local and regional development
diffusion and taking advantage of knowledge and institutions, which fulfil a function of some kind
innovations in the region. of catalyst for the whole system. Institutional
Innovation system in regional dimension is backup of system is formed by non-profit organi-
public-private cooperation forum of business zations and the ones that realize regional entre-
world, local self-government and national ad- preneurship support program.
ministration, scientific-research and educational They support the transfer and commerciali-
institutions as well as non-governmental organi- sation of technological knowledge, create
sations allowing for activation of local growth friendly mechanisms for establishing new innova-
factors and making better use of the resources. tive enterprises, and also they could provide
Innovation system is flexible socioeconomic sys- higher risk financial aid in favour of innovative
tem with wide connections, which is capable to undertakings.
take advantage of local resources and factors
determining production processes, adequately to Conclusions
peculiarity of regional market. Whereas it should 1. Theoretical considerations give the grounds
be stressed out that it is not possible to define to keep the thesis, that implementation of
one universal model of such system. innovation policy on region level is more ef-
Under innovation system the innovative en- fective than on country level. Regional inno-
terprises come into mutual interactions with their vation system concept is not in contradiction
suppliers, customers as well as competitors, with cluster model. On the contrary, it pro-
thus creating one of the pillars of system zone vides excellent complement and can be suc-
of entrepreneurs. In the same time the enter- cessfully used in creating regional develop-
prises cooperate with scientific-research sphere ment in regions under restructuring period.
responsible mainly for creating new knowledge
Universities
Higher Schools
Scientific Institutes
Self-government from abroad (EE, LV, Universities
administration LT, BG, CZ, SK, UA) Higher Schools
(region) Scientific
Self-government Associations (PL)
administration
(districts, communes)
Economic self-
III-rd Sector government
Patent
Centres: Attorney/Agent
Consulting firms Scientific
Training Implementation
institutions JBR
Financial
institutions
Fig. 3. Sub-regional Innovation Support Network - On example of Kujawy and Dobrzyn Land Region, Poland (own
elaborations)
23
Tadeusz Trocikowski
24
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Jekaterina Kuzmina
BA School of Business and Finance, Riga, Latvia
Abstract
Sustainable development refers to the fulfilment of human needs through simultaneous socioeconomic and
technological progress. This kind of progress is dependent upon continued economic, social, cultural, and techno-
logical progress, but in order to achieve this status careful attention should be paid to preservation of the re-
sources. In the process mentioned an adequate risk management plays an important role and could not be ne-
glected. This evidence allows coming to the conclusion that sustainable development could be achieved thorough
consideration of risks, uncertainties, and information and knowledge imperfections. The phenomenon of risk plays
a ubiquitous role in finance and insurance as well as in economics, since it is involved in nearly all financial and
economic activities. It is worth to mention that each financial and economical crisis leads to insights and affirma-
tion that we now recognize the causes, but on the other hand the question about appropriate risk management is
asked very seldom, and now even after the subprime crisis we do have the same ritual - improvement of methods
and tools, while no evaluation of the existing approach is done. The aim of the paper is to give a survey of the
development status of the Solvency II process. The approach has been motivated by the recent developments in
the insurance and finance business, where risk management and risk measures have become crucial to calculate
capital requirements. The article gives an overview, analysis and evaluation of the methods that are currently
available in practice.
25
Jekaterina Kuzmina
scarce capital of security in a way that on the in July 2007, Europe wide implementation is
one hand the risks are covered, but on the other scheduled to be completed by 2011 (follow [4]).
hand the least possible capital of security is kept. Solvency II has a number of objectives, whereby
The aim of this procedure is to define a corpora- the protection of policyholders is one of the most
tion-wide objective criterion to determine the significant. While previous regulatory action
capital of security, which quantifies the risk of regulated the industry on the product level to
business activity. Therefore, the complex risks protect the policyholders, the focus has been
have to be reduced to a one-dimensional risk shifted to the level of capitalization. But as there
measure. is no commonly accepted expression of risk in
Solvency II has been initiated by the Euro- the financial statements and therefore there is
pean Community, and it will introduce a new no possibility to rely on general level capital
solvency regime which will be characterized by requirements and specific regulation is needed.
an integrated risk management approach. In The overall architecture of Solvency II
2001 the European Commission started this pro- (European Commission (2003)) follows a three
ject in order to review the European framework pillar structure (follow figure 1) and is analogous
for the prudential supervision of insurers, and to Basle II in the banking sector.
Solvency II Framework Directive was presented
Solvency II
Eligible capital
Current disclosure
Technical provisions
Requirements (National
Capital requirements
Internal control GAAP; National
Asset valuation
Risk management regulatory reporting;
Risks to be included
Corporate governance IFRS 4; IFRS 7)
Risk measures and
Stress testing
assumptions
Continuity testing Future disclosure
Risk dependencies
requirements (IFRS;
Calculation formula
IAIS; EU legislation)
Internal model approach
The first pillar includes the risk-based quan- tal, reflects the required capital to meet all obli-
titative capital requirements, which are calcu- gations over a specified time horizon.
lated by a standard model or a more detailed, The second pillar reflects the qualitative risk
specified internal model. Solvency II divides the management. Its key elements are the control of
capital requirements in two levels: the minimum internal risk models, governance processes,
capital requirements designate the level of capi- stress tests or the quality of risk mitigation.
tal below which an insurance undertakings op- The third pillar stands for disclosure and
erations present an unacceptable risk to policy- transparency to reinforce the market mecha-
holders. If an undertakings available capital falls nisms and risk-based supervision.
below the minimum capital requirements, ulti- The basic concept of Solvency II have been
mate supervisory action should be triggered developed so far, however, the details are not
(Committee of European Insurance and Occupa- yet worked out. The aim of the European Com-
tional Pensions Supervisors (2005)). The Sol- mission is the commencement of the new sol-
vency Capital Requirements is the amount of vency regulations in the year 2010 2011. And
capital, to which we will refer as economic capi- that is the first problem on the field on risk man-
26
RISK MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
agement - international and national regulations place a detailed inspection. This idea should be
adaptation process takes too long period of time, taken into consideration while discussing the
but fast changing business environment can not sufficiency of the international risk models.
wait too long for the new requirements or The development of risk orientated supervi-
mechanisms that are supposed to prevent crisis. sion and solvability systems began several years
The requirements for a standard model in ago in the Netherlands, Great Britain, Switzer-
the Solvency II framework are complex. The land and Germany. Even thought Switzerland is
function of the model is to optimize the present not a member of the European Union there is a
equity capital, to use the equity capital under necessity to include also this system in the com-
yield return-risk-aspects and to deposit sufficient parison, while this particular country plays an
capital to cover the taken risks. The aim is to important role on the financial market and in the
create an easy standard model which is trans- business environment.
parent for the supervisory authority and needs The following table (see Table 1) presents
only a few parameters. main differences in the system among different
Furthermore, the model should evaluate all European countries mentioned. It is worth to
basic risks in the company homogeneously and point out that Value at Risk is one of the mainly
should measure all basic risks through one quan- used risk measures, and that is why it is neces-
titative factor, so that two periods or two busi- sary to pay attention to this risk measure and
nesses can be compared. However, the model evaluate it.
can only be an early indicator and can not re-
27
Jekaterina Kuzmina
28
RISK MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
z 1
g (z) = ~
(2 + z) 2
1+ z 1+ z
3
(9)
1+ z
G (z) = 1 2 for _ z
2+z
{
VaR (X1 ) = inf x Fx1 ( x ) 1 = } pens.
However, in the insurance business distribu-
= inf {x P(X1 x ) 1 } =
tions of the elliptical distribution family are usu-
(11) ally not used. Therefore, it is necessary to con-
1 sider the property of subadditivity.
= 1 Let understand subadditivity as mathematical
2
equivalent of the diversification effect. For a
subadditive risk measure, portfolio diversification
VaR ( X 2 ) = inf {x Fx 2 ( x ) 1 } = always leads to risk reduction, while for a non-
= inf {x P( X 2 x ) 1 } = (12)
subadditive risk measure it may happen that the
diversified portfolio requires more solvency capi-
1 tal than the original one. Several examples and
= 1
2 references about this topic can be found by [13].
Another disadvantage is the absence of con-
The following graph (Figure 2) shows the tinuity of the Value at Risk as a function of the
VaR for the example above: the first curve (see level for a fixed risk X.
Figure 1 left curve) is identically with the curve The Value at Risk as a quantile function is
of the sum VaR (X1) + VaR (X2); the second only continuous from the right. Therefore, it is
curve (see Figure 2 right curve) is equivalent to possible that for slightly different confidence lev-
the aggregated loss (equation 10). els one obtains highly different values for the
It is obvious that the risk measure Value at Value at Risk.
Risk violates the property of subadditivity in gen- However, this disadvantage can be corrected
eral. Example shows that it is more dangerous by calculation of the Value at Risk for many lev-
to have two independent Pareto distributed risks els. At high divergence of the confidence levels
in the same portfolio instead of having the two it is useful to regard economic considerations in
identical ones. the calculation of solvency capital.
29
Jekaterina Kuzmina
Hence, it is possible to say that the use of 3. Artzner, P., Delbaen, F., Eber, J.-M., Heath, D.
Value at Risk as risk measure requires caution Coherent Measures of Risk. Mathematical Finance,
and there is the necessity to look for other pos- 1999 9(3), p. 203 228
4. Eling M. The Solvency II Process: Overview and Criti-
sibilities for other risk measures.
cal Analysis. Risk management and insurance review.
2007 1, p. 69 86
Conclusions 5. Design of a future prudential supervisory system
Over the past years, risk management and in the EU, Recommendations by the Commission
risk measures have increasingly gained impor- Services. [online] [accessed 15 August 2009], Avail-
tance. Managing risks is supposed to optimize able from Internet: <http://www.ceiops.org>
the administration of the scarce capital of secu- 6. Consultation Paper No. 7. Draft Answers to the
rity in a way that on one hand the risks are cov- European Commission on the Second Wave of Calls
ered and on the other hand the least possible for Advice in the Framework of the Solvency II Pro-
ject, [online] [accessed 15 August 2009], Available
capital of security is kept.
from Internet: <http://www.ceiops.org>
The aim is to define a corporation-wide ob-
7. Consultation Paper No. 4. Draft Answers to the
jective criterion to determine the capital of secu- European Commission on the First Wave of Calls for
rity, which quantifies the risk of business activity. Advice in the Framework of the Solvency II Project.
Therefore, the complex risks have to be reduced [online] [accessed 15 August 2009], Available from
to a one-dimensional risk measure. Internet: <http://www.ceiops.org>
The insurance supervisors task is to ensure 8. Consultation Paper No. 9. Draft Answers to the
that the interests of the policyholders are pro- European Commission on the Third Wave of Calls for
tected and the security of the underwriters is Advice in the Framework of the Solvency II Project.
[online] [accessed 15 August 2009], Available from
guaranteed. Therefore, rules for a sufficient capi-
Internet: <http://www.ceiops.org>
tal of security as well as associated methods of
9. Delbaen, F. Coherent Risk Measures on General
risk management have to be fixed. Probability Spaces. In: Sandmann, K. and Schn-
The current paper gave the overview of the bucher, Philip J. (Eds.): Advances in finance and sto-
development status of the Solvency II process. chastics: essays in honour of Dieter Sondermann. Ber-
The approach has been motivated by the recent lin: Springer Verlag. 2002, p. 1 37
developments in the insurance and finance busi- 10. Embrechts, P., McNeil, Alexander J., Straumann,
ness, where risk management and risk measures D. Correlation and Dependence in Risk Management:
have become crucial to calculate capital require- Properties and Pitfalls. In: Dempster, M. A. H. (Ed.):
Risk Management: Value at Risk and Beyond. Cam-
ments.
bridge University Press. 2002, p. 176 223
The article discussed main issues and evalu-
11. Artzner, P., Delbaen, F., Eber, J.-M., Heath, D.
ated the method Value at Risk that is currently Coherent Measures of Risk. In: Dempster, M. A. H.
used in practice. Several disadvantages of the (Ed.): Risk Management: Value at Risk and Beyond.
approach have been discussed and in conclusion Cambridge University Press. 2002, p. 145 175
it is worth to say that new risk management tool 12. Dhaene, Jan L. M., Vanduffel, S., Tang, Q.,
is needed (that was indirectly proved by the cur- Goovaerts, Marc J., Kaas, R., Vyncke, D. Sol-
rent financial crisis). vency capital, risk measures and comonotonicity: a
review. Working Paper. Katolieke Universiteit Leuven.
2004
Reference 13. Langmann, M. Risikomae in der Versicherung-
1. McNeil, A., Frey, R., Embrechts, P. Quantitative stechnik: Vom Value-at-Risk zu Spektralmaen
risk management concepts, techniques and tools, Konzeption, Vergleich, Bewertung. Diplomarbeit
Princeton University Press, 2006 an der Carl von Ossietzky Universitt Oldenburg.
2. Grndl, H., Perlet, H. Solvency II & Risikomanage- 2005
ment Umbruch in der Versicherungswirtschaft, Ga-
bler Verlag, 2005
30
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Abstract
The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the efficiency of the measures taken by different governments
to improve the existing flaws of the financial regulations in order to prevent the repetition of the economic crisis
we could witness recently and which might have led to a catastrophe. Special emphasis in this research is made
on the banking sector as in the existing market exactly banks as the institutions on whom the sustainability of the
financial flows depends play the most prominent role among all other financial institutions. Judging by the most
recent developments in the world economy it is the financial market that to larger extent determines the economic
trends. By considering in this paper the role of the banking sector (the integral part of the financial market) in sup-
port of a stable economic environment, authors investigate the true reason of the financial turmoil and analyze the
blame for it put on the banking institutions. The perspectives of the development of the financial market in general
and of the banking sector in particular are explored, the presumable effects of different institutional financial re-
forms on the economic environment are researched. This work can be quite useful for understanding of the true
origin of the financial crisis, the real role of the banks during the recent events and the nature and the purpose of
the steps that are taken by governments - not only from the economic but also from the political point of view.
31
Valentina Mazurenko, Yegor Tkachenko
32
BANKING SECTOR IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NEW WORLD FINANCIAL REFORM
bank (which the U.S. authorities allowed to oc- though this proposal is not central, it is very
cur) had nearly resulted in the total collapse of sober and will help solve the existing problem
the U.S. financial market. To minimize such of customer insecurity before financial giants,
risks within this reform it is proposed to in- including banks.
crease the capital requirements, make the re- Specifically in the banking sector this re-
quirements for leverage (financial leverage) form involves the following:
more severe, set strict rules on risk manage- 1. all the above listed changes, because
ment, give regulatory bodies of the financial they are directly related to banks, influ-
market the opportunity to divide the corpora- encing the environment in which they
tions having hyper size and over-complex inter- operate;
nal structure into a few companies to eliminate 2. elimination of holes in the legislation
the excess risk of financial stability of the which allows certain subsidiary saving
United States. It is also planned to compel cor- institutions of holding banking compa-
porations being a significant systemic risk car- nies to avoid bank regulation;
riers to make the so-called funeral plans, i.e. 3. creation of the National Bank Supervi-
plans, based on which the procedure of bank- sor, which would combine functions of
ruptcy will be performed and which will allow banking regulation, currently divided be-
the state to minimize losses and quickly take tween 4 existing financial regulators -
control over the bankrupt corporation in its own the Federal Deposit Insurance Corpora-
hands. tion (FDIC), the Office of the Comptrol-
Significant changes are planned to be im- ler of the Currency (OCC), the Federal
plemented in the off-exchange derivatives mar- Reserve, and the Office of Thrift Super-
ket, as at the end of June 2008 the total vol- vision (OTS), which essentially cover
ume of this market for all types of derivative the various depository institutions, and
securities reached 683.7 trillion dollars. would be given additional powers, par-
Putting to blame this lack of transparency ticularly with regard to increasing ac-
in this market (currently trading in off-exchange cess to internal information;
derivatives are virtually recorded nowhere, 4. increase of capital requirements in pro-
without going through the clearing system, portion to the size of banking institu-
having the nature of private contracts), the tions, as well as in proportion to risks
U.S. authorities made a proposal about the common in the activities of a bank (the
mandatory clearing of all transactions in deriva- structure of assets portfolio, leverage).
tives trading. No doubt, the overheated specu- It should be noted that the banking reform
lative demand for derivatives and the lack of a of the U.S.A. is particularly rational, because
reasonable approach to forming their portfolio ultimately it will lead to a simplification of the
of assets among the most financial market par- system of supervisors and elimination of loop-
ticipants caused the financial crisis, and low holes in the legislation that allowed banks,
transparency and lack of data on this market through creation of derivative mortgage securi-
limited the opportunity of investors, and states ties with the aid of intermediaries (such mort-
soberly assessed the risks, but the very physi- gage companies as Fannie Mae and Freddie
cal possibility of the clearing of assets worth Mac), lay the foundations for future crisis.
hundreds of trillions of dollars arouses doubts. The fact that this reform implies stricter
Besides the mandatory clearing will only give control over credit rating agencies is of a great
information about who are the direct partici- importance. It is proposed to create the Office
pants in this market, and more detailed data of Credit Ratings, which would have the au-
about its size, but it definitely won't reduce the thority even to withdraw the license of those
trade in derivatives considering its high cost, rating agencies that provided the wrong rat-
and what is more evaluation of the market ings. The reform envisages the change in meth-
structure because of its volume will be quite odology of different ratings setting, the use
relative. thereat of information provided not only by the
The U.S. Financial reform envisages the company, which activity is assessed, but also
creation of Consumer Financial Protection data from other sources. In this case, the prob-
Agency, which would supervise honoring the lem is that an objective assessment of asset
rights of financial institutions' customers. Al- quality and success of a company does not re-
33
Valentina Mazurenko, Yegor Tkachenko
quire a simple modification of existing calcula- whole financial market in an undistorted light,
tion formulas, but a radically new theory, and thereat the situation of rating agencies un-
which would include the calculation of the so- reliability arises. It is also neglected that risk
called systemic risk, other risks. and asset management, in general, may be per-
Moreover, the situation where banks and formed many times better by bigger banks than
other financial market players, when placing an smaller banks.
order for ranking of the companies or certain
securities, created by them, pay themselves for 3. The populist disease
this service, still remains without solution. Per- Strain generated by the general disquiet of
haps, one could observe a certain correlation the society provokes many countries of the
between the payment for these services and world to take unwise steps in order to satisfy
the level of rating. To solve this problem a dra- the lust for blood of their peoples. Thus, the
matically new rating system is required both in offshore zones, age-old traditions of banking
the U.S.A. and around the world at large, for secrecy, and significant bonuses for bank man-
example, the system of state rating agencies, agers have already fallen under the hot hand of
which would be objective to greater extent governments. Unfortunately the effectiveness
than private ones, because the state itself (at of all the actions taken is questionable as all of
least in the USA) is extremely interested in real- them do not directly impact the root causes of
istic indexes of market functioning (to avoid the the crisis, what is more, most of them have got
situation where derivative mortgage securities a rather populist nature.
were assigned AAA rating). Particular attention should be paid to the
There is another question, which arises to tax on banks, whose assets exceed $50 billion,
whether it is really worth imposing significant proposed by the President of the U.S.A.,
restrictions and deterrent factors upon devel- Obama, in order to return 117 billion dollars
opment of financial institutions. This casts from 700 billion cost of the state anti-crisis
doubt on the very much-popularized idea of program TARP back to taxpayers. This tax has
systemic risk. In fact, the systemic risk presup- been dubbed payment of the responsible for
poses that the default of one person who has the economic crisis that in some way contra-
obligations to other persons may provoke them dicts the fact that these banks (number of
to default and so forth. Thereat the largest which is about 50) will be subject to the
banking institutions, which are characterized by aforementioned tax regardless of whether they
the greatest systemic risk, become the scape- used the state aid or not. It indicates that while
goats. However, it should be clear that it is im- still being largely supported by the public politi-
possible to avoid systemic risk, as the systemic cians are ready to do anything to raise addi-
risk is a natural aftermath of a company's de- tional funds.
velopment, its interaction with economic envi- Thus it is not a wonder that as recent data
ronment, while the link between development from the financial markets show, the financial
of a company and its interdependence with reform itself (largely due to its populist nature),
other market participants is inevitable. Rea- in fact, has not had any significant impact on
sonably it is possible to fight only the group of condition of the banking sector. Among many
risks that can lead to an initial bankruptcy, banks, despite the crisis, for the period from
which, in turn, leads to a domino effect, which 2007 till the present day, one could observe
we observed after the bankruptcy of Lehman the growth. BNP Paribas Bank, the largest bank
Brothers. of the world by assets, has shown growth in
Although the actions taken by the state its balance sheet by 59% to 2,29 trillion euro
are required in case such chain of defaults is (3,5 trillion dollars) since the beginning of
launched so that the state could become a 2007, which equals to 117% of the GDP of
buffer for the entire economic sector, after all it France. The assets of Barclays bank in London
is necessary to concentrate the main forces on for the same period increased by 55% - to 1,55
finding the ways to prevent the circumvention trillion pounds (2,6 trillion dollars), which is
of the legislative regulations by banks and other equivalent to 108% of the GDP of Great Brit-
organizations, as well as finding the way of ain. Thereat, it should be remembered that this
how to give risk managers of these organiza- growth is explained by a significant decrease of
tions the opportunity to see the situation on the interest rates by central banks. Considering
34
BANKING SECTOR IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NEW WORLD FINANCIAL REFORM
that the EU governments have no right for di- hedge funds, equity funds, and invest
rect control over the banks, which did not have in them, deal in securities from their
direct financial assistance, it is clear that such own resources for their own profit, take
banks as BNP Paribas and Santander are in an part in operations that do not relate to
advantageous position in relation to its com- servicing their clients.
petitors, and use the situation to make new 2. Limitation of banks size. Under the cur-
acquisitions. rent rules one American bank cannot
According to the data of Bloomberg in control more than 10% of the national
early 2007, 353 banks of the EU increased market deposits. Upon the adoption of
their assets, but one should not forget that the reform this limit will be applied to
thereat risks increased as well. other types of financial obligations, in-
Surely, there is also the back side of a cluding operations in the wholesale fi-
coin. UBS AG Bank lost 57 billion and received nancial market.
the aid from the Swiss government in the This reform can be taken in two ways.
amount of $6 billion. Thus, its assets de- Clearly, being efficient, it will reduce the risks
creased by 37% since the beginning of eco- associated with banking activities to some ex-
nomic crisis. tent reduce the concentration in the banking
These fluctuations in the banking sector industry, where the four largest U.S. banks
determine 2 next trends. The first of them - own more than a half of all assets in the sec-
this is a departure of some banks from high-risk tor. However, by doing so the reform will
activities, so to say - a return to roots - to the weaken the position of the U.S. banking sector
traditional banking services. This is the way on the international arena, striking a major blow
that Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Banks went to such locomotives of financial growth, as
as a result of a significant damage caused to Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Banks. It
them by the financial crisis, turning to the should also be borne in mind that European
commercial retail banking. It is also explained countries are unlikely to decide to apply such
by the fears evoked by the new regulations, harsh measures against their banks. This will
which are introduced and will be introduced by put the U.S. banks in a relatively no-win situa-
the U.S.A. and the EU. tion. Moreover, this reform is not aimed at ad-
The second trend is opposite to the first dressing the real causes of the financial crisis,
one. Such giants as Goldman Sachs, JPMor- so the USA authorities should be very careful
gan, Barclays, and Credit Suisse do not see a about its enforcement.
future different from the past, despite the
strengthening of capital and leverage require- Conclusions
ments. And looking at them, we see growth: in At the moment behind the veil of many
the first quarter of 2009 Goldman Sachs be- accusations and threats, deep and not very
came a record-holder spending 11.4 billion dol- deep reforms a bright future for the entire
lars on personnel on the background of signifi- banking sector is seen, because, firstly, after a
cant growth, turning the wrath of the public detailed analysis it is revealed that its fault as
against itself due to its wasteful behaviour. of the one who had started financial crisis was
In fact, the reaction to this was a new, re- overestimated. Secondly, it is explained by that
cent draft law proposed by Barack Obama with portion of the GDP growth of the U.S.A. and
the support of Paul Volcker, the former head of the EU, which the banking sector provides
the Federal Reserve and economic adviser to them with. The evidence in favor of such as-
the President. This reform, called Volckers sumptions is a very low interest rate, which is
axe, consists of 2 key-points: supported by central banks around the world
1. The division of spheres of banking ac- and which provokes an extensive growth of
tivity. Financial institutions taking de- banking institutions (though it isn't going to
posits that are insured by FDIC State last for long). It is likely that soon many bold
Agency, as well as having an access to intentions of governments-reformers might be
emergency funding from the Federal forgotten, and, new investment banks will
Reserve, will not be able to invest in emerge. This is the main threat.
profitable but risky operations in the Even today, according to many experts,
market. Banks will not be able to own the huge programs of stimulating the growth of
35
Valentina Mazurenko, Yegor Tkachenko
the economies in different countries create fa- of the increasing nervousness were 200 tons of
vorable conditions for the formation of new gold acquired by the Central Bank of India from
bubbles in the financial market. The rapidly the IMF, obviously, as an insurance against
growing mortgage market spurred by the state possible exchange rate fluctuations.
of China evokes particular concerns. The USA Thereby, now the world's governments
commercial real estate market also arouses bear a tremendous responsibility for the non-
great suspicion. It is very likely that soon we distant future of the world financial system (to
might see a repetition of the situation that oc- tell the truth, the recent economic performance
curred in the U.S. mortgage market, because doesn't say much for their efforts), and it is
the initial conditions are basically very similar. clear that the banking sector will play the key
Summing up, it should be noted that the role in it, as it has happened until today, in
seeds sawn by the financial crisis and subse- conditions of the new regulation, or without it.
quent events will be growing for many years.
Lower interest rates create favorable conditions Reference
for development of banks, and it will be inter- 1. . .
esting to observe which of them will go what , ,
, 1997.
way, unless, of course, some harsh reforms
2. Commission adopts legislative proposals to
such as Volcker's rule are enforced as they can
strengthen financial supervision in Europe,
radically change the settings. The financial re- http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?re
forms, pursued at the moment, have inherently ference=IP/09/1347 (in English)
a negative character, though, probably, their 3. Summary: Restoring American Financial Stabil-
influence on the banking sector will not be too ity, Discussion Draft, http://banking.senate.gov/
great, especially considering their populist na- public/_files/FinancialReformDiscussionDraft
ture. The main danger is that the situation will 111009.pdf (in English)
not change, and the financial crisis (a kind of 4. Financial Regulatory Reform: A New Foundation,
http://www.financialstability.gov/docs/
warning) will be forgotten. it is obvious that in
regs/FinalReport_web.pdf (in English)
case of a possible repetition of the events of
5. European Banks Growing Bigger Sowing the
2007-2008 the world's leading economies will Seeds of Next Crisis, http://www.bloomberg.
not have sufficient funds to prevent a possible com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aRDrzOA
catastrophe, as evidenced by the growth of WRekc (in English)
government debts around the world. Consider- 6. Rearranging the towers of gold,
ing the size of the U.S. public debt, it is fright- http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?st
ful to assume possible consequences. The sign ory_id=14401276 (in English)
36
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Kornelia Polek-Duraj
Opole University of Technology, Poland
Abstract
The concept of corporate social responsibility should be a constant element in the strategy of any organization that
wants to be competitive in the market and have a positive image among employees and the environment in which
it operates. Functioning in accordance with its rules need to take appropriate action entrepreneurial. It is very im-
portant especially in terms of striving for sustainable development and increase public awareness. The Polish com-
panies, especially the wood industry, the idea of social responsibility is, unfortunately, little known and wide-
spread, despite the fact that it achieved through the benefits are significant for both the company and society as a
whole. This article aims to present the phenomenon of entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility in
terms of their validity and usefulness in the functioning of the organization.
37
Kornelia Polek-Duraj
potential, allows achieving success in all condi- also for society, which stems from the obtained
tions. Therefore, it is connected with the first effects. Among which, one can mention stimu-
stage of companys creation. lation of the company to develop and introduce
The second aspect refers to a person (e.g. changes in the functioning of the firm, economic
companys owner), who is responsible for under- growth, better quality of products, increase in
taking entrepreneurial actions. It can be analyzed efficiency of work, arousal of competitiveness on
from the point of view of performed actions as the market and formation of new technologies.
well as individual features, thanks to which one
can become creative and inventive. Types of entrepreneurship
The meaning of third aspect is tightly corre- Characteristic feature of companies which
lated with companys policy in the field of taking are focused on achieving success on national
advantage of new opportunities by making fast and international markets is performing actions in
and accurate decisions. Frequently, those deci- accordance with overall strategy of manage-
sions are burdened with risk, and competitive ment. The effects of above mentioned actions
firms do not want to make such decisions. It can be seen in different aspects of economic and
concerns also the ability to start a new com- social life.
pany, and promotion of it is connected with In economic theory, many forms of entre-
more general concept of entrepreneurship. preneurship are distinguished. Their usage in
The last dimension of entrepreneurship is practice depends on existing situation. Among
being realized due to established and accepted them, the most common are [8]:
method of management in organization, and its individual entrepreneurship,
characteristic feature is innovativeness. small-business entrepreneurship,
The concept of entrepreneurship can be also entrepreneurship of economic organized
considered from the point of view of function systems,
that it fulfils in the economic system. The most entrepreneurship in local and govern-
common functions of the entrepreneurship are: ment administration,
opportunity to use better possessed re- entrepreneurship in sector of social or-
sources (especially knowledge), ganizations,
faster reaction in new situation due to international entrepreneurship.
identification of new possibilities, Entrepreneurship is a key feature of action
creation and control of novelties, undertaken by an individual, however some per-
flexible adaptation of a market offers sons are more successful and some are less. The
into the existing changes, effects of that can be seen in actions performed
protection of big companies against in particular organizations. Thanks to them,
making mistakes. companies could quickly react on changes occur-
It is worth underlining that entrepreneurship ring on the market. Those changes have signifi-
is both a feature of an individual as well as of cant influence over further development and
entire company. It means that ideas are realized functioning of the company.
by single person or small group of employees,
from the very beginning until the end. Usually, it Corporate Social Responsibility
is connected with occurring of particular factors The idea of corporate social responsibility
(e.g. qualifications, abilities and flexibility in act- (CRS), also known as social responsible busi-
ing), upon which the success of innovative idea ness), is a concept commonly known in the
depends. world and responsible business has become a
According to Peter Drucker, entrepreneur- global phenomenon. Its doctrine dates back to
ship does not have a natural and spontaneous 1899. It was created on the basis of two princi-
character; it is rather conscious work with the ples: philanthropy and trust that promoted gen-
use of knowledge, qualifications and experience eral obligation of business towards the society.
[4]. The features of enterprising companies are The theory of stakeholders had also fundamental
correspondent to those of learning companies, influence over corporate social responsibility,
where knowledge of superiors and inferiors are assuming tight correlation among entities, which
the key features. determine companys activity at the same time
Entrepreneurship is profitable phenomenon being dependant from each other.
not only for the employees or the company, but
38
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CASE STUDY)
In the scientific literature there are many ally exclusive, and their coexistence is not possi-
pros and cons towards corporate social respon- ble. Moreover, it is assumed that actions under-
sibility. Negative attitude towards the idea of taken by the entrepreneurs in the field of social
Corporate Social Responsibility usually stems responsibility are not deliberate, since often they
from the fact that companies are concentrated result from positive interaction between profit
on achieving profits and their functioning is not and social welfare. Arguments for the corporate
conditioned on moral aspects. Therefore, it is a social responsibility are strictly correlated with
mistake to burden the entrepreneurs with social the theory of social consent where the priority is
responsibilities. The supporters of this attitude assumption that resources belong to society and
opine that economic and social targets are mutu- an organization can be founded only when soci-
39
Kornelia Polek-Duraj
ety wants to. Furthermore, the positive aspect of ture on the basis of features and retaining of
above theory is also the fact that companies human resources and their functioning is focused
have moral status, since they create social struc- on achieving earlier approved goals.
Implementation of corporate social respon- legal is an obligatory one, since companies trying
sibility concept is a long-term process, and its to achieve profits have to obey the law (e.g.
effectiveness is determined by various factors. anti-corrupt law, protection of consumers
The main factors, beside the law regulation, are rights). Two last levels are connected with vol-
following: specific procedures and directives untary involvement of company and presents
(e.g. the directives of ODCE for multinational social responsibility in narrower meaning. The
entrepreneurs, the system of social responsibility ethical level is well expected by the community.
business according to Social Venture Network, It assumed that undertaken actions should be
the SA8000 norm and Green Book), thanks to appropriate in given situation, and used methods
which companies are considering and taking into should be fair and square (e.g. avoiding inappro-
account the needs of all stakeholders. priate behaviour).
Philanthropic level comprises the area of ac-
The models of companys involvement into social tions by which the company is positively per-
responsibility ceived by the society. This level is mostly re-
Undertaking actions in order to function ac- quired by the community (e.g. transferring
cording to principles of Corporate Social Respon- money for charity, engagement in programmes
sibility, requires applying appropriate model, supporting education of children from local
which clearly characterizes the forms of in- community).
volvement. Scientific literature distinguishes two The second model presumes that the most
fundamental models [10]: important value in creating the rules of social
after profit obligation, responsibility is ethics. It is based on three as-
before profit obligation. sumptions [10]:
The first of them accepts four levels of I. Society is not a group of single entities,
companys responsibility: economic, legal, ethi- but social structures that depend on each
cal and philanthropic. Particular types of respon- other.
sibilities are eligible, expected or required by the II. Obligation of each organization is to re-
society. The lowest in the hierarchy, but the spect ethical and social prohibitions and
most important level from the point of economic orders.
view means that the company wishing to func- III. Worth existing are only those firms which
tion following social responsibility rules does not act according to social expectations in
suppose to bring loss; in any case its action will moral sense. Moreover only those firms
not bring desired effects. It is required by the that perform important role in shaping so-
society. Its reflection might be making right stra- cial and economic order have a right to
tegic decisions by the company. Satisfying the function.
requirements of that level is a starting point to In both models, entrepreneurial actions are
other levels, which proves that economic level very required as they support the realization of
has fundamental meaning. The second level overall plan.
40
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CASE STUDY)
41
Kornelia Polek-Duraj
ments of market and with the growth of social 5. Haber, L. W. Przedsiebiorczosc w zarzadzaniu [w:]
awareness. A. Bugla [red.], Zarzadzanie. Aspekty psy-
Therefore it is extremely important for the chologiczne i socjologiczne, Wyd. Naukowo Dy-
daktyczne, Krakow, 2002
organization to know how to acquire entrepre-
6. Griffin, R. W. Podstawy zarzadzania organi-
neurial competences, introduce innovation and
zacjami, PWN, Warszawa 1996
recreate its profile into more flexible and dy- 7. Lewicka-Strzalecka, A. Etyczne standardy firm i
namic. The important factors are also trainings of pracownikow, IFiS PAN, Warszawa 1999
managers in the field of CRS, exchanging of ex- 8. Piech, K., Kulikowski, M. [red.] Przedsiebiorczosc:
periences and conducting social campaigns. szansa na sukces rzadu, gospodarki,
przedsibiorstw, spoleczenstwa, Instytut Wiedzy,
Reference Warszawa 2003
1. Berman, S., Jonem, T., Wicke, A.C. Convergent 9. Rok, B. Spoleczna odpowiedzialnosc w praktyce
Stakeholders Theory, Academy of Management zarzadzania. Prace Naukowe AE we Wroclawiu
Reviev, 1999, no 24 no 940. Wroclaw 2002
2. Borkowska, S. CRS wyzwaniem dla zarzadzania 10. Rybak, M. Etyka menedzera spoleczna
zasobami ludzkimi; podejscie unijne, Zarzadzanie odpowiedzialnosc przedsiebiorstwa, PWN,
zasobami ludzkimi, 2005, no 6 Warszawa 2004
3. Dowigallo, Z. Praca menedzera, Wyd. ZNICZ, 11. Zemigla, M. Spoleczna odpowiedzialnosc
Szczecin 1999 przedsiebiorstwa, Oficyna Wolters Kluver
4. Drucker, P.F. Innowacja i przedsiebiorczosc. Business, Krakow 2007
Praktyka i zasady, PWE, Warszawa 1992
42
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Ludmila Mladkova
University of Economics, Prague, Czech Republic
Abstract
Knowledge society is a society where knowledge is a major creative force. In knowledge society all spheres
of human life depend on ability of people to create, distribute and share knowledge. Development of knowledge
society initiated big economic, social and cultural changes. Among others huge interconnectedness of national
economies, internationalization of life, growing importance of work and local communities, growing importance of
knowledge workers can be mentioned. Knowledge society offers new views and approaches to sustainable devel-
opment. Our knowledge society is not the first knowledge society of this type in the history. K. E. Sveiby and T.
Skuthorpe describe a knowledge society developed by the Aboriginal people Nhunggabarra in their book Treading
Lightly. Nhunggabarra created a knowledge society based on intense work with the knowledge that as historians
and anthropologists suspect lasted and prospered for thousands of years. The article discusses the lesson learned
from Nhunggabarra society and its potential for our reality, our knowledge society and sustainable development.
Key words: knowledge, tacit knowledge, explicit knowledge, knowledge society, sustainable development
43
Ludmila Mladkova
can be shared in the form of data, scientific for- quirement on people is the ability to work with
mulae, specifications, manuals. Tacit dimension databases and the ability to generate data from
of knowledge is highly personal and hard to dis- the database and to adapt them as required at
cover and formalize. Explicit knowledge and in- the moment. People are rewarded for contribu-
tuition, mental models, experience, crafts, skills, tion to the company document database. Highly
etc. create it. It is deeply rooted in action, pro- expert knowledge and creativity are not required.
cedures, routines, commitment, ideas, value and The strategy oriented on explicit knowledge is
emotions. It is difficult to share and communi- called a codification strategy [2].
cate [3]. Both tacit and explicit dimensions of Organizations that focus more on tacit
knowledge are important in knowledge society. knowledge provide solutions of special unique
Explicit dimension is usually present in the form problems, high level advice and expert solutions.
of data in some informational system; tacit di- For such organization, databases have only the
mension is in heads of employees [3]. supportive role. Sharing of the tacit dimension of
Information and communication technologies the knowledge happens through face to face
we have at disposal these days offer tools for contact or in special electronic environment (for
work with both dimensions of knowledge, ex- example Second Life).
plicit knowledge (information) and tacit knowl- Human resources are top educated special-
edge. Our technology allows us to work with ists and experts who often work only part-time
knowledge in complex and systemic way. for the organization. The most important asset is
Knowledge as a major creative force of the knowledge owned by those experts. The
knowledge society can be fully exploited only if company tries to provide experts with space and
proper knowledge management is introduced. culture that supports the exchange and sharing
Knowledge management optimizes the flow, of their tacit knowledge and develop human
creation and exploitation of knowledge in organi- networks. Expert teams are part-time teams and
zation and society. It must cover both explicit are rewarded for knowledge sharing. The strat-
and tacit knowledge in relation to specific needs egy oriented on tacit knowledge is called a per-
of organization or society and in relation to their sonalization strategy [2].
culture, principles and habits.
As available resources (finances, human, and Knowledge Society and a Learning Organization
material) are usually limited, organizations try to Knowledge society can be sustainable only
specify their knowledge needs and decide be- when the society and its parts behave as a learn-
tween two basic knowledge strategies, strategy ing organization. The term learning organization
oriented on explicit knowledge or strategy ori- is linked with name Peter Senge who identified
ented on tacit knowledge [2]. Of course the less and defined its five aspects in his famous book
dominant dimension of knowledge should not be The Fifth Discipline [6].
forgotten. Learning organization is an organization that
Organizations that focus more on explicit works on similar principles as a living organism.
knowledge are organizations with standardized As any living organism, learning organization is
processes and procedures. Their products and created from various parts. They are linked to-
services are stable; customers do not require gether with relations and bonds. Together all
specialized solutions. Such companies create parts and relations create a bigger whole, a
wide, high quality and reliable databases which complex system. The difference between a learn-
allow the storing, generation, adapting and com- ing organization and organization that does not
bining of huge volumes of explicit knowledge learn is following:
transformed to data. Such databases also allow Learning organization can monitor its ex-
creating statistics and various types of analyses. ternal and internal environment.
The reuse of knowledge saves work and reduces Learning organization understands under-
communication costs. We call such organizations lying principles of environmental dy-
database users. namic.
Database users work mostly with explicit Learning organization can use these
knowledge. This fact influences the profile of principles to address and initiate
their human resources. Such company tends to changes.
hire people who finished a middle level of educa- Five basic principles of learning organization
tion or new university graduates. The major re- are:
44
KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Knowledge Society and Double Loop Learning Knowledge society and Cooperation
Learning can be viewed as a use, creation Industrial society was based on the doctrine
and transformation of knowledge. Quantity and that the one who is better wins and the one,
quality of explicit and tacit knowledge that is at who is less good, looses. E.g. it was based on
disposal at the moment of learning and ability of the doctrine of competition. Cooperation was
45
Ludmila Mladkova
understood either as a weakness or as a thread Industrial society could work well on com-
(for example trusts are illegal in many countries). petitive strategies because it was less complex
From the point of view of theory of games, win - than our current reality. There was usually one,
loss strategy was preferred. who was stronger than others and won. Com-
Theory of games models potential of com- petitive strategy often led to relatively long com-
petitive and cooperative strategies. In so called petitive advantage. Of course, in case of simi-
prisoners dilemma two parties solve fix difficult larly strong partners the competition may have
situation. They (individual or groups) must decide led to withdrawal of one or damage of both.
how to behave without knowing the strategy of Knowledge society works on different rules.
the other party. The model situation shows two Major asset of knowledge society, knowledge is
men who committed the crime. The proofs are of intangible character. It is hidden in heads of
not conclusive and the police needs one of the people and can be used only when they cooper-
arrested to confess. The prisoners have two ate. Huge interconnectedness and high speed of
basic strategies - co-operate or compete at dis- our world work against competitive strategies,
posal. Two strategies result in four possible out- the revenge may come much earlier and advan-
comes. tages last for shorter time. In the world jammed
win win; with information and buzz, misinterpretations of
win loose; signals are quite common. Competitive revenge
loose win; strategy may be very dangerous in such condi-
loose loose. tions. When this happens, the spiral of revenges
When both prisoners decide for the competi- even though based on misunderstandings leads
tive strategy, e.g. both blame the crime on the to extremely bad results. That is why more mer-
other men, both will be arrested. This dominant ciful strategy (e.g. cooperation as a response to
egoistic strategy outcome is loose loose. When competition) is often more efficient and it is
one prisoner decides for competitive strategy highly recommended these days [5].
and the other for the cooperative, the one who
competed will be released and the one who co- Nhunggabarra Knowledge Sustainable Society
operated will be imprisoned. Only the fourth K. E. Sveiby and T. Skuthorpe in their book
strategy a cooperative one, leads to success of Treading Lightly [7] describe knowledge society
both parties. If both prisoners decide not to tell developed by the Aboriginal people Nhung-
anything, both will be released because of lack gabarra. Nhunggabarra lived on the border of
of the proofs. south Queensland and northwest New South
As for the results of the situation (from the Wales. Their name was deduced from the name
point of view of players, e.g. arrested men), the of the tree common in their area and covered
worst strategy is the one when both compete. few communities with common culture and simi-
The strategy in which one of prisoners cooper- lar language. Nhunggabarra created knowledge
ates leads to better results, because only one of society based on intense work with knowledge
game participants will be arrested. The coopera- that as historians and anthropologists suspect
tive strategy leads to the best result both men lasted and prospered for thousands years.
are free. From what we know about Nhunggabarra
In different cultures and different periods of communities, they developed and used all five
human development, people preferred different factors P. Senge finds as crucial for learning
strategies. For example, The Old Testament organization. All Nhunggabarra people shared
Tooth for tooth, eye for eye was a most effec- one vision, they have sophisticated system of
tive strategy in the eastern civilisation for very development of personal mastery, and they ac-
long time. Later on Jesus came with more coop- tively worked with mental models and preferred
erative strategy: If someone slaps you on your community (team) work. As for system thinking
right cheek, turn your other cheek to him as their knowledge about their environment and
well. Since Axelrod experiment (1980) the interrelations between things, people, nature and
strategy when the certain type of behaviour is the whole social and environmental system was
copied by the same behaviour, e.g. competition so deep that their society sustained for very long
with competition, cooperation with cooperation time. They also had extraordinary system of
was recommended. sharing knowledge.
46
KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Nhunggabarra shared one very strong vision Nhunggabarra met regularly to share their
which influenced the behavior of all communities knowledge and special tools were prepared to
and individuals. The vision was: Keep all alive. eliminate conflicts.
Nhunggabarra fell responsible for their world, Deep knowledge of environment, sense for
plants, animals, environment and for community interconnectedness of everything that happens
members and their well being. They behaved as and awareness of principles of system dynamics
good gardeners and game keepers and kept their helped Nhunggabarra to build sustainable knowl-
fragile environment in balance. edge society.
Personal mastery and development were
linked to shared vision. Every Nhunggabarra men Fall of Nhunggabarra Knowledge Society
and women had clear social and environmental Even though Nhunggabarra system was very
responsibilities. These responsibilities were inher- sophisticated and worked well for very long
ited and made borders of what one could and time, the society disappeared. Over dependence
could not do. The community paid huge atten- on tacit knowledge is blamed for the end of
tion to personal development of individual in Nhunggabarra flourishing society.
his/her given field. They used various tools to Nhunggabarra had special way of storing
share knowledge learning by doing, observa- and sharing knowledge. As mentioned above,
tion and stories. As every of adults owned every men and women was responsible for cer-
knowledge that was important for survival of tain knowledge or its part and had clear social
others, all members of Nhunggabarra society and environmental responsibilities, Nhunggabarra
were credited as important knowledge workers. had excellent educational system that used ap-
All people had the same importance for the soci- prenticeship and storytelling. Being fully aware
ety, nobody was more important than others of fragility of human being, they backed their
which prevented the rise of hierarchies and sup- knowledge workers. When the person who
ported flat and equal structures. owned certain knowledge died, there were al-
The Nhunggabarra society paid great atten- ways other people who had the same knowledge
tion to mental images and creation of proper and same type of responsibility. Knowledge dou-
models of behavior that built the foundation of bling and perfect health of the population led
their system. Young men were obliged to leave Nhunggabarra people to confidence that the sys-
birth place in early age and live with related tem was protected against loss of knowledge.
communities who were responsible for their fur- They developed something like a script but they
ther education. Marriages were planned and used it only for some special pieces of knowl-
young people from different communities were edge, everything else was stored in tacit form.
purposefully mixed. This system made young Unfortunately this backing system, fully de-
men busy during their most aggressive years and pendant on tacit knowledge, totally failed during
interlinked individual Nhunggabarra communities the severe smallpox epidemic that hit Nhung-
so much that any idea of war was absolutely gabarra people sometime around 1829-1831.
inacceptable. Nhunggabarra shared their mental Too many people died in very short period and it
images through stories. Stories they told had led to huge loses of knowledge. Loses in knowl-
four levels. The first level was explicit and ex- edge led to total confusion of those who sur-
plained natural features and animal behaviors. vived because they suddenly missed important
The second level explained relationships between guidelines how to act and behave. The sustain-
people in the community, the third level relation- able knowledge society disappeared.
ship between the community and larger envi-
ronment and the fourth one the spiritual knowl- Conclusions
edge. Higher levels were more tacit and they Nhunggabarra story shows that people can
required special knowledge to be understood. build sustainable knowledge society. It also
They were available only for chosen and spe- shows that such society can last for very long
cially trained people. Anyway, the ownership of time when supported by convenient style of
exclusive knowledge did not lead to higher social work with knowledge. It also shows that knowl-
status. edge society can diminish quickly if work with
Nhunggabarra lived, worked and acted in knowledge fails to address unexpected changes.
communities. The interest of community was This is the reason why organizations and
prior to the interest of individual. All groups of whole society are highly advised to pay attention
47
Ludmila Mladkova
48
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Abstract
The papers title is reflective of the pressing necessity to make a strong stance about the need to examine
the challenges in teaching sustainability. As an academic subject, sustainability is unique, and very different from
most other disciplines for a range of reasons. It requires transdisciplinarity, urgency and immediate response to
pressing needs for practical change; the application of its concepts, such as equity, diversity, locality and biore-
gionalism are universal all-encompassing and broad-based. Flexibility and sophistication are equally required in
teaching, learning and application; the teachers and learners are both all the time and need to work jointly during
the education process. Different approaches, such as eco-pedagogy, environmental education, UNESCOs educa-
tion for sustainable development, participatory education and humane education, and their value are discussed
before outlining humanistic sustainability education as the approach taken in teaching a Masters course in Sustain-
ability Studies at Curtin University. Despite being a postgraduate course, the participating students are at entry
level in terms sustainability, with no previous foundation in the discipline, but with their hearts in the right place.
The paper presents case studies and describes the achievements of several of these students. It makes the case
that even though there is a crucial need for leadership in the sustainability agenda, it is not the individual but the
collective work that counts. It concludes that challenging the dominant paradigms, cultural norms and local, na-
tional and international politics required to mainstream sustainability, starts from examining what on Earth I am
doing.
Key words: Australia, case study, humanistic sustainability education, practical change, sustainable devel-
opment, transdiciplinarity
Introduction and animal species and for nature in all its won-
For the very first time the young are seeing his- der. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Cli-
tory being made before it is censored by their elders mate Change) and Millennium Ecological assess-
We are now at a point where we must educate our ments (e.g. [2, 12, 23]) have provided ample
children in what no one knew yesterday, and prepare
scientific evidence as to what is happening with
our schools for what no one knows yet.
the planet. How are we, and the education we
Margaret Mead (1928)
provide, responding to this? What on Earth are
We all now know of the alarming, at times we doing to allow all these trends to continue?
seemingly inevitable, rate of deterioration of the Together with the widespread and increas-
planet and its resources. A recent cover story ing recognition of the planets deterioration,
published in New Scientist [21] outlines some comes an urgency to find a way of ensuring ef-
shocking data. Out of nine fundamental ecologi- fective education for sustainability as an immedi-
cal health indicators, we are currently exceeding ate response to pressing needs that brings about
three (i.e. rate of biodiversity loss, nitrogen fixa- measurable, meaningful and practical change.
tion and climate change), very close to the limit Traditional educational paradigms (please refer to
for another three (i.e. stratospheric ozone deple- Table 1) typically reinforce a destructive and op-
tion, ocean acidification and phosphorus cycle), pressive worldview and are weary and unable to
within the acceptable limits for two (i.e. change cope with having to explain the moment we are
in land use and water use) and without a proper living in or in answering our future needs. The
understanding as to what are the boundaries and world needs a new paradigm if it is to survive, a
where we stand on the last two, namely chemi- new way of being and doing and seeing. Sus-
cal pollution and atmospheric ozone loading. The tainability education and the concepts it en-
author is asking: How much further can we dorses (see also Table 1), must help for such a
push the planetary life-support systems that transformation to occur or cease to exist. It is
keep us safe? [21]. We all now know about the dangerous to believe we are educating for
implications of this ecological deterioration, for change if we are being ineffective particularly
people and places everywhere, for other plant when that change may well be a matter of life or
49
Talia Raphaely, Dora Marinova, Vladislav Todorov
death. According to Kahn [14], ...our moment is section of the picture but the mirror itself cannot
new never before have the collected mass be- present a realistic complete view of the world;
ings of the planet Earth been so thoroughly and secondly, it is always backward looking, i.e.
threatened with extinction as they are now and the mirror only reflects what has already been
never before have so many of us raised this created and cannot allow for futuristic images,
problem consciously and desperately together in forecasts or dreams. These are exactly the prac-
the hopes of transforming society towards a bet- tices and approaches that teaching sustainability
ter... education remains a primary institution to- needs to transform and replace. They include
wards affecting social and ecological change for progressivism, objectivity, rationalism, reduction-
the better. ism, mechanistic view of the world, scientism,
This paper explores what it is to teach sus- efficiency, anthropocentrism, instrumental rea-
tainability. It is based on a 20-year experience in soning, compartmentalisation of life, humans in
Australia, but draws on very recent examples opposition to nature and the shrinking of the
from Curtin University. After explaining why world for the benefit of the human race. (Please
educating for sustainability is a challenging refer to Table 1 for clarification of these con-
tasks, we outline some specific characteristics of cepts.)
this new approach and present a brief history as Unteaching unsustainability also involves
to what has lead to its development. It covers dealing with habits, attitudes, perceptions and
humane education, environmental education, behaviours within society that encourage reck-
eco-pedagogy, UNESCOs Decade for Education less and irresponsible actions leading to ecologi-
for Sustainable Development (EfSD), education cal and social deterioration. More often than not,
for a culture of peace and sustainability, partici- such practices are encouraged by what is per-
patory education and humanistic education. The ceived as economically rational decision-making.
paper then examines case studies from teaching For example, increased productivity and efficient
a Masters course in Sustainability Studies at Cur- use of resources can result in encouragement to
tin University in 2008 and 2009 and the lessons consume more and further resource depletion.
drawn from this experience. It concludes that the Unteaching unsustainability requires us to
most prominent feature of education for sustain- learn to question and challenge everything we
ability is to allow students to feel empowered to do, the institutions and systems that reinforce
challenge the current system and create a world life as we currently know it. This requires envi-
that better represents their dreams for the fu- sioning a new world or a possible world a bet-
ture. ter place where life interacts with itself and all
around it in a completely different way. This is
1. Challenges of sustainability education difficult and contrary to much traditional educa-
Sustainability, and thus education for sus- tion as it requires a brave new worldview and
tainability, is a unique field, one that is very dif- charting an unproven direction. It also requires
ferent from most other disciplines for a range of spiritual and intellectual strength to deal with all
reasons that create a number of questions and the obstacles.
challenges. It is a relatively new subject and Learning sustainability is a life-long journey.
much is still unknown in terms of documented or It is difficult to pin-point where it starts and
proven outcomes. Progress and new develop- where it ends. It is however happening against a
ments are constantly happening but so many background of vested interests, e.g. by the fossil
basic issues remain. For example, how do you fuels lobby or chemical companies, and calls
measure sustainability or teaching outcomes? from skeptics who see it as a conspiracy against
What does it mean to be sustainable, or more world capitalism, another attempt at reviving the
sustainable? How soon is soon enough for any hippy movement or green fascism.
changes? What are the cumulative impacts and Evans [4] also stresses that the frame of the
considerations, what are the priorities? shattered mirror, the system of values and be-
To make things even worse teaching sus- liefs embodied in traditional institutions of higher
tainability also means unteaching unsustainabil- educationis wooden because it feeds the intel-
ity. Evans [4] describes the current educational lectual abilities but avoids matters of the heart
system as a shattered mirror that: firstly, pro- and spirit, and these are the ones that make
vides a fragmented view of the world, i.e. each people care for the prospects of future genera-
broken piece of glass reflects only a particular tions.
50
SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION: WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE DOING?
Even with the best intentions, sustainability leadership to fight against huge vested interests
covers a vast range of interrelated topics and a fundamentally lack of transparency? The
where do you start? Where you finish? How to application of almost all sustainability concepts,
prioritise between climate change, consumption, such as equity, diversity, locality and bioregional-
production, energy, population, urbanisation, ism are universal, interconnected, all-
health, poverty, inequity, injustice, human and encompassing and broad-based but where do we
natural rights, politics, globilisation, ethics, start in the classroom and in real life? Each topic
waste, water, resource distribution, capitalism, we touch is directly and indirectly linked to a
suppression, world orders, domination, develop- wide range of other related topics, making sus-
ment and the developing?... These are all exam- tainability education a web of interconnections,
ples from a lengthy list. It is not difficult to start in fact, as far as sustainability is concerned, eve-
feeling overwhelmed and pessimistic. Too much rything is connected!
to do with too little Is it all too late?... What It is not only challenging to prioritise what
good can I do? I am just one person And the should be taught in any given period of time that
bad news keeps coming lost species, weather teachers and students are able to spend to-
calamities, oil spills, air pollution, drugs, obesity, gether, but also where do you start and where
poverty Has humanity transformed itself into do you finish as a teacher or as a student? Life-
homo economicus [26]? Hope for the future is long learning, awareness, review and adaptation
being replaced by fear from, and for the future, are required in order to constantly remain rele-
and sustainability students and teachers have to vant and up-to-date.
work continuously within this space of negativity Sustainability education is unlike any other
and lack of encouraging good news stories. The subject, discipline or group of subjects. It chal-
loss of faith in humanity hurts, and sustainability lenges how we relate to ourselves, each other
education requires an honest look at who we are and nature The key is to defy all dominant para-
and where we are going. This is confrontational digms, cultural norms, politics, economics, edu-
and not an easy journey. cational practices and equip students with new
Sustainability and sustainability education ways of doing, seeing, being and believing. This
require vast personal and collective paradigm education cannot prepare students to take their
shifts completely new individual and global place in society; it must prepare students to cre-
ways of being and doing... Yet because there are ate a new society!
very few examples illustrating how this new way Sustainability education is learning about a
of being and doing might look, feel or work it way of being as much as it is about learning
can sometimes feel imaginary, illusive or impos- about a way of doing. These go hand in hand in
sible. Where do we find the strength and the a delicate and passionate tango dance that the
51
Talia Raphaely, Dora Marinova, Vladislav Todorov
student and teacher must continually be sharing some educators began returning to the roots of
even when the tunes keep changing. How do we humane education by focusing on the intercon-
do this? This may seem a daunting task but it is nections between violence, exploitation and in-
essential if we are to ultimately survive on this justice and encompassing not only animal-related
beautiful planet Earth. issues, but also environmental considerations.
According to Evans [4], (h)igher education, This interconnectedness ...inspires people
if it is to play a role in developing sustainable to act with kindness and integrity and provides
ways of being human in the world, cannot con- an antidote to the despair many feel in the face
tinue its traditional functions in a society headed of entrenched and pervasive global problems.
for global catastrophe. It cannot simply aim to Humane educators cultivate an appreciation for
help individuals achieve lucrative careers in a the ways in which even the smallest decisions
world where continued enslavement of nature we make in our daily lives can have far-reaching
and economic and cultural colonisation of peo- consequences. By giving students the insight
ples serve as the inputs for economic growth they need to make truly informed choices, hu-
and where that growth leaves in its wake wide- mane education paves the way for them to live
spread diminishment of the very natural and hu- according to abiding values that can lend mean-
man resources and systems that support it. The ing to their own lives while improving the world
change needs to be substantial and faster than at the same time (Humane Education for a Hu-
what we have witnessed in the past with change mane World, IHE publication, n.d. cited in [11]).
of educational paradigms. This approach has many merits but remains
Sustainability education needs to be essen- on the fringe of both practice and research. It
tially transformative, constructivist, and partici- does however have relevance to us and has thus
patory. It is also integral in that seeks to incor- been essential into our teaching conceptualisa-
porate as many insights and perspectives from tion.
as many disciplines as possible to understand
events, experiences, and establish contexts 2.2 Environmental education
[19]. The principles that need to be at its core Environmental education is an already well-
relate to adaptivism, the existence of mixed reali- established subject taught since the 1970s that
ties, down-to-earth approach, creativity, systems emphasises the relationships between people and
thinking, practicism, outcome-based, responsibil- the physical environment in terms of how to pre-
ity, value-based, embedded in nature, and allow serve it and to appropriately manage resources
for integration of life and opening of the world. [7]. It stresses the importance of a healthy eco-
(Please refer to Table 1 for more explanation.) logical ambiance for human life but concentrates
The history of efforts along these lines predominantly on how to protect the natural en-
dates back in time for more than a century now, vironment.
with the emphasis shifting to what we now per- It is considered by many to be an outdated
ceive as a humanistic education. This journey is approach that is too narrow in terms of content
briefly depicted first followed by the approach coverage and direction in order to engender
and case studies from Curtin University. broad-based sustainability [20]. Such an ap-
proach however paved the way to understanding
2. Approaches to sustainability education the relationships between people and nature and
The overview below follows the major his- continues to inform the teaching of sustainabil-
torical trends informing the line of work we have ity.
adopted at Curtin University and the ideas that
have been woven into our approach. 2.3 Eco-pedagogy
Eco-pedagogy began in a Latin American
2.1 Humane education context growing out of discussions at the first
Humane education emerged over a century Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 that
ago when humane societies were mandated with aimed to formulate a mission for education that
both child and animal protection and the link be- universally integrated an ecological ethic, and
tween animal cruelty and family violence was resulted in the Earth Charter ratified in 2000. It
assumed. However this link was disregarded is an offshoot of critical pedagogy which encour-
when animal welfare and child welfare organisa- ages students to question and challenge domina-
tions became separate entities. In the 1990s tion and dominating beliefs and practice to
52
SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION: WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE DOING?
53
Talia Raphaely, Dora Marinova, Vladislav Todorov
Teaching our identity to the Earth as a [10, 30]. Following the conceptual model of
vital human condition we must edu- Habermas about the transformation of the public
cate to be emotionally bound to the sphere through rational-critical debate [9], this
Earth; theoretical process has been broadened to in-
Educating for planetary awareness and clude education and the contribution students
recognition of our interdependence no can make to hot or sensitive public debates.
more passports, foreigners of Third and Participatory education thus requires stu-
First worlds; we, the people of the dents to partake into real-world problem solving,
Earth, are a single nation; come up with practical solutions that work and
Educating for understanding education provide examples of how a transition towards
for human ethics and not for the mar- sustainability can become a reality. This is an-
kets instrumental ethics, for communi- other valuable approach incorporated into teach-
cation and how to better understand ing sustainability at Curtin University.
each other not how to take advantage
of each other; understand solidarity as a 2.7 Humanistic education
condition of our human survival; This is the approach that theoretically has
Educating for voluntary simplicity and the biggest influence and best articulates the key
quietness guide our lives with new considerations and intentions of our conceptuali-
values: simplicity, quietness, serenity, sation of teaching sustainability. It is founded on
listening, living together, sharing dis- the thoughts and principles of eco-pedagogy but
coveries and building together. goes a step further to recreate education as a
The logic of sufficiency [22] endorsed by world-humanising project a global project of
the education for a culture of peace and sustain- students, scholars and people everywhere, a par-
ability is not congruent with the concepts of ef- ticipatory human project encouraging civic cour-
ficiency and economic rationalism espoused by age, that internationally revives reason and de-
most educational practices. It does however fit mocracy, so that people everywhere feel em-
with ecological and social rationality which needs powered and are fighting for a better and more
to feature in sustainability education and we sustainable future [8].
have incorporated this into our approach. Humanistic education has developed in re-
sponse to the recognition that many universities
2.6 Participatory education have become commercial enterprises viewing
Participatory education acknowledges the students as customers or consumers who will
wealth of knowledge, experiences, ideas and sell themselves on completion of their degree to
skills that students bring with them in the class- the highest bidder. Knowledge is something to
room. It focuses on creating an environment be passively consumed to this end and students
where teachers and students are equal partners are viewed as exploitable human resources, re-
and contributors in the learning process [5]. quiring top-down management similar to any
Characteristic for this type of education is that other kind of resources. As such they are dehu-
the participants determine the contents and time- manised, lacking voice and robbed of the impulse
scale of the learning process as well as it logis- to participate in the determination of their own
tics [24]. It emphasises the development of human situation [8]. Thus education now only
skills, such as listening and reflection, group furthers the symptoms of the disease.
work, facilitation, use of body language, conflict We think that it is inexcusable for education
management, asking question and challenging to follow a system in which people are just live
existing practices, that are required for the han- resources. A commodified human being, like a
dling of any sustainability issue. commodified cow or tree, is a dead human be-
A relatively new direction in participatory ing. So it is realistic and justified to ignite the
education is its link to the concepts of participa- revolution of education so that people can raise
tory or deliberative democracy [3], which reflects their voices in defence of the Earth and against
the social disillusion with democracy and current the decay of humane and sustainable values [1,
institutions, including educational ones, that en- 8].
courage the maintenance of the status quo and Hence humanistic education aims to provide
continuation of current processes and practices students, scholars and teachers with the skills
and rights not to sell or surrender to the system
54
SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION: WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE DOING?
but rather to learn to challenge and change it and 3. Our approach to sustainability education: Hu-
those who perpetuate it. After all, sustainability manistic sustainability education
education (and universities!) should exist for hu- The above review of progress made in sus-
manity and the planet, not for commercial inter- tainability education reveals that there is a clear
ests! According to the humanistic approach, agreement on the need but not the methods of
education must not: delivery. All approaches have something valuable
Permit businesses or enterprises to form and relevant to contribute but none felt compre-
students in the way they want to so hensive enough for us. We believe sustainability
that they can have better employees; or education is a call to revolution, passive and lov-
Create students as products who will be ing but a cultural revolution non the less. As
traded later into the system and de- such it should ensure maximum opportunities for
prived of the unique experience of a interaction between all people for ending the in-
creative moment in life. discriminate and accelerated destruction, exploi-
Humanistic education if it is to achieve its tation and devaluation of humanity and nature.
purpose should facilitate a renewed breed of Like Grigorov [8], we believe that the traditions
students revolutionaries, who are driven to cre- furthering democracy are an essential considera-
ate an alternative world, with new democratic tion that must underpin all education for sustain-
institutions, appropriate technologies and a social ability. This is important for a number of rea-
system predicated on a democratic economy. It sons, not least that there needs to be a mass
should also: groundswell towards bringing about an all-
End global psychology of exploitation, inclusive paradigm shift if the Earth and its re-
acquiescence and anti-reasoning; sources are to survive for future generations.
Create and develop a new eco- We have taken the key elements of human-
psychology of resistance and non- istic education and combined them with others
exploitation; from the approaches described above and coined
Empower students to govern and this Humanistic Sustainability Education. It is the
change their situation by taking up col- way we work with our students and we focus on
lective action in the name of social jus- making sure we include the key factors de-
tice, freedom, democracy, peace and scribed in Table 2.
sustainability; Humanistic Sustainability Education is learn-
Inspire students and give them the im- ing about a way of being as much as it is about
petus and courage to construct vigorous learning about a way of doing. It is education for
practices and theories, to inspire civic survival and progress in a dangerous time, for
participation and to support participa- saving the Earth and all who live here, for par-
tory democracy; ticipatory democracy and ensuring universities
Unity students, scholars, teachers and are institutions for reason and sustainable sci-
people beyond any frontiers and any dif- ence. Such education aims to ensure the sus-
ferences, and against all forms of ex- tainability revolution and the new culture of hu-
ploitation, devaluation and the devasta- man responsibility and stewardship of the planet.
tion of humanity and nature; We work together with our students to redirect
Empower students to take life seriously society to ecological care, to do away with the
and to understand it as something sa- powers devastating the Earth and to transform
cred and significant and thus necessarily the world so that life is preserved in all its vi-
to be able to take responsibility for what brant dimensions. Grigorov describes it as a
is happening in the world around them. place that we can now see coming over the hori-
Viewed in this light, humanistic education is zon, the horizon-line of human self-realisation
education for sustainability and it holds great through education, an education and science full
hope as it is ultimately a humanising cultural of love, sanity, and future hope, attuned to our
revolution students can and should engage in. human situation and all of life [8]. We tend to
The case studies described in the next section agree. The passionate tango dance between the
illustrate the outcomes of this approach through teacher and the student leads to a dance which
four of our students. includes the planet that both student and teacher
need to embrace as it embraces us.
55
Talia Raphaely, Dora Marinova, Vladislav Todorov
Humanistic Sustainability Education should meals have a much lower carbon footprint, cause
enable students to participate in the revolution significantly less pollution, require less water, no
for survival and sanity, to participate in the world grain feed. Sonia also felt appalled while familiar-
not as corporate clones, in safe jobs that con- ising herself with the inhumane methods of farm-
tinue to serve the interests of very few, but as ing and the widely spread violence against farm
courageous visionaries and leaders able to go animals. She could not reconcile how the devel-
forth and make the changes the world needs to oped world could inflict such humongous prob-
survive. lems and at the same time fight obesity and
And its working! In the midst of so many health problems directly related to overconsump-
doom and gloom stories, our students are leaving tion of a predominantly meat-based diet.
us and putting into practice true sustainability A step in the right sustainability direction
initiatives that are genuinely starting to change was to encourage people to eat less meat. Sonia
the world and thus are shifting us all towards had the vision of creating a new type of restau-
an alternative future, a future of hope and possi- rants where people can have inexpensive nutri-
bility where the world is safe, society is just, and tious and most importantly tasty vegetarian
in which nature and future generations and their meals. This became her Sustainability Studies
wellbeing will be safeguarded. Project which she completed brilliantly.
Students from our Master in Sustainability Sonias global chain of vegetarian restau-
Studies course in 2008 and 2009 have taken rants is about to be launched making her a global
what we learnt together and have used this to leader in a transition to a healthier and more sus-
start working toward changing the world. Our tainable way of living.
course participants, although Masters students,
are at entry level in terms of sustainability, Case study 2: A local leader
usually with no previous foundation in the field, A charismatic young environmental engi-
but with their hearts in the right place. They neer, Stephan (not his real name) knew a lot
come from all walks of life and with a wide about the ecological health of the physical envi-
range of life-experiences. They are taking their ronment. He was often invited to share his pas-
visions and courage and combining it with the sion for nature with school children and other
knowledge we share with them are using this to young people which he truly enjoyed. It was
build a better world, some on a more macro or however difficult for him to understand why
global level and others on a more micro or local people were not doing the right thing. Was it
level. because of the lack of regulations, was it be-
cause of the economic burden or was it because
Case study 1: A global leader they did not care?
Sonia (not her real name) has been vegetar- Stephan started working with a local au-
ian all her life; in fact nobody in her family thorities organisation and realised that he was
knows the taste of meat. She always thought now in a position to contribute towards a
that it is cruel to inflict pain in animals and that change. This is also when he started his Master
killing them is inhumane when there are other in Sustainability Studies. While working with us,
alternatives. While doing her Master in Sustain- he was able to convince his organisation that
ability Studies, she also realised that vegetarian they not only needed a sustainability officer but
56
SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION: WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE DOING?
there was also a necessity for constant commu- system and the particular interests of the organi-
nication between like-minded people within the sation you represent which sometimes even go
organisation. He established a range of strategies against your personal values system. You are
to facilitate training and decision-making with just the person doing the job while you are there
respect to sustainability, including a regular but as soon as you leave, you get easily replaced
newsletter. Establishing himself as a local leader by another employee whose skills and experience
was a slow but a very rewarding process that he are in many ways similar to yours. What the cor-
could go through encouraged and supported by porate memory retains are the smooth transac-
his teachers. tions or vice versa that you have been able to
provide. It does not remember you as a person
Case study 3: An industry leader with a vision, as a fighter for a better world or as
The real estate industry has been giving an empathic and sincere woman who can make
Diane (not her real name) not just reliable income you laugh as well as give you hope and encour-
but also the satisfaction of making people happy agement.
when they sell or buy a home. Despite this, there Fiona (not her real name) wanted a better
has always been something missing. What way to apply herself as a professional, compe-
makes a house a good home? How is our choice tent and assertive woman. She also wanted to
of shelter affecting the environment? What are do something for the people she cared about.
the best technologies that save energy in the Who were they? Where the bloody hell could she
house and how can we use them? How can wa- leave her mark and contribute towards sustained
ter be saved in the homes on the Earths driest improvement and positive change in life?
continent? Working with us, Fiona was able to look
Despite the fact that Diane did not have any deep into her heart and find the love and care
previous undergraduate degree, she had enough she still had for South Africa where she was
work-based knowledge and experience to be originally from. She decided to become a volun-
admitted into the graduate certificate and later teer in Khayelitsha (a sprawling shanty town
continue at Master level. She was now working with a population of around 2 million), working
in a team of like-minded people who were trying with orphans, building houses in the Indlovu eco-
to find answers to similar questions. Her passion village, raising funds and developing household
for a more sustainable housing translated into agreements for their occupants. Fiona proved
the establishment of an on-line group site where herself as a community leader for the new NGO
the issues that were of interest to her could be (non-governmental organisation) whose main
aired out to the broader community and often agenda was to provide a better life for the chil-
find answers. dren of Indlovu.
Diane became n leader within the real estate After spending half a year in South Africa,
industry and an expert in energy auditing. Soon Fiona is now back in Australia but her legacy
she was also a role model and started to signify remains with the work of the NGO. The Indlovu
the desired changes that prospective buyers time was the basis for her Masters in Sustain-
would want in a new house. She was no longer ability Studies project and not only did it receive
just selling houses, she was educating the sellers the highest grade, it also changed the lives of
and the buyers as to what type of living was those affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty.
best for them as well as for the planet. These are only four examples from a long
list. In fact, every student of ours has a story of
Case study 4: A community leader personal growth and achievements to tell. We as
A retired lawyer who has been working with teachers are constantly learning and improving
the corporate justice system all her life, felt dis- with the work our students are doing, but most
satisfied and personally unrewarded for the long importantly we are proud to be part of a positive
hours of service and considerable efforts that change.
she has put into her job throughout the years.
She wanted a change towards a more meaning-
ful way of using her skills and abilities, some-
thing that will leave a long-lasting legacy and will
improve the peoples lives. Being a corporate
lawyer wasnt anything special as you serve the
57
Talia Raphaely, Dora Marinova, Vladislav Todorov
4. Lessons learned from humanistic sustainability however is that of a constant hope and that to
education Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
Some of our thoughts on the application of committed citizens can change the world. In-
our Humanistic Sustainability Education are pre- deed, it's the only thing that ever has [18].
sented in Table 3. They are summarised as the
lessons we have learned. The biggest lesson
58
SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION: WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE DOING?
3. Dryzek, J. Deliberative Democracy and Beyond, sustaining life?, Green Theory and Praxis: The
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000 Journal of Ecopedagogy, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2008, pp.
4. Evans, T.L. Reflections in a broken mirror: Higher 114
education and the challenges of sustainability, 16. Kahn, R. Critical Pedagogy, Ecoliteracy, and
Green Theory & Praxis, The Journal of Ecopeda- Planetary Crisis: The Ecopedagogy Movement, Pe-
gogy, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2009, pp. 113, doi: ter Lang, New York, 2010
10.3903/gtp.2009.1.2 17. Manteaw, B.O. When businesses go to school:
5. Francis, C.A., Carter, H.C. Participatory education Neoliberalism and education for sustainable devel-
for sustainable agriculture: Everyone a teacher, opment, Journal of Education for Sustainable De-
everyone a learner, Journal of Sustainable Agricul- velopment, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2008, pp. 119126
ture, Vol. 18, No. 1 2001, pp. 7183 18. Mead, M. Coming of Age in Samoa, Morrow, New
6. Freire, P. Pedagogy of Indignation, Paradigm Pub- York, 1928
lishers, Boulder, CO, 2004 19. Medrick, R. Education as Sustainability, Ph.D.
7. Gadotti, M. Education for sustainability: A critical Program in Sustainability Education, Prescott Col-
contribution to the Decade of Education for Sus- lege, 2005
tainable Development, Green Theory & Praxis: 20. Newman, P. The sustainability journey at Murdoch
The Journal of Ecopedagogy, Vol 4, No. 1, 2008, University, in Leal Filho, W., Carpenter, D. (eds)
pp. 1564 Sustainability in the Australasian University Con-
8. Grigorov, S. Let education save the Earth! To- text, Peter Lang, Bern, 2006, pp. 163170
wards the realisation of new sustainable forms of 21. Pearce, G. Earths nine lives: How much further
humanistic education, Green Theory & Praxis: The can we push the planetary life-support systems
Journal of Ecopedagogy, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2009, pp. that keep us safe?, New Scientist, 27 February
93110 2010, 3135
9. Habermas, J. The Structural Transformation of 22. Princen, T. The Logic of Sufficiency, MIT Press,
the Public Sphere: Reason and the Rationalization Cambridge, MS, 2005
of Society, Polity Press, Cambridge, UK, 1989 23. Read, M., Ash, N., Bennett, E., Kumar, P. et al.
10. Hartz-Karp, J., Carson, L. Putting the people into Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Methods, Mil-
politics: The Australian Citizens Parliament, Inter- lennium Assessment Secretariat, Penang, 2002
national Journal of Public Participation, Vol. 3, 24. Rogers, A. Non-formal Education: Flexible Learn-
No. 1, 2009, pp. 9-31 ing or Participatory Education?, Kluwer Academic
11. Humes, B. Moving towards a liberatory pedagogy Publishers, New York, 2005.
for all species: Mapping the need for dialogue be- 25. Sarabhai, K.V. Half the decade over or half to
tween humane and anti-oppressive education, go?, Journal of Education for Sustainable Devel-
Green Theory & Praxis: The Journal of Ecopeda- opment, Vol.3, No. 2, 2009, pp. 123125.
gogy, Vol 4, No 1, 2008, pp. 6585 26. Spretnak, C. The Resurgence of the Real: Body,
12. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Nature and Place in a Hypermodern World,
(IPCC), Climate Change 2007: The Physical Sci- Routledge, New York, 1999
ence Basis, Contribution of Working Group I to 27. Tilbury, D. Tracking our progress: A global moni-
the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergov- toring and evaluation framework for the UN
ernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge DESD, Journal of Education for Sustainable De-
University Press, Cambridge, 2007 velopment, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2009, pp. 189193
13. Joshi, N. Economics of the Spinning Wheel, Nava- 28. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
jiban Mudranalaya, Ahmedabad, India, 1992. Organisation (UNESCO), United Nations Decade of
14. Kahn, R. Towards ecopedagogy: Weaving a Education for Sustainable Development (2005
broad-based pedagogy of liberation for animals, 2014): International Implementation Scheme,
nature and the oppressed people of the Earth, UNESCO, Paris, 2005
Journal for Critical Animal Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1, 29. Wenden, A. (Ed.) Educating for a Culture of Social
2003, n.p., http://www.criticalanimalstudies.org/ and Ecological Peace, State University of New
JCAS/Journal_Articles_download/Issue_1/ York, Albany, 2004
kahn.pdf [19.04.2010] 30. Yencken, D., Henry, N. Democracy under Siege,
15. Kahn, R., From education for sustainable devel- The Australian Collaboration, Albert Park, Austra-
opment to ecopedagogy: Sustaining capitalism or lia, 2008
59
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Liena Adamsone
Riga Technical University, Latvia
Abstract
Sustainable development of the national economy is connected with ability of the system of higher education
to ensure and prepare the specialists required for different branches of the national economy. Compared with other
resources the human resources have a vital role in ensuring persistent and dynamic development of the economy
in Latvia. Quality of higher education, infrastructure and funding of higher education are fundamental for emerging
new specialists and innovations. Obviously, emerging students decide to enroll in higher education establishment if
knowledge, skills and diploma of the establishment can ensure better position in the labor market. Result oriented
algorithm for improvement of the quality of the higher education of Latvia and its international competitiveness
have been worked out for development of the system of higher education.
60
Liena Adamsone
Science, 69,3 million lats were earmarked for penses of missed opportunities, and the benefits.
funding of the higher education from the funds There is an obvious relation: the greater the in-
of the state budget in 2009; after the first de- come a higher education certificate promises to
crease, when was sliced of the funding, the generate, the more attractive the higher educa-
funding volume was 52 million lats, and another tion establishment and more students resolve to
reduction of funding left the higher education study there.
with 42 million lats (as of 1 June 2009 [2]). On the other hand tuition fee or other di-
As funding to the higher education has de- rect expenses, or a loan becoming more expen-
creased due to crisis, it impedes the higher edu- sive, it may cause the number of applications in
cational establishments in implementation of this educational establishment to drop. The influ-
adequate investments in development of teach- ence of obtaining secondary and higher educa-
ing staff and university infrastructure, thus mak- tion on the individual may be characterized by
ing deterioration of the educational quality possi- the following graph.
ble. Besides, reduction of funding might endan- Income,
ger equal opportunities to education for popula- expenses
tion of various social strata in the future. The
education funding problems will particularly 40000 3'
badly hurt families of low income. 3
The total expenses per student per year are 2'
30000
considerably less in Latvia than other EU coun- 2
tries. According to Eurostat data for 2006,
20000
higher education funding in Latvia (public and
1'
private) was 3875 euro per student per year, 1
10000
which is the third lowest index in the EU after
Estonia (3378 euro per student) and Poland v' b' m'
(3630 euro per student). In the light of the con- v b m 20 30 50 60 pension
siderable reduction in public and private finance age
resources in 2009, there are grounds to state -10000
that expenses per student in Latvia have signifi-
cantly decreased at the moment. -20000
The state budget provides funds for a defi-
nite number of study positions, not university or
Fig. 1. Income of an individual, depending on the level
college as an institution. The Ministry of Educa- of obtained education [3]
tion and Science annually establishes the division where:
of higher education study positions, funded from v - direct expenses, obtaining secondary voca-
the state budget, by thematic groups of educa- tional education;
tion, in accordance with the granted volume of b - direct expenses, obtaining bachelors degree
national budget funds. education;
The majority of study positions funded from m - direct expenses, obtaining masters degree
the state budget (6070% universities and 90% education;
v- unearned income for the time spent obtaining
colleges) are granted in industries of priority as
secondary vocational education;
determined by the state natural sciences, engi- b- unearned income for the time spent obtaining
neering sciences, the science environment pro- bachelors degree education;
tection and healthcare) [2]. m- unearned income for the time spent obtaining
Human resources are the most essential masters degree education;
source of welfare of any nation. Each individual 1 curve of earned income for an individual with
is driven by the concept of economic person. secondary vocational education;
The decision to enter university, unlike the deci- 2 - curve of earned income for an individual with
bachelors degree education;
sion to find a job, may be regarded an invest-
3 - curve of earned income for an individual with
ment decision, in view of both the expenses and
masters degree education.
benefits. 1 income at pension age with secondary vo-
Before making a decision about entering a cational education;
higher education establishment, the would-be 2 - income at pension age with bachelors de-
students weigh up the direct expenses, the ex- gree education;
61
SOME ASPECTS OF IMPROVEMENT OF THE QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN LATVIA
3- income at pension age with masters degree The values of studies expenses ratio for
education. masters degree study programmes is one and a
half times and doctors degree study pro-
As the graph demonstrates, with the ex- grammes three times larger than the studies
penses for obtaining education growing, the un- expenses ratio values for bachelors degree and
earned income grows correspondingly. In order vocational studies programmes determined of
to determine the economic efficiency of educa- the respective thematic field of education.
tion, internal rate of return is used (r). The larger It has been the fourth year in a row when
the internal rate of return, the more profitable the number of students in Latvia decreases. The
the investments in education. The practice con- number of students matriculated in 2009/2010
firms that larger investment in obtaining the study year has decreased by 26% in average in
higher education guarantees larger amount of comparison with the previous study year. The
money earned. There is a general regularity that number of entrants in years 2015-2017 is fore-
income of an employee keeps growing until re- casted to be yet by 50% smaller (due to demo-
tirement (60-65 years in average). Reaching this graphic reasons). This means the existing educa-
age, the income of employees of all educational tion system will need a change. Evaluation of
levels tends to decrease. tendencies of changes in the number of foreign
The funding of studies is constituted by students reveal that their number keeps growing
base funding, corresponding the optimum list of by little each year, although the growth is rather
study programmes and the number of students, minute, by 46% a year on average and the
consisting of funds for public utility payments, number of foreign students accounts for merely
taxes, infrastructure maintenance, supplies and 1,2% of the total number of students [1].
equipment, and staff salaries, as well as fees for Comparing the expected labour force de-
studies. mand and supply by qualification groups in
The volume of studies funding is identified 2015, we may observe this tendency appears
on the basis of the number of study positions also here, that a fair of labour force surplus is
determined by the state for the respective uni- forming in the group of higher qualification,
versity or college, base expenses of a study po- whereas mid-level qualification employees might
sition and study expense ratios of thematic fields be in need.
of education. On the basis of future labour market ten-
The expense ratios of thematic fields of dencies, the courses of the current labour market
education are indices determining the amount of policy should be based on stimulation of supply
study position expenses in the respective the- of the mid-level qualification labour force and
matic fields of education versus the base ex- implementation of a more effective higher educa-
penses of a study position. According to the tion supply, meaning the quality aspect instead
available data, the smallest ratios are for law sci- of the quantity.
ences, humanities, social and behaviouristic sci- If to compare the funding for a study posi-
ences, sciences of information and communica- tion of the state budget to the average tuition
tion, business and administration; in these fields, fee for full time basic studies from 2006 to
the minimum value of studies expenses ratio is 2008, by the profile of thematic fields of studies,
1,0, and the optimum value from 1,1 to 1,4. we have to conclude that the budget funding per
The largest ratios, in turn, are in the areas of one study position up to now has been consid-
military protection, dentistry and veterinary sci- erably higher than the tuition fee in the respec-
ence; the minimum value of studies expenses tive programme. With that in mind, the actual
ratio in these fields is from 4,0 to 6,0, and the expenses of a study position should be identi-
optimum value ranging from 5,0 to 6,0. Military fied, respectively planning the funding from the
protection is the only thematic field of education, state budget per one study position.
where the minimum value of studies expenses Data from Figure 2 reveal that 57% of the
ratio is equal to its optimum value (6,0). funding of state universities and colleges come
Transition from minimum values of studies from national funds, the tuition fee covering less
expenses ratios to their optimum values occurs than one fifth.
gradually over a course of ten years, augmenting From these data we may judge the level of
the studies expenses ratio value by one tenth dependency of the higher education on the fund-
each year. ing assigned by the state, and we may just fancy
62
Liena Adamsone
the extent of irretrievable damage the higher being in social sciences, commercial sciences
education would suffer due to funding cuts. and law.
4500
4000 The average funding
3500 per student in state Health care and social
universities welfare
3000
2500 The average funding Engineering, production
Sciences
Ls
2000 per budget student in sciences and law Funds of the state
1500 state universities
Social sciences, com-
1000 mercial sciences and law
500
0
Education
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Year 0 20 40 60 80
%
Fig. 2. The average funding per student / per budget
student in state universities in 2003-2007 [2] Fig. 3. The funds of the state budget in academic year
2008/2009 [2]
The picture shows that the funding per stu-
dent/ per budget student has a tendency to The distribution of students by thematic
grow, the average funding per budget student groups and fields of studies has not changes
grows comparatively faster in the reporting pe- significantly over the last years. At the moment,
riod. The funding per budget student in state every other student in Latvia is studying social
universities in 2007 exceeded the funding per sciences. The number of degree holders in natu-
student by 1078 lats or 36%. The breakdown of ral and engineering sciences in Latvia is insuffi-
the average funding per student in state universi- cient. In 2004 already, compared to other Euro-
ties: pean countries, Latvia was at the tail end by the
1693 lats - subsidy from general in- number of studying engineering sciences. More-
come; over, it should be emphasized that the proportion
535 lats - tuition fee; of students of engineering sciences, production
416 lats - research funding; and construction, regardless of rise in the num-
326 lats - other sources. ber of study positions financed by the state, is
The number of students financed from the growing rather slowly from 9,2% in academic
state budget has increased in the academic year year 2004/2005 to 11,1% in academic year
of 2008/2009, which is 33 355 (increase by 2008/2009. To compare, this index was 20,5%
more than 4%, in comparison with the previous in 1997/1998. In recent years there is a rise of
year). Thus the proportion of budget students the proportion of students in the thematic group
has increased by 2%, which comprises 27% of of healthcare and social welfare.
the total number of students, in comparison with In 2008/2009, social sciences, commercial
68% in the academic year of 1995/1996. The sciences and law are in leading positions by
number of budget financed study positions in three indices the number of matriculated stu-
universities and colleges, as established by the dents, the total number of students and the
state for 2009, is 31 059, which is by 566 posi- number of graduates over 50% in each of the
tions more than in the previous year. Of the selected indices [3].
state budget positions, 24 761 positions are When assessing the essential indices of
bachelors degree and vocational studies, 5079 higher education in Latvia, special attention
masters degree studies and 1219 doctors should be paid to the number of students, who
degree studies [2]. discontinue studies due to various reasons.
Figure 3 displays that the proportion of Reduction of student dropout rate is an es-
those studying at budget funds ranges from sential problem from the resource economy point
10% to 68%, depending on the thematic group of view, which should be adequately addressed
of education. The largest proportion of budget by universities together with the respective state
positions (68%) is in natural sciences, mathe- institutions. Particularly now, when student and
matics and information technologies (industry of study loan system is implemented and the vol-
national priority), the smallest proportion (10%)
63
SOME ASPECTS OF IMPROVEMENT OF THE QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN LATVIA
ume of funds available for lending is rather lim- ministry of education and other, for addressing
ited. and solving in practice certain problems.
In accordance with agreements signed be- It is necessary to eliminate some negative
tween the Ministry of Education and Science and influences on entry of labour market by persons
universities, students from study groups for fee who have obtained higher and secondary educa-
will replace the dropouts in the state-financed tion. There are cases, when due to various sub-
study positions by a way of competition. There- jective factors, graduates of these schools are
fore universities, which offer studies for fee, all hired irrespective to their speciality obtained,
study positions of the state budget financed which in some cases reduce their positive effect
should actually be filled. on company performance. For instance, an MA
At the moment, there are no punitive meas- in social sciences is hired in a position of engi-
ures against persons, who have studied at the neering specialist, which does not contribute to
funds of the state budget and discontinue their company development. This specialist is required
studies, thus incurring material losses to the to master vocational knowledge not to mention
state. the innovative experience.
The average proportion of dropout students Generation of specialists of like profiles in
(discontinued their studies) in academic year several universities at the time should be eradi-
2007/2008 was 16,5% among the full time and cated, as teaching and training has not materially
19,8% among part time students. Reduction of changed between them, it only promotes migra-
student dropout rate is a very significant problem tion of the teaching staff and strains the compe-
from the point of view of resource economy, it tition on labour market.
should be addressed appropriately. In the reporting period, various tendencies
of furnishing funding could be observed, which
2. Result oriented algorithm for improvement of serves as evidence to successful implementation
the quality of the higher education of Latvia of their strategy:
To raise the quality of the higher education decreasing of credit from the state
in Latvia and its international competitiveness, as budget funds;
well as streamline the use of the state budget, a increasing of credit from credit agen-
result oriented algorithm for improvement of the cies funds.
quality of the higher education of Latvia has If loan funds from the state budget ac-
been developed. It has been developed upon counted for a half of the total loan funds in
proposals of principals and researchers of various 2002, then in 2004 this figure was 13%, in
universities, to furnish the Ministry of Education 2006 less than 1%, but two years later the
and Science a tool for improvement the perform- state did not assign loan funds, covering only the
ance of higher education and its international difference in interest; 100% of loan funds were
competitiveness. The goal of this algorithm is to granted from funds of credit agencies.
attain improvement of the quality of a result ori- The volume of the state guarantees to
ented higher education and raise its competitive- study loans and student loans in the period of
ness. time from 2002 to 2008 was 92,3 million lats,
To attain this goal, three sub-goals are to be including: 56,7 million lats amount of guaran-
reached. These goals entail certain tasks, ac- tee to study loans, 35,6 million lats amount of
complishment of which require performing cer- guarantee to student loans [2].
tain measures or implement a number of re- Implementation of the lending system may
forms. be considered successful on the aggregate, as
This algorithm clearly identifies the certain the established target (relief of the state budget)
tasks and the major measures to be imple- has been reached.
mented, for actual improvement of the quality of
the higher education and its international com-
petitiveness. This algorithm includes various
measures of simple as well as very complicated
degree of solutions. As the problems under-
pinned by the algorithm are topical in other coun-
tries as well, the algorithm could be suggested
as a document for employees of universities,
64
Liena Adamsone
Goal - improvement of the quality of the higher education of Latvia and its
international competitiveness
Sub-goals
Development of
Universities guarantee
international level
Production of specialists participation of the
research projects,
competitive on the population of Latvia in
commercializing them
international level development of
in Latvia, creation of
knowledge based
innovative products,
economy
services
Major tasks
Quality Society
Increase of Internationalization
improvement of development
resource use and improvement
teaching and and its
efficiency and of global
research innovative
return competitiveness
activities activities
Increase of resource
use efficiency and
return Formation of centres of excellence
and competence
Establishment of a
Assessment of
research-intensive
structural reforms More extensive involvement of
university within 10
academic staff from abroad
years
Fig. 4. Result oriented algorithm for improvement of the quality of the higher education of Latvia and its in-
ternational competitiveness.
65
SOME ASPECTS OF IMPROVEMENT OF THE QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN LATVIA
well as shifting of its structure for high-tech in- important. The goal of reforms is to attain, along
dustries. Such economy model is sustainable, as a definite level of state funding, to activate the
it allows embedding the growth on advantages channels that encourage investments of the pri-
of competitiveness of the national economy, vate sector into research and development, as
stemming from high level of technology, which, only in such conditions the spending for research
at the end, does not cause so distinct dispropor- and development provides an adequate innova-
tions in economy, as those forming in Latvian tion process in the national economy.
economy during the previous years of dynamic
growth. References
It should be noted, though, that the major 1. , ., , ., , .
benefits in relation to these reforms in education , . 2- ., .
, 1997, -864 ., . 4, 19
and science can be anticipated no sooner than
2. Informative report about necessary reforms in the
after 5-7 years, i.e., after 2015. Until 2015, the
field of higher education and science.- Riga, Minis-
productivity growth of Latvian national economy try of Economy,2009, On: http://izm.izm.gov.lv
will pertain primarily to those processes of bal- /upload_file/Normativie_akti/infozin_18122009pdf,
ancing, which must take place for the competi- . 14, 16, 21, 27, 29, 34
tiveness of Latvian economy to restore, i.e., the 3. Survey of higher education in Latvia.- Riga, Minis-
development should be faster than the growth of try of Education and Sciences, 2009, On:
employment and salaries. http://izm.izm.gov.lv/registri-statistika/statistika-
It is not only the total funding volume what augstaka/parskats-2009.html, . 46
matters, division by funding sources as well is
66
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Alla Sorokina
Belarusian National Technical University, Minsk, The Republic of Belarus
Abstract
The article is devoted to updating managers education nowadays. Lifelong learning has bm necessity
for all people and especially for managers. They need to develop their competences throughout their lives if they
want to b successful. Moreover, the rapid of change in the world and the continuous roll-out of new tech-
nologies make managers keep their job-related skills up-to-date. Both skills and management competences contrib-
ute to their motivation and job satisfaction in the workplace, thereby affecting the quality of their work. Managers
should b able to dedicate time to learning autonomously and with self-discipline. They should b able to organize
their own learning, estimate the progress of their learning, evaluate their own work and seek advice. Learning to
learn requires ambitious managers to develop their own strategies for successful educational activity, to under-
stand and know the strengths and weaknesses of their skills and qualifications and to b able to search for training
opportunities. positive attitude to lifelong learning helps succeed in learning throughout all life and bm the
best manager.
Key words: competences, management competences, lifelong learning, self-directed learning, learning
autonomously
A job in management needs specific man- rethink learning attempting to change a mindset
agement competences [4]. A management com- about it.
petency is a set of knowledge, skills, attitudes Learning to learn skills require the acquisi-
and personal qualities that combine to make a tion of the fundamental basic skills [2]. They are
manager effective in his work, to help a manager necessary for managers for further learning in
to successfully carry out his job in management. order to be able to gain, process and assimilate
A manager should be aware of the importance of new knowledge and skills appropriate to their
management competences and developing them work and career. A positive attitude to lifelong
for successful performance in a job that requires learning including motivation, confidence, crea-
being in change of many people. Lifelong learn- tivity, experience succeeds at learning through-
ing is the only way for managers to succeed in a out peoples life. People obtain fundamental ba-
profession and a career. sic skills [2] at schools and universities. But
Lifelong learning is more than further educa- there are some drawbacks in learning, teaching
tion or training it is a mindset of good manag- and education in our society.
ers inventing the future of our society. It is a Most university graduates see their studies
habit for them to think, understand, explore and at the university as a period of their lives that
improve their knowledge, skills and personal prepares them well for work and from their point
qualities in order to be the best in management of view it is enough to be successful. They dont
environment. pay attention to the facts that:
Professional activity of managers has be- university graduates are not well pre-
come so knowledge intensive that learning is pared for work because of lack of experi-
becoming an integral and irremovable part of ence;
their work activities. In the emerging information the pace of change is so fast that tech-
society an educated person, especially a man- nologies and the skills of todays manag-
ager, must be someone who is willing to con- ers are becoming obsolete within 5-6
sider further learning as a lifelong process. More years and require constant renewal;
and more knowledge, especially advanced they can change careers several times in
knowledge, be able to improve skills and per- their lives, even though what they
sonal qualities required for management, are in learned at a university was designed to
great demand for managers activity, and lifelong prepare them for their first career.
learning is not restricted to providing them with The current mindset about learning, teach-
opportunity to engage in learning activity, the ing and education is dominated by a view in
objective of lifelong learning is to fundamentally which teaching is often a process in which a
67
Alla Sorokina
teacher tells and shows learners something they Sometimes universities are inadequate to
know nothing about. Although this model may prepare students, future managers, to compete
be more realistic for the early grades in schools, in the knowledge based workplace. A major
it is obviously inadequate for learning processes objective of a lifelong learning approach is to re-
in universities where the skills for lifelong learn- duce the gap between university and workplace
ing must be developed. Teachers must adopt the learning in order to prepare learners to function
role of the initiator and coach rather than being in working environment requiring creativity, col-
the teller of information. Learning is more than laboration, and innovation. Students must be
being taught [1]. Learning new skills and acquir- taught within the context of their future work,
ing new knowledge cannot be restricted to for- on real-world problems. Teaching, learning and
mal educational settings. education must be integrated into their future
A lifelong learning perspective implies that work. Students must construct solutions to the
universities need to prepare students to engage problems when they are getting into trouble, use
in self-directed learning processes because this is their knowledge for actual problem situations.
what they have to do in their future professional The direct usefulness of their knowledge im-
lives. Self - directed learning means that the proves greatly the motivation to learn the new
learner tends to be systematic independent, not material because the time and efforts invested in
focusing on the teacher [3]. The self-directed learning are immediately paid. Moreover, com-
learner is able to monitor learning in a classroom pleting challenging tasks students have opportu-
and will use learning experience outside of the nities to practice thinking. The aim of a teacher
traditional classroom as well. Working in groups is to encourage students to think in a free way,
by role-playing, using case studies, or simula- what is vital for future managers.
tions may be an appropriate method of engaging Thus, an important challenge nowadays is
students in this type of learning. Giving students to learn and practise students, future managers,
the ability to share their opinions or thoughts to function in modern knowledge society, and to
among a group of classmates creates a feeling of develop in them a new mindset for learning. We
collegiality among the group and help reduce fear are sure that lifelong learning and self-directed
among some of the quieter students. This type learning help managers to develop their man-
of environment will promote an atmosphere of agement competences to be the best managers
trust where students feel they can share opin- in order to increase the productivities and com-
ions. The sharing of thoughts among classmates petitiveness of their companies and make socie-
is an important part of developing self-directed ties and economies of their countries successful.
learning skills within the classroom. Teachers
have to take responsibility for cultivating an at- References
mosphere in which every student has reason to 1. Illich, I. Deschooling Society, Harper and Row,
share. This is the way to develop lifelong learn- New York, 1971
2. Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. European
ing skills to help future managers to improve
References Framework, Luxembourg, Office for
their management competences and demonstrate
Official Publications of the European Communi-
their value to the company and in the job mar- ties, 2007
ket. It is advantageous for both students and 3. Merriam, S. B. The New Update on Adult Learning
universities that students are able to direct their Theory, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001
own learning: students have acquired the skills 4. Sorokina, A. Competence Approach in Education
for self-directed, universities have succeeded in of Managers, Management and Sustainable De-
their objective. velopment, 23/2009,. Sofia, Bulgaria, p. 34-38
68
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Abstract
The article shows the problem concerning development of forest education conducted by State Forests in
Poland. Forestry education, which is the part of the ecological awareness of society, bases on the broadly defined
principles of sustainable development. The society forest educational program in forest divisions was
implemented in Poland in 2004. To this day, based on data collected from all over the country, two reports were
prepared, which are a collection of information about the development of educational activities in the units of
State Forests. Basic assumptions of this program are carried out in forest divisions using various forms such as -
field classes conducted mainly on the forest nature trails, lessons in the nature-educational centers and chambers
of forestry education, classes with foresters in schools and others, such as - competitions, exhibitions and outdoor
events were the subject area concerns the forest. The main recipients of content transmitted through the above
mentioned activities are children and school children in age 7 to 15 (they constitute over 75% of the total number
of participants in classes). Involvement in these forms providing information about the forest has increased by
almost 30% (up to year 2006) since the beginning of the program. The base of facilities used in forestry education
and the number of people qualified to carry out such activities also grows every year.
Key words: sustainable development, forestry education, forest, field classes, forest nature trails
69
Agnieszka Jedraszak, Malgorzata Dalke, Mariusz Miotke
70
THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOREST EDUCATION IN THE STATE FORESTS IN POLAND
Fig. 1. Number of participants in each type of activities carried out in the State Forests
Impressive is also the total number of (7-12 years old) and high school students (12-15
participants in all forms of forest education. In years old) (Fig. 2.).
2007 it exceeded 1,7 million, the majority were
children and adolescents from primary schools
71
Agnieszka Jedraszak, Malgorzata Dalke, Mariusz Miotke
In addition, the State Forests has created education, to a lesser extent, forest exhibition
over 2100 projects with media representatives rooms, green classes and educational paths. At
and more than 2350 projects with other subjects the average PFC' Forest District turnout of
(local governments, fire service, landscape and participants of education was three times higher
national parks, NGOs). The data contained in the than in other Forest Districts of the State Forests
reports shows that the vast majority of the in 2007. This translated into a greater number of
Forest Districts collaborate with environmental properly completed forms of education - outdoor
education centres, landscape and national parks. activities (2,6 times), educational meetings
In this case, we are often faced with a situation outside school (2,7 times), lessons in forest
where several Forest Districts are working with exhibition rooms (6,4 times), educational
the same subject, which in practice helps to exhibitions (5 times more).
maximize the educational effect. This situation To the forest education of the public in the
also applies to cooperation with NGOs on PFC' Forest District is involved the same number
environmental profile, which includes, inter alia, of employees (average 18), as in the Forest
Eagle Conservation Committee, Polish Society District outside the PFC, but the educational
for the Protection of Birds (OTOP), Forest Friends posts in the State Forests (50-100% of the time
Association and Naturalists' Club. working in education) are almost entirely in the
State Forests undertook the organization of PFC, and most are assigned to the centres of
the following projects in year 2007: forest education.
In 2007, the State Forests spent on public
Number of Number of education 15,7 million zl (1 euro=about 4 polish
undertakings participants zlotys), but the amount does not include salaries
Educational meeting 1 901 68 020 of staff involved in education.
Forest competition 1 374 141 764
Educational campaign 2 623 378 308 Amount Share
Exhibitions 473 208 723 Sources of income
(thousands zl) (%)
Other (fetes, fairs) X 883 500* Prime costs of Forest District 11 731,1 74,5
* - estimated number Forest fund 499,2 3,2
National budget 1 661,3 10,6
Significant share of the educational Provincial Fund of 1 346,9 8,6
activities of the State Forests has 57 Forest Environment Protection and
Districts belonging to 19 Promotional Forest Water Management
Complexes. Promotional Forest Complexes (PFC) National Fund of 95,5 0,6
are functional areas of ecological and social Environment Protection and
significance. Environmental education of society Water Management
Other sources 401,6 2,5
is one of the major tasks assigned to those areas
Overall 15 717,0 100,0
since the beginning of their existence (1994).
The Forest Districts of the PFC are usually
From the State Forests' financial amount
more saturated with educational infrastructure
spent on educational activities in 2007, it was
than the Forest District outside the PFC. This
funded primarily:
applies especially to the location of centres of
72
THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOREST EDUCATION IN THE STATE FORESTS IN POLAND
1. the creation, maintenance and exhibition rooms for 464 persons and 11 lessons
equipping of educational centres in in schools for 503 students. In addition, four
PFCs, forest exhibition rooms, forests lectures were delivered at a forum of self-
paths and other educational facilities, government, or at a rural meeting for 158
2. purchase of teaching materials and auditors.
resources to carry out forestry Forest District has prepared three forest
education, including tables, competitions (natural science, art), and each of
publications, equipment for observing them attended an average of 103 people. In
nature, audiovisual equipment, addition, it organized or co-operated with
3. preparing and printing its own organizing of six educational events such as
educational publishers - folders, Earth Day, Clean Up the World, and winter
guides and maps. feeding animals, etc. In one such action were
Directly in the educational activities of involved an average of 144 people. Statistically
society are involved: the Forest Cultural Centre speaking, each Forest District mounted an
in Goluchow (240 thousand participants in exhibition of drawings, paintings, photographs,
various forms of education), Kostrzyca Forest exhibits, etc., which was visited by an average
Gene Bank (over 3400 participants of education) of 441 people.
and the State Forests Information Centre. There In other forms of natural-forest education
is also a huge number of publications bearing the organized by the Forest District (for example,
logo of the State Forests: Hope is green, stands at the fairs and festivals, mushroom
Forests in Poland 2007, Manual for forest hunting, consultations with writing research
education, Voice of the Forest and Forest papers) attended by more than two thousand
Echo. people.
The statistical Forest District cooperated in
Forestry Education in the Forest District 2007 with 18 schools, with two, rarely one
statistically environmental NGO. Every second Forest District
From the calculations based on data cooperated with landscape or national park.
contained in the reports of the educational In order to promote events, education and
activity emerges a picture of the average - in knowledge of the forest every Forest District
terms of statistics - educational Forest District of maintains contacts with one or two local
the year 2007. On average 16 employees each newspaper editorial boards, and two of every
Forest District is committed to the public forestry three Forest District cooperate with the radio
education. The forest education uses primarily station and television station.
the forest educational paths. Other usable
facilities such as nurseries, seed stands and Regional Directorate of Zielona Gora as an
conservative stands are commonly used for example of forestry education
educational purposes. Also natural sites not Regional Director in Zielona Gora imposed
directly related to forest management, such as an obligation on all Forest Districts in RDSF
nature reserves, parks and dendrological Zielona Gora to run public forest education, with
gardens. More than half of the Forest Districts particular emphasis on children and adolescents.
(235) has its own forest exhibition room. Accordingly the foresters are required to appoint
In year 2007 in various forms of forestry from among the Forest District staff a person
education organized by a Forest District responsible for conducting education at Forest
participated more than 4 thousand people. These District, which also will participate in internal
were mainly school children and adolescents training courses to raise their skills in this regard.
aged 7 to 15 years (67,1%). Participants often The task of public forest education is
used field classes and trips with a guide. Many carried out in RDSF Zielona Gora, through:
educational events organized within the Forest 1. Leading a continuous (annual since 1997)
District, such as Clean Up the World or Earth and common, to all Forest Districts,
Day were also very popular and drew up many forestry educational campaign called
people. The statistical Forest District conducted Spring without a flame (educational
in that year 32 field lessons, involving a total of project), in which foresters allies in the
1,2 thousand people. Forest District staff campaign are: the State Fire Service,
conducted 13 classes in their own forest representatives of the Church, local
73
Agnieszka Jedraszak, Malgorzata Dalke, Mariusz Miotke
government, teachers and the media. Holiday of the Tree, Clean forest.
2. Operating in the PFC Bory Lubuskie the 8. Distribution to all schools and institutions
Nature-Forest Education Centre with selected journals Explore the Forest,
regional range, operated by the forester Forest-Human-Future, Polish forest.
and the educator. This Centre leads in 9. Constant cooperation with the In-service
region in terms of public forest Teacher Training Centre in Zielona Gora
education. Here are held annual meetings in the yearly (since 1999) trainings and
of educational leaders from all Forest workshops for foresters and teachers,
Districts and trainings for them, as well raising their knowledge and skills in the
as workshops for teachers organized matter of natural-forest education of
jointly with the In-service Teacher children and adolescents, using the
Training Centre in Zielona Gora and other educational infrastructure created by the
outside educational activities for society foresters in the woods of RDSF Zielona
and inside, for foresters. Gora.
3. Organization of natural-forest paths. 10. The cooperation agreement with the
Above name is used, because in addition University of Zielona Gora was signed by
to knowledge about the forest and RDSF Zielona Gora, by which student
forester's work, they represent the local activities are carried out in the field. Also
values of nature, often local attractions, a list of thesis carried out in the Forest
historic landmarks. In each Forest District Districts for the coming years was
exists, at least one and often two or developed.
more paths. To those paths are 11. Constant cooperation with the Provincial
compiled guides that also serve as Fund for Environmental Protection and
promotional materials of forestry. It is Water Management in co-funding
worth stressing that in order to finance educational projects.
the construction of paths, foresters
cooperating with municipalities and local Forestry education - ideas for the future
sponsors. Although forestry education is well-
4. Forest Districts run their own conducted by the State Forests, there still is a
competitions and education - promotional need for the development. It should begin in
events, aimed to the schools in their integrating it into the core program for polish
area, such as competition for pupils We schools. In the regulation of the Minister of
learn the forest, jointly organized by National Education of 23 August 2007 regulating
Nature-Forest Education Centre and the core curricula, there is not even the word
schools of Zielona Gora, Live in forest, and further more environmental
harmony with nature which has been education itself is to be conducted only from the
organized jointly with the Forest District fourth grade of elementary school. To begin the
Zielona Gora and Primary School nr15 in changes in that regard, Forest Friends
Zielona Gora, Forest Youth Games Association has created a draft of proposed
organized by the Forest District changes to the Act of forests. This project
Swiebodzin for all the schools in their defines in detail the forestry education as a set
area, etc. of actions for the education of children,
5. For the each school there is assigned a adolescents and adults, and teacher education
forester, whose task is continuous and training, designed to take into account the
cooperation with the managing and forest subject area in the teaching of nature,
organizing education. biology and environmental education.
6. Implementation and emissions of films The opportunity to develop forestry
dealing with forestry, nature and education are also forestry education programs,
distribution of video cassettes to all prepared by District Forest Managers for 10
schools in the area of Regional years under a forest management plan. Partial
Directorate at the State Forests (RDSF). annual plans that are a part of those programs,
7. Working with schools in the organization regard to the construction, expansion and
events with a national range, as the management of forestry education sites and
Clean Up the World, Earth Day, preparation of forestry educational projects.
74
THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOREST EDUCATION IN THE STATE FORESTS IN POLAND
75
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Bilyana Ovcharova
University of Forestry, Sofia, Bulgaria
Abstract
The aim of English language teaching is to improve the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Very often, due to time constraints, it is a challenge to integrate the development of writing skills in the curriculum.
A possible solution is the summary format as it is conveniently short but nevertheless it allows learners to demon-
strate understanding of a texts main ideas and ability to present them in an organized way while using suitable
style, appropriate vocabulary and correct grammar. Summary writing in the context of teaching English for specific
purposes at the University of Forestry in Bulgaria is a learning task performed on the basis of reading and listening
comprehension activities with texts or recordings related to the respective scientific area of interest (forestry,
landscape architecture and etc.). Teaching summary writing involves a dynamic process in which the learners are
encouraged to critically assess the information and think of logically constructed summaries. To achieve this,
summary writing entails class discussions and comments of examples which are conducted in English with ad-
vance level students. Thus, the synergy approach to writing ensures the high motivation of both the learners and
the teacher to successfully complete the writing tasks. Some of the teaching techniques for writing efficient sum-
maries are, among others: studying the style of summary writing of scientific Bulgarian and English texts, writing a
summary in English and another one in the native Bulgarian language of the same text/recording and writing sum-
maries of texts/recordings with different lengths.
76
Bilyana Ovcharova
part of this paper will attempt to show some ba- developing their language performance, and, in
sic guidelines for writing abstracts in English. particular, improving their grammar understand-
ing and acquisition.
1.2. Executive summaries and other types of To do this the summary as a form of writ-
summaries for business purposes ten text has been identified as useful and con-
Working in a business environment requires venient. The reasons for this choice are the short
the preparation of executive summaries of re- length of a summary, and, therefore, the time
ports. Many documents written to present poli- required for writing a summary of a familiar text.
cies and strategies also contain executive sum- For students who have English once a week
maries. Though this is a longer form of summary, for 2 hours, it is possible to read a text and have
the general principles remain the same. Along the written summary for the time of the weekly
with these, the future professionals in companies classes. Moreover, re-writing and editing are also
will have to be able to submit in writing various not a threatening task as the student summaries
data and information in a concise form such as are usually about 100-250 words long.
notes from meetings, information about products, To write effective summaries the students
suggestions for innovations and etc. The dy- are told to concentrate only on the main ideas of
namic businesses favour short forms of writing. the text. Thus, the focus of the learning task is
content rather than form [1]. In this respect two
1.3. Book reviews strategies depending on the particular group of
Because of their popularity book reviews are students can be adopted. With advance level
excellent to illustrate the main feature of all groups the texts are discussed in English. Initially
types of summaries: their informative nature. In in the process of teaching summary writing, this
a book review, of course, the aim will be to give usually takes place as a preparatory step; later,
the reader a general idea of what a book is about, as the students acquire confidence and experi-
and to sell the book. Writing summaries in a ence, this can be done as a post-writing and pre-
learning environment is a task important for rewriting exercise. The second strategy applies
achieving teaching goals in the context of syn- for students with unsatisfactory knowledge of
ergy approach to learning that will be discussed English or below the threshold proficiency level
in the later parts of this paper. for efficient writing [1]. The discussions in these
groups are conducted in Bulgarian.
2. Writing summaries The table below shows the steps of the
2.1. The summary as a learning task summary writing task in the context of language
The aim of this paper is to present an ap- teaching.
proach to developing the writing skills of mixed
ability groups of students with the purpose of
77
SUMMARY WRITING IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
ries most students are able to identify only the dents confidence in understanding and using
main ideas. correct grammar.
A third mistake that some students make is Another point to consider is blending the
to express an opinion on the summarized content. teaching of writing and speaking skills. As it has
For example I had a group of students in Land- been pointed out above, the discussions of the
scape Architecture who had the task to summa- original texts to be summarized, and, at a later
rize an article on the garden preparations for stage, of the written summaries are conducted in
winter. Several students concluded their summa- English with advance level students. Planning
ries by saying their opinion for the techniques speaking activities is never an easy task as adult
and activities for garden winterizing discussed in students are reluctant to discuss hypothetical
the text. situations. However, motivated students are very
These three types of mistakes are related to willing to engage in discussions that are focused
the summary writing process which is not differ- on solving an immediate task or expressing an
ent in a learners native or second language. Be- opinion on a real issue. In this sense, writing
low are discussed some implications of the summaries can be a good starting point for a
summary writing task directly related to the speaking exercise.
teaching of English.
2.4. Additional task for advanced students of
2.3. Synergy approach to summary writing English
A particularly difficult area of the English This idea has been suggested by Ekaterini
language teaching for the students at the Uni- Nikolarea from Greece who teaches ESP at the
versity of Forestry is the grammar. It is believed University of the Aegean. The additional task
that the receptive skill of reading practices and involves writing two summaries of a text: one in
enhances the level of understanding of the the native language and one in English. Due to
grammatical structures of the English language. time constraints this task have not been applied
The second step in the process of developing in the language teaching at the University of For-
grammar competence, the production of written estry; however, it makes sense to require stu-
summaries, enables the students to demonstrate dents to write a text summary both in English
the acquisition of the grammatical structures and Bulgarian, and to draw conclusion about the
they have encountered in the texts. As the stu- development of their native and second language.
dents at the University of Forestry write summa-
ries on the specialized texts from the reading 3. Comparison of the principles for writing ab-
comprehension exercises, the development of stracts in Bulgarian and English
grammar competence is observed in the course Below are 4 examples of abstracts: two in
of time. Writing summaries builds up the stu- Bulgarian and two in English:
Example 1: Example 2:
,
.
, .
.
-
.
. ,
.
.
.
78
Bilyana Ovcharova
Example 3: Example 4:
Replicated circular openings ranging in size from 0.1 Non-industrial private forests (NIPFs) and public for-
to 1 ha were cleared on a Sierran mixed conifer forest ests in the United States generate many non-market
in 1996 at the Blodgett Forest Research Station, Cali- benefits for landholders and society generally. These
fornia and planted with seedlings of six native spe- values can be both enhanced and diminished by
cies. After 3 years of growth, heights of all trees were wildfire management. This paper considers the chal-
measured and analyzed according to species, opening lenges of supporting economically efficient alloca-
size, and location within the opening. However tion of wildfire suppression resources in a social
there were important differences between species in cost-benefit analysis framework when non-market
the nature of the co-limitation. Giant sequoia growth values are important. These challenges present
was most sensitive to light and water availability. To- serious impediments to adapting price-based deci-
gether they explained more than 47% of the observed sion-support tools to accommodate non-market val-
variation in giant sequoia height. In contrast, only light ues and support decision-making consistent with
was a significant predictor of ponderosa pine perform- contemporary federal wildfire policy. Departure from
ance. Douglas-fir heights were significantly related to the historic range and variability of ecological condi-
both light and water but there was more unexplained tions is proposed as a complementary framework to
variability in the Douglas-fir model compared to the support wildfire management decisions when non-
other species. These highly controlled experimental market values are important on NIPF and public for-
group openings provide a standard reference for silvi- estland.
culturalists using the group selection method of re-
generation.
Examples 1 and 2 show some of the typical statement of the topic and the scope;
phrases used in the abstracts in Bulgarian. It the sources reviewed;
should be noted that these underlined phrases major conclusions .
consist of a verb and noun phrase (sentence sub- The length of abstracts may vary (as jour-
ject) following it. The verb is usually in the past nals have different requirements) but between
indefinite tense ( ). 80 and 300 words is usually considered ade-
Examples 3 and 4 of abstracts in English have quate. Typically, abstracts consist of one para-
the opposite syntax: a noun phrase (sentence graph.
subject) followed by a verb phrase as is the nor-
mal word order in English. The verbs in Example Conclusions
3 are all in the past simple tense with the excep- The conclusions drawn are as follows:
tion of the verb in the last sentence which draws 1. Writing summaries is a useful activity
the studys conclusion. This use of the past sim- which can successfully be integrated in
ple tense must be considered when writing sci- teaching English for specific purposes.
entific papers in English as the results are often 2. Writing summaries can be a good way
discussed in the present tense in the papers in to teach grammar understanding and
Bulgarian. The phrase this paper considers in competence as well as a starting point
Example 4 requires special attention. Similar for speaking activities.
phases are very common in the abstracts in Bul-
garian; however, the abstracts in natural sci- References
ences in English (as Example 3 shows) often do 1. Leki, I. Second Language Writing. In R. B. Kaplan
not contain such introductory phrases. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of applied linguistics.
The following guidelines for writing ab- Oxford, Oxford University Press. 2002, p. 60-73
2. Dodd, J. (Ed.) The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for
stracts can be given (Dodd, e-resource).
Authors and Editors, http://www.oup.com/us/sam-
The abstracts of research papers include: plechapters/0841234620/?view=usa (retrieved in
problem statement or statement of the February 2010)
purpose of the research; 3. Abstracts retrieved in February 2010 at
methods/procedure/approach used; http://www.unc.edu/depts./wcweb/handouts/abst
principal findings; racts.html
major conclusions. 4. What is an abstract - retrieved in February 2010 at
The abstracts of review papers include: http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/bizwrite/abstracts.html
79
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Abstract
The article describes todays changes in consumer behaviour. Author shows differences between hopping in
real market and in electronic environment of Latvian consumers. The research is based on analysis of statistical
data, on survey done by Public Opinion Research Centre of Latvia as well as researches done by the authors.
These researches give an overview concerning the basis of purchasing behaviour and give an insight into the vari-
ety of relevant characteristics of consumer behaviour. Authors clarify where consumers are looking for information
about product, their shopping frequency, price evaluations and comparing habits, buying volume and time. Most
important benefits of the shopping process at traditional buying process is the process of purchasing and human
contact, but for e-shopping drivers are money and time saving, conveniences and all around a clock. Very special
role in the article is devoted to the generations of the society in Latvia and the Europe what would help companies
and individuals to work more efficiency in distribution of goods and services in the local market.
Key words: consumer behaviour, consumption, generations, real market, electronic market, information tech-
nologies
80
Ieva Andersone, Elina Gaile-Sarkane
services in the Internet, but every ninth respon- The American Marketing Association de-
dent had purchased office or computer tech- fines consumer behaviour as: The dynamic in-
niques/devices. Every seventh had purchased a teraction of affect and cognition, behaviour, and
phone, every third press subscription, house- environmental events by which human beings
hold equipment and electronics [17]. conduct the Exchange aspects of their life [3].
Information technologies have a serious ef- Consumer behaviour involves interactions be-
fect on consumer behaviour tendencies. The tween affect (emotions, specific feelings, moods
established accessibility of Information Tech- and overall evolutions) and cognitions (interpre-
nologies, wide activities of national stimulation, tation of the environment to create meanings
for example introduction of e-signature, usage of which guide behaviour), behaviour, and environ-
e-environment at public sector all these factors mental events.
stimulate consumers and enterprises to use in- After the deepened analysis of the defini-
formation technologies, and as a result consum- tions the authors concluded that all definitions
ing manners are changing. These changes the generally describe responses to products, mental,
authors are going to identify and analyze within emotional or physical process, action and
the research. thoughts, feelings and experience. These defini-
By analyzing internet usage activity in Lat- tions are oriented on buying and consuming
via, we can observe that from all population process and describe psycho-emotional process.
96,1% are using the internet for information At the same time Post Soviet countries, who
search and on-line services, 86,1% - communi- became independent just more than 15 years
cate via the internet, 49,6% - uses the internet ago (Latvia become independent country on
for collaboration with national or regional gov- 1991), are very good example for description of
ernment institutions, 44,9% - for buying or sell- consumer behaviour not just from buying per-
ing goods and services or financial services, spective.
25,2% - for education and study. Most popular In todays turbulent everyday activities we
mentioned goals for these activities are: visiting sometimes forgot to pay attention on diversity of
web, using e-mail, using search engine, looking our customers. Generations are changing, habits
for particular information in any data base or are changing, but some companies are still ap-
reading Latvian newspapers or magazines in web plying the same methods for the motivation of
versions. According to mentioned goals the au- consumers. What is suitable for one target group
thors can presume, that websites and search doesnt work for other. In the classical marketing
engines should become very popular. Therefore, and management literature consumers usually
according to latest statistical data form all world- are described according to the age, gender, so-
known search engines and information exchange cial and economical status etc. At the same time
portals the most popular in Latvia in 2007 were there are lack of information about different atti-
Google (international brand), then Inbox, Delfi tudes of age groups and genders to the market
(Latvian and Russian version), Draugiem (Latvian and marketing activities.
national brands). The authors also would like to emphasize
that electronic market becomes more and more
2. Consumer behaviour: theoretical background popular for many activities information search,
and generations banking, shopping, mailing, etc. From the all of
There are two basic meanings related to population the most active part in the electronic
consumers: consumer behaviour and buying be- environment is new generation. They are familiar
haviour described in the theory of marketing. with technologies, used to use the internet,
Both meanings are very close and important for computers etc. New terminology has arisen for
business, as we presume that the consumer is description of generations.
the target of every action done by the company For example, the term N-Gen was first used
in the market. The authors would like to analyze to describe this wave of youth in an article by
these meanings and show common and different Don Tapscott [4] in Advertising Age. At that
aspects of them. time there was a lot of debate about whether or
There are a lot of definitions about con- not the Internet was an effective place to adver-
sumer behaviour. A lot of them are very close in tise. Don's conclusions were affirmative, but
meanings. Therefore, the authors collected some cautionary. On the Net, one has to advertise dif-
of definitions and analyzed them. ferently. N-Geners using new media have a new
81
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AS A TOOL FOR CHANGES IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
set of expectations. This generation is different and methods in the electronic environment.
form the previous generations with different Smith and Chaffey [15 name it as e-marketing.
characteristics and features. Commonly held According to them, simply put, e-marketing in-
views of the current generation are that they are volves marketing online whether via web sites,
greedy, self centered and concerned only about banner ads, opt-in e-mail, interactive kiosks, in-
their personal possessions and financial success teractive TV, mobiles or m-commerce the e-
[4]. At the same time there are wide field for tools [15]. It involves to getting close to cus-
researches and investigations, because entrepre- tomers, understanding them better and maintain-
neurs should know their customers by hart. ing a dialogue with them. It is boarder than e-
After spending the better part of a year talk- commerce since it is not limited to transactions
ing to hundreds of N-Geners, the research team between an organization and its stakeholders,
has come to a different set of conclusions. but includes all processes related to the market-
Many have observed that the young are still very ing concept [9].
obsessed with material values, more than their Some other researches also have been done.
parents before them. It appears that the more The majority of todays Net Generation is ac-
affluent, better educated youth are, the more tively personalizing their digital experiences and
optimistic they are about the future. While N- sampling niche content and video with increasing
Geners today are a savvy, confident generation, frequency. That was the key finding in our first
they are confronted with very different prospects annual Avenue A | Razorfish Digital In July 2007,
than their boomer parents. An uncertain future Avenue A | Razorfish Digital surveyed 475 U.S.
looms ahead, and they cannot pride themselves consumers across all demographics and geogra-
with the material security which seemed to be phies to understand their desires, frustrations
the trait of the baby boomer age. Prized posses- and digital consumption habits. Our design re-
sions become a material fortress against eco- search team was most concerned with digital
nomic insecurity - material goods are not a vice, behaviour rather then demographics. They
they are a refuge. Young people are navigators. wanted to know [13]:
They have set their ship out onto the Net and How the broad populaces of connected
have returned home safely, carrying riches. They consumers discover things?
also know that their future cannot be trusted to How quickly do consumers adopt
anyone else, no government or corporation will emerging technologies and user inter-
ensure their future [4]. face conventions (tag clouds, social
This generation is analyzed in different re- media, etc.)?
searches done all around the world, but the au- What drives consumers desire to pur-
thors would like to emphasize following most chase (or not) online?
important criteria what characterizes this genera- How has video changed the digital land-
tion: scape in recent years?
They are courageous, self confident and Are mobile services being widely used
skilled in technologies; (or not)?
They value highly individual freedom The answer, they have found, is that the
and rights; majority of Net Generation are increasingly per-
They are globally oriented and multilin- sonalizing their digital experiences and sampling
gual; a wide range of digital niche content. From rec-
They value is time saving and conven- ommendation engines, to blogs, to customize
iences. start pages, todays connected consumer navi-
For e-business it is a challenge to inveigle gate a personal landscape that is much more
this type of consumer into the business as con- niche than we ever expected. Survey confirmed
sumer. According to Philip Kotler our future is that personalization has hit the mainstream.
holistic marketing. This new paradigm combines Most tellingly, 91% of consumers rely on
the best of traditional marketing with new digital the Web to get current news or information,
capabilities to build long-term, mutually satisfy- vastly eclipsing more traditional outlets such as
ing relationships and co-prosperity among all key television. No wonder why broadcasters and
stakeholders [9]. newspaper publishers are struggling to adapt in
Today society is on the way to the holistic todays digital realm [13]. According to the re-
marketing and using classic traditional models sults of these surveys the authors would con-
82
Ieva Andersone, Elina Gaile-Sarkane
clude that for net generation time saving and operating environment of the product and com-
overall conveniences is a core value. They are panies involved etc.
loyal and faithful to electronic media and most The Baby Boomer cohort was a result of in-
important motives for adoption of any e-tool creased births following World War II. This gen-
could be voluntariness of use, image, compatibil- eration, born 1946-1964, is currently between
ity and opinion of the peer group. 44 and 62 years of age (McCrindle Research,
Generation Y, sometimes referred to Gen- 2008). This generations social markers included
eration Why? This cohort ranges in age 19 to the advent of television, rock and roll music, the
29 years, encompassing those still in high school Cold War, the threat of nuclear war and intro-
to new graduates establishing themselves in the duction of decimal currency (McCrindle, 2008d).
work force. Generation Y keep their options open To Boomers life is sequential, moving from one
rather than commit to career, marriage or having level to the next, having experienced a mostly
children. However options come with the down- linear lifestyle from childhood, to secondary
side of greater expectations and feelings of the education, moving onto work or tertiary educa-
need to achieve quickly. Generation Y are the tion (and then work), marrying, having a family
children of the Baby Boomers, often described as and are now moving toward retirement (Salt,
over parented, over indulged and me centered 2006). Baby Boomers are idealists, always
(McRae et. al., 2006). Generation Y have been striving for a better way of living, being the first
described as street smart, mature, resilient, prac- generation in an era of almost seamless prosper-
tical, optimistic, ambitious, confident and ma- ity and economic growth. In the workplace,
nipulative (Sheahan, 2005; Huntley, 2006). They Boomers live to work, and created the 60 hour
are an aware generation, culturally, socially, en- working week (McKay, 1997). As a result many
vironmentally and emotionally in an age of uncer- are workaholics with an overwhelming need to
tainty (Sheahan, 2005). As a result they are life- succeed at any cost, sacrificing personal life for
style centered in search of meaningful experi- professional goals (McKay, 1997). Boomers have
ences, motivated by more than money, are mate- a strong work ethic, are optimistic, loyal and
rialistic, success driven and image conscious committed employees.
(Sheahan, 2005). In addition they are the most Traditionalists (Silent Generation) identify
educated generation in history, the most enter- with building a legacy at work and believe that
tained and materially endowed, and the first no news is good news when it comes to their
generation of digital natives (McCrindle Research, performance. They understand that now they
2007). As a result this is also the first post liter- can build a balance between work and home and
ate generation where visual stimulus and interac- are planning for retirement, they enjoy reading,
tion is valued more than written word (Grose, dont think of themselves as aging, believe in
2005; McCrindle, 2008c) [7]. winning, they value security and longevity, value
Generation X are 29-44 years old and they their grandchildren and will invest in the future.
wan a portable career and need feedback, but Each generational cohort spans about 20
hesitate to ask for it. They want balance now, years. Each generation may have a number of
not when they are 65. They are attracted by the smaller sub-generations. The last five genera-
visual, musical and dynamic, work on multiple tions of the Twentieth Century, and those which
levels at once, holistic very aware of the entire make up most of the current Latvian population,
can be seen in table 1, below.
According to the information in table No. 1, if we compare these data with information about
major part of Latvians is in generation The Baby their habits and different activities, for example,
Boomers or in the age 44-64. At the same time internet usage, one can observe that most active
83
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AS A TOOL FOR CHANGES IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
84
Ieva Andersone, Elina Gaile-Sarkane
stores just 45%. It can be explained by specific By analyzing the choice of customer to pur-
features of the internet and consuming behaviour chase goods in retail store or in the internet shop
(see Fig. 1.). and their habits to do it repeatedly, we can ob-
serve that there are the same trends. Consumers
How often are you comparing prices ?
are shopping in those shops what they used to
do of like more that others (see Fig. 3.).
18% 0% 9%
24%
in the internet 14 13 26 55
49%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
85
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AS A TOOL FOR CHANGES IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
86
Ieva Andersone, Elina Gaile-Sarkane
5. Economic development of Latvia. Report /Ministry [Electronic resource] Read 15 April 2009
of Economics Republic of Latvia, December, www.razorfish.com/reports/DigConsStudy.pdf
2008, p. 9 14. Rice, C. Understanding customers, Second edition,
6. Kardes, F. Consumer behaviour and managerial Butterworth Heinemann, 1997, pp.121-129
decision making. Pearson PrenticeHall, 2002, 457 15. Smith, P.R., Chaffey D. E-Marketing Excellence.
p. The Heart of e-Business., Elsevier Butterworth
7. Zaana, H. Life in the baby boomer library world: a Heinemann, 2002, 340 p.
survival guide, 2008, [Electronic resource]- Read 16. Solomon M. R. Consumer behaviour: buying, sell-
20.May 20009 www.scribd.com/.../Life-in-the- ing and being, 7th ed. Pearson PrenticeHall, 2006,
Baby-Boomer-library-world-a-survival-guide 654 p.
8. Informacijas tehnologijas / LR Centrala statistikas 17. TNS LATVIA jaunakaa Interneta auditorijas peti-
parvalde [Electronic resource] - Read 13.01.2009, juma Nacionalais Mediju Petijums: Internets,
http://www.csb.gov.lv/csp/content/?cat=2092 Pavasaris 2008 rezultati.[Electronic resource]
9. Kotler, Ph. Marketing Management. The Millenium Read 05.08.2008, http://www.tns.lv/?lang=
Edition Prentce hall International, Inc., 2000, lv&fullartcle=true&category=showuid&id=2807
728 p. 18. Venkatesh V, Morris M, Davis G, Davis F User Ac-
10. Latvijas statistikas gadagramata Latvijas Repub- ceptance of Information Technology: Toward a
likas Centrala statistikas parvalde, 2008, 567 lpp Unified View, 2003, MIS Quarterly, 27 (3), pp.
11. Moore, G. , Benbasat, I. Development of an Instru- 425-478
ment to Measure the Perceptions of Adopting an 19. Jones, V., Jo, J., Martin, P. Future Schools and
Information, 1991 How Technology can be used to support Millen-
12. Neal, C. Consumer behaviour: implications for nial and Generation-Z Students [Electronic re-
marketing strategy, Enhances 4th ed, McGraaw- source]-Read 15 June 2009 www.phmartin.info/
Hill Irwin, 2006, 668 p. webKB/ doc/papers/.../icut07_JonesJoMartin.pdf
13. Razorfish Results of Avenue A/ Razorfish survey
Digital Consumer Behaviour Study, July 2007
87
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Abstract
A checklist for usability evaluation of eCommerce services (ECS) is developed. It is integrating eCommerce
quality and usability. The checklist can be used for usability evaluation and design of eCommerce services based
on data collected from customers while performing tasks, for instance, searching for products, registering with
website and buying merchandise. They support the allocation of usability problems and the defining of relevant
redesign measures. Significant sustainable improvement of the usability of eCommerce services is expected after
implementation of redesign recommendations. The advantages of the checklist are: (1) measuring of both usability
and quality of eCommerce services, (2) supporting allocation of usability problems and (3) defining of eCommerce
services redesign recommendations.
Key words: eCommerce, usability, quality, web services, evaluation, design, checklist
88
Koffka Khan, Alexander Nikov, Tricia Rambharose
that the ease of navigation to product Website design features investigated have
information on a companys website was related primarily included usability (i.e., ease of
to positive general impressions of the navigation of the website), the attractiveness of
organization under investigation. Similarly, [8] eCommerce websites in terms of their colors,
demonstrated that favorable usability perceptions fonts, pictures, and bulleted versus paragraphs
were associated with participants increased of text [4, 8].
inclinations to find and recommend a product to Time and mental workload required to
their friends. [27] investigated the effects of complete searching and buying tasks with
system speed and website user-friendliness on Internet-based service providers can significantly
customer evaluations of company image after impact overall service quality evaluations. Thus,
these customers (who were in sales positions) they should be monitored and benchmarked
completed buying products from these when possible, as poor service quality
companies. Results revealed that both usability perceptions can ultimately impact customers
variables were positively correlated with willingness to buy products. If websites are able
customer-to-company image evaluations. to determine the underlying dimensions of
Additional research investigating the effects of service quality that are relevant to eCommerce
website usability on organizational services, they may be better able to design their
attractiveness, website attitudes or evaluations websites to provide customers with the highest
[6], and satisfaction with website use have been service quality possible. In addition, if they have
similarly supportive. The usability of eCommerce a tool for measuring a customers perception of
sites (as perceived by customers) affects their service quality, they may be able to adjust
whether or not the site effectively facilitates the their service to retain current potential customers
desired services [29]. It is important for online and attract new customers to use their site [3].
services such as these to analyze applicants' From these findings can be concluded that
perceptions, and consequently design services in usability and quality factors are positively related
a way so as to meet their needs. to helping the sustainability of online eCommerce
Usability of the eCommerce websites is an firms and their services offerings. Measurement
important feature that needs to be taken into of these factors by a checklist can contribute to
account to ensure the effectiveness of the better customer relations by enhancing their user
buying process. This implies that users of online experience with better services and hence
eCommerce sites should be able to navigate contributing to increased profitability and
around the site and find relevant information resulting long term sustainability. In the following
quickly and easily. Directions on how to create a checklist for usability evaluation and design of
or edit profiles, search through product lists and eCommerce services will be presented.
submit desired products should be presented
logically and in clear language. In addition, forms 1. Checklist Design
available online should be presented in a The objectives of the checklist are to
consistent, logical and comprehensible format support the creation of a world-class and
thus making it easier to collect information from credible website that will attract customers. The
customers in a systematic way. The more website will provide an enhanced experience for
competent services from eCommerce websites customers and so will draw many visitors,
provide flexibility to users to purchase their leading to increased business. It will simplify and
products with a single click and provide speed up the eCommerce process (necessary to
additional after sale services, for example, order cope with the expected large increase in
tracking. customers). The website will increase the
eCommerce services enable customization companys credibility within the online retailing
of the companys website, which is often the industry. This will have a significant impact on
first contact point between potential buyers and the profitability of the business. An increased
the company. So while designing the websites presence in global markets, improved marketing,
pages, it is important to acknowledge the as well increased sales and net profit are
importance of its usability for customers. expected.
Customers should be able to buy products easily The checklist aims at developing innovative
and track their progress through the checkout design for eCommerce services allowing online
process through a userfriendly interface. companies to effectively set up and maintain
89
CHECKLIST FOR USABILITY EVALUATION AND DESIGN OF SUSTAINABLE eCommerce SERVICES
web sites which can better address customer The empirical basis for usability testing is
needs. Using the checklist can be developed a based on a validated understanding of the
method for evaluating eCommerce services customer performance in context. Studies
usability, based on modern computational show that checklist data can be both reliable and
intelligence techniques, which allows the valid for the assessment of customer satisfaction
discovery of usage problems of customers with websites or computer-based applications
resulting in an improvement of its design. Based [20] (cf. Fig. 2.).
on this method the eCommerce website can be
redesigned.
There are both unique and overlapping and to answer the checklist questions. The
dimensions in the fields of eCommerce service checklist was constructed based on five-point
quality and eCommerce usability. From extant Likert rating scale [21]. Users are asked to rate
literature most comprehensive are the following: agreement with the statements, ranging from
eCommerce usability dimensions and strongly disagree to strongly agree (cf. Fig. 4.).
items [5, 30];
eCommerce service quality dimensions 2. Usability Evaluation
and items [16, 22]. The usability of eCommerce services can be
The resulting dimensions and items evaluated and designed by a checklist. Usability
extracted here will be persistent, because even evaluation aims at weaknesses of an eCommerce
though the underlying technology can change, service and gives hints for improving its
the base evaluation criterion will be the same. usability. Most usability evaluations gather both
For example, ease of finding products may be objective and subjective quantitative data in the
dependent on tab structuring, layering of context of realistic scenarios-of-use. Objective
information and number of clicks. These may data are measures of participants' performance.
change with advances in technology, but the Subjective data are measures of participants'
criterion ease of finding products will remain opinions or attitudes concerning their perception
the same. The result was extracted eCommerce of usability. Subjective measures assess
usability and service quality dimensions (cf. Fig. impression of the customers towards the design
3.). of the website as well as the effect of the
For usability study participants have to website design towards customer interaction.
complete tasks using the eCommerce website
90
Koffka Khan, Alexander Nikov, Tricia Rambharose
Overall, usability measures the quality of a answers to the following questions give a
customer's experience when interacting with an measure of this dimension:
eCommerce system as the extent to which a 1. Are users able to accomplish the
system can be used by specified users to purchasing of products quickly?
achieve specified goals with effectiveness, 2. How does the number of pages viewed
efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context compare to the number of pages
of use [17]. required to find the desired products?
The usability dimension effectiveness The usability dimension satisfaction
measures usability from the point of view of the measures the comfort or level of enjoyment of
output of the interaction, for example, quality of the customer, while interacting with the website
output or quantity of output in relation to a [17]. Subjective answers to the following
target [17]. For example, with a quantitative questions indicate users opinion of a website:
answer to the following question, an evaluation 1. Do users enjoy shopping on the web
of this usability dimension is possible: site?
1. Are users able to select the correct path 2. Are users frustrated or confused when
to find products? shopping on the site?
The usability dimension efficiency measures On the Internet, rapid technological change
relating to the customers effectiveness of is stressful for many customers and often
interaction to resources expended, for example, developers focus on the newest advancements
time taken to perform tasks [17]. Quantitative rather than on what is most useful and important
from the customer perspective. Customers are
91
CHECKLIST FOR USABILITY EVALUATION AND DESIGN OF SUSTAINABLE eCommerce SERVICES
often not part of the website development 8. Cober, T. R., Brown, J. D., Levy, E. P., Cober, B.
process which creates difficulties for them to A., Keeping, M. L. Organizational web sites: Web
understand some of the website resources, site content and style as determinants of
organizational attraction, International Journal of
when the site is made available online. According
Selection and Assessment, 2003, Vol. 11, pp.
to International Organization for Standardization
158-169
(ISO), Human-centered design is characterized 9. Dehning, B., Stratopoulos, T. Determinants of a
by: the active involvement of users and a clear sustainable competitive advantage due to an IT-
understanding of user and task requirements; an enabled strategy, Journal of Strategic Information
appropriate allocation of function between users Systems, 2003, 12(1): 728
and technology; the iteration of design solutions; 10. Dzida, W., et al. Software quality: state of the art
multi-disciplinary design [18]. in management, testing, and tools, Usability
Testing - The DATech standard, Springer,
Berlin/Heidelberg, 2001, pp. 161-191
Conclusions
11. Feeny, D. F., Ives, B. In search of sustainability:
For measuring the most important
reaping long-term advantage from investments in
dimensions of usability for users of eCommerce information technology, Journal of Management
services, a checklist is created, which integrates Information Systems, 1990, 7(1): 2746
dimensions and related items from eCommerce 12. Floyd, S. W., Wooldridge, B. Path analysis of the
usability and eCommerce service quality. After relationship between competitive strategy,
usability testing is done, evaluation results will information technology and financial performance,
be used to obtain the most important usability Journal of Management Information Systems
problems and relevant eCommerce services 1990, 7(1): 4764
usability design improvements. Such an 13. Galliers, R. D. IT strategies: beyond competitive
advantage, Journal of Strategic Information
approach can enhance product strategies,
Systems, 1993, 2(4): 283291
product services and create roadmaps to identify 14. Galliers, R. D. Towards the integration of e-
potential eCommerce services usability issues business, knowledge management and policy
that would result in reaching better customer considerations within an information systems
satisfaction and increased company profits. strategy framework, Journal of Strategic
Information Systems, 1999, 8(3): 229234
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4. Braddy, P. W., Thompson, L. F., Wuensch, K. L., interaction. Part 210 Human-centred design for
Grossnickle, W. G. The effects of web page interactive systems, International Organization for
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5. Braddy, W. P., Meade, W. A., Kroustalis, M. C. students in the age of sustainability, Australasian
Organizational recruitment website effects on Accounting Business and Finance Journal, 2009,
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Netherlands, 2006, 20(4): 525-543. of web sites, Proc. 42nd Annual Meeting of
6. Chen, Q., Wells, W. D. Attitude toward the site, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society,
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37 Society, Chicago, USA, 1998, pp. 424-428
7. Clemons, E. K., Row, M. C. Sustaining IT 21. Likert, R. A technique for the measurement of
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93
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Eve Tomson
University of Tartu, Estonia
Abstract
Forest is one of the most important renewable sources of energy, covering approximately one half of Esto-
nias area on mainland. Estonia ranks the fourth among the other European Union Member States with the relative
share of forest land. Forest represents an important source of employment while timber industry forms an impor-
tant branch of the Estonian economy. Considerable decline of added value of GDP has become notable in forest
industry over the recent years, however, the added value per employed person is approximately 30% higher than
the respective total of other sectors. Timber sector contributes approximately one fourth of the turnover of Esto-
nian economy annually and, respectively, one fifth of export and one third of investments. Rapid development of
timber industry stopped shortly before the onset of the economic recession. Declining demand for wooden con-
struction details, attributable to weak property market, hit this sector first. The last couple of years have been
relatively complicated for the timber industry sector. Several large saw mills, for example, have wound up their
activities. The biggest decline (32%) took place in the production of building materials; this can be linked, directly,
to declining construction market. High energy prices and declining demand for paper wood, attributable to the
recession, has also affected the structure of timber industry. The quantity of domestic resources, however, facili-
tates the development of timber industry by making the sector less dependent on imported raw material.
Key words: Timber industry, forest industry, regional employment, decline of demand
94
Eve Tomson
care of and in such forests, it is very expensive this, unhealthy competition between state and
to work with technology. It is wise for forest private forestry was attempted to be avoided,
owners to cooperate as it helps to lower the which could have been created by enforcing
expenses related to silviculture and involve favourable regulations for state forestry and
grants, and larger and more compact offers granting a right to supervise these regulations
lower the cost of the harvesting of forest. to the managers of the state forest themselves.
Unlike in Sweden and Norway, in Estonia, the The later development of forestry has shown
use of timber on the state level is not paid suf- that these fears were groundless: on the timber
ficient attention to, although more than 50 per market, demand exceeds supply and there is no
cent of Estonia is covered with forests. Also, competition between sellers of timber; how-
local governments should provide more support ever, state forestry as a large organisation and
to the activity of forest owners and to joint seller of large quantities of timber still preserves
managing. Timber industry could have a signifi- its economic advantages [1]. However, the
cant role in supplying the country with energy enforcement of regulations favouring the state
as timber is a renewable source of energy. forest and harassing private forestry is not pos-
sible any more as unlike during the Soviet era,
The forest policy of Estonia the restrictions and limitations for forest own-
At the implementation of the goals of the ers cannot be enforced by the central forestry
Estonian forest policy, the state and all persons authority any more, but this can be only done
directly or indirectly engaged in the forest sec- at the level of the laws of the Riigikogu.
tor play a role. The role of the state lies in the The state forest policy must ensure that
establishment of a legal regulation in the fields the forest use of private forest owners is in
related to forestry. In order to rationally use compliance with the general goals of the state
forest resources, a forest management plan is forest policy. The state supports private for-
prepared for all forestry properties. For the utili- estry via the organisations of forest owners. At
sation of the areas left out of agricultural pro- the assignation of support, the efficiency of the
duction, afforestation programmes are pre- operation of the organisations is mainly consid-
pared. Afforestation is only conducted on the ered [2]. The large amount of bureaucracy ac-
areas where other land use gives fewer benefits companying forest management is not in bal-
to the society. ance with the profit gained. This has signifi-
In the pre-war Republic of Estonia, state cantly decreased the interest of forest owners
forests were managed and the management of towards managing (and maintaining) their for-
the few private forests regulated by one and est, which in turn negatively affects the condi-
the same authority. Basically the same system tion of the Estonian forests. The volume of the
was valid during the Soviet reign as well, when use of forests makes up only a little more than
the forests of state forest enterprises (condi- 50% of the annual growth of forest reserve in
tionally, these can be referred to as state for- private forests [3].
ests) were managed and the management of The state supports forest management
collective farm and state farm forests (condi- mainly via forest management planning and
tionally, these can be referred to as private consultation. The state guarantees the quality
forests) supervised by the same central author- of counselling and conducts a training for con-
ity. Although the central forestry authority in sultants in the initial stage. The volume of the
Estonia has had several names throughout support to private forestry is determined by
times and been a part of various ministries or law. In Estonia, the forest owners who are reg-
governmental institutions equal to these, the istered as self-employed people get a 45000
management of state forests, forest policy and kroon exemption from income tax. But this only
the elaboration of the legislation related to for- means 5% of the owners [4].
est, supervision over what is going on in all The tasks of the state in forestry are as
forests, etc., still remained in the competence follows:
of one and the same central forestry authority. the guiding of forestry and the elabora-
After the regaining of independence in Estonia, tion of a forestry development plan
it was regarded necessary to separate the func- and legislation regulating forestry
tions of the state as a forest owner and the therefor;
state as a body of power and supervision. With
95
SHARE OF FOREST AND TIMBER INDUSTRY IN THE ESTONIAN ECONOMY
ensuring of the good state of the for- the development of the tax policy on
est; the principles that favour the formation
keeping of account of forest re- of private forests;
sources; with regard to the supervision of private
support to private forestry; forests, focussing on the restoration of
governance and management of the forest and adherence to environment
state forest; protection requirements. For some rea-
organisation of state supervision; son, attention has not been paid on the
ensuring of the protection of the diver- fulfilment of cutting requirements,
sity of forest life [Ibid.] which is a problem that is at least as
The services that support the long-term acute as failure to reforest [2].
goals of forestry are provided to the private There are serious problems in the activities
forest owners by the state for free. This means related to private forestry. The main problems
the preparation of the forest management plans are as follows:
funded by the state for the lands returned / to difficulties at the organisation of pri-
be returned and privatised / to be privatised in vate forests, which arise from the lack
the course of the land reform, and the counsel- of funds allocated by the state for this
ling on the use thereof. At the request of the purpose. All forest owners cannot af-
forest owner, the forest management plan can ford forest survey and management
be ordered according to an expedited procedure planning and preparation of forest
at the expense of the owner as well. The management plans at their own ex-
preparation of forest management plans is pense;
funded and coordinated by the state. Special unfair tax system that involves a high
attention is paid to the provision of services land tax and failure to consider the
related to the marketing of timber and relevant specifics of forestry at taxation. The
counselling. In order to improve the tax system, issues of taxation are very specific and
additional surveys and analyses are conducted. must be settled by lawyers;
Tax policy is elaborated according to the princi- difficulties in the marketing of timber
ples that facilitate the formation of private for- and sale of cutting right, which arise
ests. The supervision over the compliance with due to the small amount of the timber
laws is mainly focused on the restoration of the sold and the forestry related and legal
forest and adherence to the environment pro- incompetence of the sellers, also due
tection requirements [2]. to the abundance of dishonest buyers-
The principles for supporting private for- up.
estry are determined in the Estonian Forestry the little information provided to pri-
Development Plan until the year 2010. The vate forest owners about the opportu-
main activities funded by the Private Forest nities for receiving grants, indemnities
Centre are as follows: and compensations;
the supporting of private forestry mainly the abundance and sometimes over-
by way of counselling and forest man- abundance of nature conservation re-
agement planning (planning of forests strictions, the unexpected enforcement
and free preparation of forest manage- of restrictions in the forests that have
ment plans, and an opportunity has so far been in the category of profit-
been provided for preparing forest man- seeking forests [2].
agement plans according to an expe- The development of the forest and timber
dited procedure at the expense of the industry is directed by open market economy
forest owner); and free competition. The forest policy of the
the elaboration of the structure of the state is aimed at the establishment of an envi-
counselling service on the grounds of ronment suitable for the development of the
competition; special attention is paid on private sector with the aim of supporting the
the marketing of timber during counsel- economic strengthening of the state as a
ling. Counselling may also be for pay, whole, contributing to regional development
ordered and paid by the owner; and limiting the appearance of monopolies.
96
Eve Tomson
Status of the companies of the forest sector of the forest sector in the GDP in the years
The Estonian forest resource is mainly 2000-2007 is shown on Figure 1. The average
used in the forest and timber industry. But the number of employees in the forest and timber
use of timber and timber residues as sources of industry in the year 2010 is presumably more
energy keeps increasing year by year. Com- than 20200. In 2004, the forest sector formed
pared to other branches of the processing in- 6,1% of the GDP. For the year 2010, the GDP
dustry, timber processing is the second main of the forest sector is estimated to be seven
branch after the production of foodstuffs in the billion kroons. The proportion of the timber,
gross domestic product. After the recession at paper and furniture industry companies in the
the beginning of the 1990s, the forest industry added value of the processing industry has also
has been increasing successfully and con- increased: from 10,8% in 1993 to 22,4% in
stantly: privatisation has been successfully 2000. The import of timber and timber prod-
completed, the rate of investments in the sec- ucts has been increasing year by year, but the
tor is high, production level has increased and proportion thereof in total import is small (2%).
the proportion of export in production is re- The main import articles are wooden furniture,
markable. In 2001, timber industry provided plywood, etc. [6].
1/7 of the total amount of processing industry. Timber industry is one of the largest
Forest products made up more than 22% of the branches of industry in Estonia. According to
Estonian export value. Timber and timber prod- various databases, about 1000 companies with
ucts (incl. wooden furniture and prefabricated more than 15000 people are engaged in timber
timber constructions) are some of the main processing and the production of timber prod-
export articles of Estonia. The constant growth ucts. The people employed at forest and timber
of the forest sector has helped the entire econ- industry make up almost five per cent of the
omy to a new rise during the periods of eco- total employment rate of the country. In the
nomic recession and significantly balanced the period 2001-2006, the volume of production in
general negative foreign trade balance. The the branch of industry increased by more than
proportion of forestry and timber industry com- one and a half times, the proportion of export
panies in the GDP has constantly been increas- in sale made up 75%. However, the current
ing. If in 1993, the proportion of forestry and situation in the sawmill industry has signifi-
forest collection companies in the GDP in cur- cantly changed. As of summer 2007, the situa-
rent prices was 1,3%, then in 2000, already tion of the timber industry has remarkably dete-
2,5%. The total proportion of timber, paper and riorated.
furniture industry in 1993 was 2,1% and 4,1%
in 2000. [5] The proportion of the companies
7
97
SHARE OF FOREST AND TIMBER INDUSTRY IN THE ESTONIAN ECONOMY
The greatest matter is the fact that as of nies are forced to import a significant part of
May 2007, the import of timber from Russia the timber.
due to the blocking of the railway is seriously According to the Estonian Commercial
impeded. In addition, Russia has imposed ex- Register, in the year 2007, there were 327
port duties on roundwood, which at the mo- companies in Estonia whose main field of busi-
ment for softwood log is 10 euros, but by the ness was the sawing, planing and impregnation
year 2009, increased to 50 euros, i.e., the im- of timber. According to the information cata-
port of logs from Russia almost stopped. The logue 1188, there are 142 sawmills in Estonia.
import of timber is also hindered due to the ever Sawmills are competing with each other by
increasing prices. products and also by locations. Smaller saw-
The extremely large price increase of raw mills are competing with larger ones mainly on
material on world markets is also becoming a the basis of price and quality. Small sawmills
trend, as well as the decrease in demand at are turning into ever more skilful niche opera-
the moment, many companies who had been tors and there is also a trend to merge.
successful so far are hit by an extremely large
drop in turnover, which has been caused by a Export and import of timber products
significant price increase of raw material and a In the developments in the last decade,
considerable decrease in demand due to this. the large increase of export in sales must be
If a couple of years ago, timber industry stressed; it has been especially noticeable with
was a significant balancer of the foreign trade regard to paper and paper products. The main
balance (the domestic demand in Estonia as export articles are timber, wooden furniture,
well as on foreign markets was great), then by unprocessed timber, wooden construction de-
now, the situation has completely changed. At tails and prefabricated timber constructions.
the moment, the situation is vice versa in Production and export-import of the Estonian
order to satisfy domestic needs, many compa- timber are shown in Table 1.
Next to timber, wooden furniture is on the exported must be taken with some reservations
second place in the export of the production of the average price only summarises the prices
timber industry in Estonia. According to the of all kinds of furniture exported to a specific
Statistics Estonia, wooden furniture and parts country. The main target markets for the pro-
thereof were imported the most to the most duction of the timber sector are Finland, Swe-
important furniture market of the European Un- den, Germany, Great Britain and Denmark. The
ion Germany (30%), with the average price of very fast growth of the export of the timber
27970 kroons a ton. 17% of the wooden furni- sector is shown in Table 2. This table also
ture was exported to Finland for the price of clearly shows the trend to export goods with a
31848 kroons a ton. The average price of the higher added value. The proportion of timber,
wooden furniture exported to Denmark was paper and furniture industry companies in the
24249 kroons a ton (13% of production) [1]. added value of the processing industry has also
The average price of the entire product group increased: from 10,8% in 1993 to 22,4% in
was 28123 kroons; to Finland, wooden furni- 2000. The import of timber and timber prod-
ture was sold for a price that was higher than ucts has been increasing year by year, but the
the average. However, the making of conclu- proportion thereof in total import is small (2%).
sions and comparisons on the basis of the aver- The main import articles are wooden furniture,
age prices calculated by the authors and given plywood, etc. [1]
here regarding the quality of the production
98
Eve Tomson
Round log is gradually being replaced by companies with foreign capital in the compa-
processed ligneous materials. In 2001, timber nies of the timber processing industry, their
industry reached a sales volume of 7,22 billion turnover made up already 37%, in export as
kroons, exceeding the level of the year before much as 49%, in added value and assets 38%
by as much as 16,8%. In export, the growth and in the number of employees 37%, in total
was smaller that year 5,1%. The growth in profit as much as 56%. [7]
the sale of products has been stably noted in In the years 2006-2008, there were about
paper and furniture production as well, increas- 19,2 thousand people engaged in the timber
ing by 15,1% in 2001 and by 25% compared sector. By the year 2016, the rate is expected
to the year before (export growth 10,3 and to decrease by 0,7 thousand. Although in
28,9%). 2008, employment rate in the sector only
In timber processing, the companies with amounted to 15,9 thousand, it should start
foreign capital are significantly more aimed at increasing when the crisis recedes and the
export than domestic producers the propor- Estonian timber resource is processed domesti-
tion of export in turnover in 2001 for compa- cally in a larger volume. However, the increase
nies based on domestic capital was 49% and of volumes will not bring about a sudden in-
for producers with foreign capital 79%. Accord- crease in employment rate because more prod-
ing to the database of Statistics Estonia, it can ucts with added value must be created to stay
be concluded that producers with foreign capi- in competition. Thus, the increase in the need
tal are larger and more profitable than the com- for specialists can be expected. The relevant
panies based on domestic capita that are en- structural changes increase the need for people
gaged in timber processing and production. with secondary and tertiary level education [8].
Although in 2001, there were only 26% of
99
SHARE OF FOREST AND TIMBER INDUSTRY IN THE ESTONIAN ECONOMY
future as well. In Estonia, the umbrella organi- tween forest societies contributes to more
sation joining private forest owners is the Esto- successful management.
nian Private Forest Union, which joins about Thus, via joint economic activity, it is pos-
5% of private forest owners according to vari- sible to:
ous estimates. In Estonia, there are about 50 via successful business activity, in-
forest owner organisations here, which among crease independent funding of the so-
other things are aimed at sharing knowledge ciety
and experience with the aim of the sustainable via the provision of services, manage
management of forests. Forestry companies the assets of the society more effi-
also help organise the cuttings in the forests ciently
and organise reforestation works. In Estonia, 12 offer stable sale of timber to forest
million cubic metres of forest could be cut an- owners and supply to companies
nually, but in reality, half less is cut. The rule get the highest price on the market for
that the private owner is the best and most timber for the members of the society
efficient manager is not always valid. Ameri- establish international relations, which
cans have identified that their forestry compa- in turn will create more possibilities for
nies do this job better than private owners [3]. supply
Of the nearly 50000 private forest owners In order to make the support system of
of Estonia, about 2000 have joined forestry private forest owners stronger and more inde-
companies, which is less than 5 per cent of the pendent, the Ministry of the Environment has
total number of forest owners. However, the partially changed the principles for the evalua-
area of the private forest land owned by the tion of the grants given to private forest own-
forest owners who have assembled into com- ers as well. At the revision of applications for
panies is estimated to be about 100000 ha or grants, evaluation criteria are proceeded from,
almost 10 per cent of the total area of private which are applied at reforestation, investment
forest land (according to the yearbook Forest into the forests of private owners and the
2006, the area of the private forest land regis- preparation of forest management plans, sup-
tered in the land registry is a bit less than port to forest society and the money stock
880000 ha) [6]. grant of forest society. This in case it appears
Via the companies joining private forest that with regard to said types of support, the
owners, forest owners can get information amount of the funding of all applications com-
about support and amendments to laws. The plying with the requirements has exceeded the
companies also organise study days. The socie- budget for the type of support.
ties of forest owners have been established on At the ranking of applications, the applica-
the basis of groups of friends, but also village tion that received the highest total evaluation is
communities, but there are larger ones too, deemed to be the best. In case of applications
involving counties. In larger societies, forest with equal figures, the application submitted by
management related works are planned to- a forestry company or the application in which
gether, which gives forest owners an opportu- the amount applied for is smaller is preferred.
nity to considerably save on their expenses. Mainly, the works are supported which, if
Cooperation projects between different forest made by more than one forest owner at a time,
societies help find diverse ways for using tim- allow to save on expenses or work more effi-
ber, jointly increasing sales volumes and finding ciently. With such evaluation criteria, the state
better sales channels and buyers who offer a wishes to contribute to the development of the
higher price [9]. joint activity of forest owners. Cooperation
In the current economic crisis, it is reason- with other private forest owners provides a
able to cut down on the indirect expenses re- chance to get to know the values of ones
lated to the business of the societies and in- forest better and the use of economic coopera-
crease the expenses related to the expansion of tion allows earning a better income on the
joint activity. The state has limited funds and it management of ones forest.
may be decided at any time that private forest
owners are the ones who should not hope for Conclusion
any support anymore. Close cooperation be- The forest is one of the largest riches of
Estonia both naturally and economically. The
100
Eve Tomson
purposeful and economical use of the forest is wise for forest owners to cooperate as it helps
one of the most important opportunities for to lower the expenses related to silviculture
ensuring the development of the society. and involve grants, and larger and more com-
The aim of the strategy of supporting for- pact offers lower the cost of the harvesting of
est and timber industry is to increase the stabil- forest. From the regional employment rate per-
ity of the timber market and ensure the opera- spective, the industry based on forest has a
tion of market mechanisms in the manner that significant role as an employer as well.
facilitates investments into the development of
environment-friendly processing of timber. To References
use timber efficiently, the complex and pur- 1. Puidutootlemine ja puittoodete tootmine,
poseful use thereof is ensured, timber process- [http://eee.mkm.ee] 15.12.2009
2. Eesti metsanduse arenguprogramm [https://
ing in the republic developed and timber ex-
www.riigiteataja.ee/ert/act.jsp?id=73663]
ported for the highest value possible. Of timber 05.01.2010
products, sawn timber is the product exported 3. Lamp, M. Uhistegevusest erametsanduses,
to foreign markets the most with regard to [http://www.envir.ee/1092937]. 10.01.2010
monetary value. If in earlier years, the main 4. Riigi ulesanded metsanduses. [http://www.
export article was unprocessed timber, then in hooliveesti.ee/?metsad@menyy=2-1-
recent years, the importance of sawn timber 0].11.01.2010.
has increased. The products of the Estonian 5. Majandusulevaade. Eesti metsaressurss,
timber industry are a high quality and competi- [http://wwwagri.ee/public/juurkataloog/trykised_
web/AR023-08.pdf] 11.01.2010
tive export article and a significant material for
6. Eesti metsanduse katsumuste aastad, Eesti
fulfilling the needs of the domestic market. Mets 2006, nr. 4. [http://www.loodusajakiri.ee/
Timber industry can operate during the eesti_mets/ artikkel611_586.html] 10.nov.2009
current economic recession as well and find 7. Lamp, M. Metsasektori konkurentsivoime tost-
ways to market its production. But the prices of mine, [http://www.envir.ee/964761]
timber have significantly dropped and the inter- 05.01.2010
est of forest owners towards selling timber is 8. Toojou vajaduse prognoos aastani 2016
low. Timber industry plays a significant role in [http://www.mkm.ee] 26.12.2009
supplying the country with energy. The state 9. Uusen, R. Metsaomanike uhistud: koos jouab
kaugemale, Postimees. 2009. 8.dets
and local governments should aim at directing
energy use towards renewable energy. It is
101
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Justyna Biernacka
Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland
Abstract
Changes in product structure and production technology are one of the most important factors responsible
for the company existence on the market. Especially during the collapse of world trade and the higher demands of
customers for a product the enterprises should still improve the technological process to meet the growing com-
petitiveness. For this reason, not only the wood industry companies should carried the appropriate investments on
innovation.
Table 1. The share of sold new products in the 2002-2007 in the medium and large enterprises in Poland
The share of sold new products (%)
Industry
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Total 16,7 20,6 20,9 21,8 22,4 22,6
Wood and wood products production 7,2 7,3 9,2 8,7 7,1 5,9
Furniture production 12,6 15,8 7,4 8,5 8,8 11,2
Pulp and paper production 4,0 10,1 14,5 18,1 20,2 22,4
Source: Authors own calculations based on Glowny Urzad Statystyczny data (Central Statistical Office)
The data analysis allow to determine that such large needs and possibilities of meaningful
the wood industry recovery production rates look verification of production assortment structure,
far worse in the background of the total industry as in the electronics or clothing industry. In the
production; only the recovery production rates pulp and paper industry, there is a clear neces-
for pulp and paper industry notes significant pro- sity to implement new products in the field of of
gress in improving of the production assortment paper and cellulose processing, because of rap-
structure. idly growing printing industry and newer paper
This condition can be explained by the na- products being introduced on the demanding
ture of the wood industry, where there are no European Union market.
102
Justyna Biernacka
25.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Years
The capital expenditures for technological pro- expenditures to the value of revenue from the
gress in Wood industry enterprises at the back- sale of goods and services. Interesting changes
ground of the total industry of this indicator in 2002-2007, are shown in the
Technological progress is usually associated Table 2.
with the necessity to invest more in the innova-
tion field. The key measure here is the ratio of
700
Expenditures for innovation (mln PLN)
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
2002 2003 2004 2005
Years
Data analysis shows a systematic increase larly strong in the furniture industry, which
in the ratio of expenditure for innovation, particu-
103
THE ASSORTMENT AND PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY PROGRESS IN WOOD PROCESSING IN POLAND
forced by competition increases efforts to stay pulp and paper industry, where probably already
on the market or even increases share in it. the necessary modernization was made.
Similar situation is observed in the entire in-
dustry of wood and wood products production, The Structure of expenditure for innovation
where values of this indicator systematically Table 3. shows the categories of expendi-
increase. Lack of growth is observed only in the tures on innovation in industry.
Table 3. The structure of expenditures on technical progress in the wood industry on the total industry background
Categories of expenditure in innovation (%)
Buildings Machines
Industry
Research Licenses and struc- and equip- Training Marketing
tures ment
2002 9,3 3,0 20,1 62,8 0,2 1,5
Total
2005 9,6 2,4 24,1 58,6 0,3 2,0
Wood and wood 2002 5,5 0,2 45,1 44,1 0,1 1,5
products production 2005 1,2 - 28,1 68,0 - 0,5
2002 0,3 0,4 13,0 82,5 - -
Furniture production
2005 2,3 2,6 36,1 55,0 0,2 1,6
Pulp and paper 2002 2,6 5,5 12,8 75,1 0,1 0,1
production 2005 4,9 4,4 12,4 73,7 - 1,3
Source: Authors own calculations based on Glowny Urzad Statystyczny data (Central Statistical Office)
104
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Ladislav Dzurenda
Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia
Abstract
This article explores the energy characteristics of the wood-chip produced from Salix viminalis. which was
cultivated at an energy plantation. The higher heating value of wood and bark of the Salix viminalis was assessed
through an experimental measurement in a special calorimeter for solid fuels, model IKA C 200. Lower heating
value of wood and bark were calculated from the higher heating value Qs, as well as the hydrogen [H] and water
content [W] in the fuel samples that were assessed in a laboratory. These analyses assessed the higher heating
value and lower higher heating value of a dry Salix viminalis wood (Qs=19753 kJ.kg-1 and Qn=18339 kJ.kg-1).
The higher heating value and lower heating value of a dry Salix viminalis bark was also assessed
Qs=19732kJ.kg-1, and Qn=18209 kJ.kg-1. The share of bark in the wood-chip produced from Salix viminalis was
assessed 23,86%, in accordance with the Slovak technical norm STN 48 0058 for assortments of wood, wood
chips containing leaves, and sawdust. The lower heating value of wood chip produced from Salix viminalis in a
dry state was calculated, based on the lower heating value of salix wood, the lower heating value of salix bark,
and the share of bark in the wood chip as a weighted average. Qn=18308 kJ.kg-1.
Key words: higher heating value, lower heating value, salix, wood, bark, wood chips, energy plantations
Experimental research
Samples of wood and bark of Salix vimi-
nalis. to assess the energy characteristics were
Fig. 1. Plantage of Salix viminalis
taken from a wood chip produced from four-
year-old plantations, Fig. 1.
105
Ladislav Dzurenda
Elementary analyses of wood and bark share of bark was assessed using the following
samples of Salix viminalis, including the as- formula:
sessment of share of ash in wood and bark, m
X K = K .100 (%) (2)
were undertaken by team of experts from the m
Forestry Laboratory of the National Forest Cen-
tre in Zvolen, Slovakia. where:
The content of hydrogen in the analysed mK = weight of bark in a wood chip sample
samples of wood and bark was assessed on a (g);
special analyzer, model NCS-FLASH EA 1112, mS = weight of wood chip sample (g).
produced by Thermo Finnigen.
The lower heating value of wood and bark Based on the above specified energy char-
samples in a dry state was calculated using the acteristics of wood chip produced from Salix
formula stated below. Inputs into the formula viminalis, an average energy value of the higher
were: the measured higher heating values of the heating value of the wood chip in a dry state
wood and bark samples, and a laboratory as- was calculated using the following formulas:
sessment of the contents of hydrogen and water
of the same wood and bark samples. Higher heating value of a dry wood chip:
100 X K X
Q n = Qs 24,54.(W r + 9.H daf ) (kJ.kg -1 ) (1) QS = (kJ.kg-1) (3)
.Q S D + 100 .Q S K
K
where: 100
Qs higher heating value of analysed sam-
pled in a dry state (kJ.kg -1 ); Lower heating value of a dry wood chip:
W r water content in the analysed
100 X K X
sample, W r =0 (%); Qn = (kJ.kg-1) (4)
.Qn D + 100 .Qn K
K
Table 1. Shares of elementary combustible particulates and ash in wood biomass Durkovicova (2009)
Salix alba L. Cdaf Hdaf Odaf Ndaf Ash
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Wood Sample 1 49,16 6,35 44,04 0,45 0,17
Sample 2 50,00 6,47 43,08 0,45 0,18
Sample 3 49,58 6,38 43,16 0,43 0,16
Averages 49,58 6,4 43,43 0,44 0,17
Bark Sample 1 52,44 6,90 39,39 1,27 2,1
Sample 2 51,15 6,91 40,70 1,24 2,5
Sample 3 51,35 6,87 40,49 1,29 2
Averages 51,64 6,89 40,19 1,26 2,2
Extended relative indeterminateness of the measurements
U [%] 5 5 2 5
Comparative analyses of the chemical com- produced from Salix viminalis cultivated at the/an
position of juvenile wood and the bark of wood energy plantation, and the chemical composition
106
ENERGY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WOOD-CHIP PRODUCED FROM SALIX VIMINALIS
of mature wood and bark from overmatured of Salix viminalis and the graph on the Figure 3
broadleaves trees show that the juvenile wood of shows the temperature equilibrium of a higher
Salix viminalis contains between 3%-19% more heating value, measured in a calorimeter, of the
hydrogen than is commonly found in mature bark sample of Salix viminalis.
broadleaves wood [4, 9, 7, 12]. The comparative
analyses also show that the juvenile Salix vimi-
nalis wood contains between 140%-380% more
nitrogen than is commonly found in mature
broadleaves wood [2, 8, 11].
The assessed higher content of nitrogen in
the juvenile wood of Salix viminalis proves that
there is a higher content of albumin in the plexus
of the juvenile wood. The content of nitrogen in
an immatured bark of Salix viminalis is about
121%-126% higher than the common share of
nitrogen in bark of older broadleaves. This is
caused by presence of albumin in cambium cells,
as well as by chlorophyl in the surface plexus of
the immature bark. Fig. 3. Equilibrium of a higher heating value of the
The experiments undertaken resulted in an analysed bark sample Salix viminalis
assessment of the average share of bark XK on
the analysed wood chip: Table 2 below includes the results of meas-
urement of the higher heating value of three
XK=23,860,334 (%) samples of wood and bark of Salix viminalis.
which were dried beforehand into a constant
The assessed value XK does not exceed the weight.
maximum limit (XK=30%) set by the Slovak
technical norm STN 48 0058, which was en- Table 2. Higher heating value and lower heating value
dorsed in 2004. The assessed value of the share of wood and bark of Salix viminalis
of bark XK is about 3 times higher than the share Wood (kJ.kg-1) Bark (kJ.kg-1)
Higher Lower Higher Lower
of bark on the wood of beech, about 2 times Samples
heating heating heating heating
higher than the share of bark on the wood of oak value value value value
and poplar, and about 1,7 times higher than the Sample 19 805 18 402,5 19 809,1 18 285,2
share of bark on the wood of alder [1]. 1
Sample 19 730 18 301,1 19 700,4 18 174,3
2
Sample 19 724 18 314,9 19 685,7 18 168,4
3
Average
19 753 18 339,5 19 731,7 18209,3
values
107
Ladislav Dzurenda
from Salix viminalis which was cultivated at chodov, Moskva, Lesnaja promyslennost, 1987,
an energy plantage contains significantly higher p. 221
shares of both hydrogen and nitrogen than is 5. Habovstiak, J., Daniel, J. Pestovanie odrod vrby
(Salix viminalis) na energeticke ucely In. Nase
commonly found in the wood biomass of ma-
pole, 2005, c. 5, p. 10
tured broadleaves. The share of bark on the
6. Longauer,J, Koska, P., Luptak, O. Spalne teplo a
same wood chip was assessed as XK=23,86% vyhrevnost drevneho odpadu. In VPA 5/1987,
Analyses of energy characteristics of wood chip Zvolen, DF VSLD. 1987. p. 61
produced from Salix viminalis. show that the 7. Marutzky, R., Seeger, K. Energie aus Holz und
higher heating value of the juvenile wood of Salix anderer Biomasse, Leinfelden-Echter-dingen, DRD
viminalis. in a dry state is Qs=19753 kJ.kg-1; Verlag Weinbrenner GmbH &Co, 1999. p. 430
for dry bark of the same wood it is Qs=19732 8. Mindas, J, Stancikova, A. Vyhodnotenie ob-sahu
kJ.kg-1. The lower heating value of the wood dusika vo fytomase. Zvolen, NLC. 2004. p. 6.
9. Perelygin, L. M. Nauka o dreve. Bratislava, SVTL,
chip of Salix viminalis. in a dry state is
1965. p. 448
Qn=18308 kJ.kg-1.
10. Spisak, J., Lieskovsky, M. Zhodnotenie poten-
cialu a moznosti zakladania plantazi rychlo-
Acknowledgements rastucich drevin, Acta Facultatis Forestalis 51
This study has been proceeded in the framework (Suppl. 1), 105-114
of the grant project No 1/0358/08 as the result of the 11. Trenciansky, M, Lieskovsky, M, Oravec, J. Ener-
author's research with significant help of VEGA SR geticke zhodnotenie biomasy, Zvolen, NLC. 2007
Agency. 12. Vanin, S. I. Drevesinovedenie, Moskva & Lenin-
grad, Goslesbumizdat, 1949, p. 338
References 13. Varga, L., Godo, T. Rychlorastuce dreviny a
1. Cernak, J. Fyzikalni vlastnosti dreva, Ruzomberok, moznosti zvysenia produkcie biomasy na energiu.
SCP, 1969 In Vyuzivanie lesnej biomasy na energeticke ucely
2. Dzurenda, L., Banski, A. Obsah dusika v jednot- v podmienkach SR, Zvolen: LVU, 2002, pp. 28-37
livych castiach stromu a koncentracia NO2 v 14. Viglasky, J., Suchomel, J., Langova, N. Efektivne
spalinach tvorena formou nizkoteplotnej oxidacie pestovanie rychlorastucich drevin na ener-
dusika v procese spalovania. In Acta Facultatis getickych plantazach, Zivotne prostredie 42(6),
Xylologiae, 2003, roc. ILV, pp. 7 14 2008, 321-324
3. Durkovicova, J. Protokol o skuskach D-21-09: 15. STN 44 1352:2003 Stanovenie spalneho tepla a
Stanovenie podielu uhlika, dusika a vodika, Zvo- vyhrevnosti pevnych paliv
len, NLC. 2009, p. 3 16. STN 48 0058:2004 Sortimenty dreva Listnate
4. Golovkov, S. I., Koperin, I. F., Najdenov, V. I. stiepky a piliny
Energeticeskoe ispolzovanie drevesnych ot-
108
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Abstract
The increased demand for energy and the limited reserves of fossil fuel have induced an increased interest in
renewable energy resources. The support for the utilization of renewable resources has become an important con-
stituent of the policy of the European Union. Energetics is a vital component of Latvias state economy. For all
sectors of the national economy industry, transport, services, as well as trade, household and agriculture, a
modern energy service is necessary. This speeds up the economic and social development, increasing the effi-
ciency of production and the incomes. Energy supply influences the creation of new working places and the effi-
ciency of labour. In the present work, studies on granulation and the granules stability after removing the loads
were carried out for the following deciduous tree species: grey alder, black alder, aspen, birch, ash-tree, oak, and,
for comparison purposes, the conifer species such as pine and spruce.
109
Gunars Pavlovics, Janis Dolacis, Andis Antons, Dace Cirule
comparison purposes, the conifer species: pine to measure the granules relaxation (in the size
and spruce. change time) and thereby to judge its durability
Material: ground wood, sieved through a in time. The records of the testing machine made
sieve with the mesh size =2,0 mm, mean ini- it possible to record the compaction degree de-
tial moisture Wabs=8-9%. pending on the applied load and to analyse the
Granulation investigation methods: a dis- obtained results.
mountable cylindrical auxiliary device with the The main granulation pressing stage
matrix and punch =8,0 mm. For granulation mechanisms can be visualized in the following
regime studies, a universal testing machine Roel way. The materials exterior compaction at the
Zwick/Z100 was used, equipped with the soft- expense of the voids among the particles occurs
ware testXpert Version 11.02 for performing the at a minor pressure. Then the particles them-
experiments. The material sample 0.45 g, pres- selves, among which molecular bonds arise, are
sure 150 MPa. To determine the granules compacted and deformed. The high pressure at
hardness, a special tester (KAHL) with computer the end of pressing causes the particles reversi-
connection was used. The sample of the tested ble deformation in the transition plasticisation; as
material was placed in a cylindrical auxiliary de- a result, the granules structure will strengthen,
vice with the matrix and punch =8,0 mm. It and the imparted or reached form will be re-
was placed into a manual hydraulic press, and tained: in this case, the released resin sub-
preliminary pressing till a known degree was car- stances and extractives will harden the granules
ried out. Then it was transferred to the universal exterior part. The materials warming-up exactly
testing machine Roel Zwick/Z100, and the from friction during the pressing improves the
samples compaction was continued according to process. The physico-chemical properties of the
the set program till the pressure 150 MPa. Then raw material have a major effect on the deforma-
the auxiliary device with the sample was taken tion.
away, and it was pressed out from the matrix The characteristic graph for the samples
using a manual hydraulic press, weighed with compression and their relaxation after removing
the accuracy up to 0,0001 g, and the granule the load is shown in Fig. 1. It can be seen that,
length was measured with the accuracy 0,01 at the fractions mixture 2,00,05 mm, the total
mm in two contrary directions, and the length progress of granules relaxation for all the tree
and diameter in two contrary directions were species: oak, ash, birch, aspen, spruce, grey al-
measured again after 1 min. The same measure- der, black alder and pine is similar. Ash wood
ment procedure was repeated also after 5 min. has the highest compression strength, but the
With one samples fractional composition, 5 lowest one is for grey alder wood, although the
10 replicates were made, from which the aver- highest size relaxation is for grey alder wood,
age value was calculated. Thus, it was possible but the lowest one for oak wood.
14
13 oak
Length of granule L, mm
ash
12
birch
11 asp sawdust
10 spruce
grey alder
9
asp hogged chips
8 black alder
7 pine
6
1MPa 2MPa 3MPa 55MPa 70MPa 90MPa 110MPa 130MPa 150MPa 1min 5min
Fig. 1. Characteristic graph for the compaction of the granules of different tree species and their relaxation
after removing the load.
110
MODELLING OF THE GRANULATION OF DECIDUOUS WOOD RESIDUES
2 mm fraction
1,4 oak
1,3 birch
ash
3
Density, g/cm
1,2
asp sawdust
1,1
spruce
1,0 grey alder
0,9 black alder
pine
0,8
0,7
150MPa 1min 5min
Relaxation in time
Fig. 2. Changes in the density of granules for different tree species after removing the load.
The changes in the density of granules with 46%, birch 49%, aspen 55% and grey alder
the fraction 2,00,05 mm for different tree 77%.
species after removing the load are shown in Fig. It can be seen that the chosen granulation
2. pressure 150 MPa is acceptable, because the
It can be seen that, also in this case, grey final pressing density of all tested tree species
alder wood granules have the greatest relaxation exceeds the density required in the granule
scatter: density decreases from the initial density standards [1 - 3] of 1,0 g/cm3 (ash 1,18 g/cm3,
1,38 g/cm3 to 0,86 g/cm3 within the first oak 1,20 g/cm3, spruce 1,23 g/cm3, birch
minute, and to 0,78 g/cm3 after 5 min. The most 1,27 g/cm3, black alder and pine 1,28 g/cm3,
stable tree species among the investigated ones, and aspen and grey alder 138 g/cm3. The
with the lowest relaxation, is oak. The decrease relaxation of aspen, grey alder and spruce wood
in its granules density from the initial to 5 min is granules sizes depending on the granulametric
the lowest, namely only 24%, followed by ash composition is shown in Figs. 3 and 4.
27%, spruce 35%, pine 39%, black alder
16
15
Length of granule L, mm
14
1.4mm fract.
13
0.5 mm fract.
12
0.2 mm fract.
11
0.1 mm fract.
10
0.05 mm fract.
9
2 mm fract.
8
7
6
1MPa 2MPa 3MPa 55MPa 70MPa 90MPa 110MPa 130MPa 150MPa 1min 5min
Fig. 3. Size relaxation of grey alder wood granules versus the granulometric composition.
15
14
Length of granule L, mm
13
12 1.4 mm fract.
0.2 mm fract.
11
0.1 fract.
10
0.05 mm fract.
9 2 mm fract.
8
7
6
1MPa 2MPa 3MPa 55MPa 70MPa 90MPa 110MPa 130MPa 150MPa 1min 5min
Fig. 4. Size relaxation of spruce wood granules versus the granulometric composition.
111
Gunars Pavlovics, Janis Dolacis, Andis Antons, Dace Cirule
Figs. 3 and 4 show that a common pine is similar. The highest compression strength
tendency is retained both for deciduous trees is for ash wood, but the lowest one for grey al-
and spruce wood, the compactability of the der wood, although the highest size relaxation is
samples increases and the size relaxation value for grey alder wood, but the lowest one for oak
decreases with decreasing granule fraction wood. The best granulation results (the lowest
sizes.The best granulometric results (respec- size relaxation and, respectively, decrease of
tively, the decrease of density after removing the density after removing the load) is for the follow-
load) are for the following deciduous tree spe- ing deciduous tree species: oak, ash, which pre-
cies: oak, ash, which prevail the coniferous tree vail the coniferous tree species spruce and
species - spruce and pine, regarded as classically pine, regarded as classically suitable for granula-
suitable for granulation. The highest density re- tion. The greatest relaxation is for grey alder,
laxation is for grey alder, followed by aspen, followed by aspen, birch and black alder.
birch and black alder. In terms of the relaxation value, black alder
In terms of the density relaxation value, wood lags behind the pine wood only by 4,2%
black alder wood lags behind the pine wood only and the spruce wood only by 8,8% at the aver-
by 4,2%, and the spruce wood by 8,8% at the age relaxation index 145% for all the species.
relaxation index 145%, common for all species. Thus, as a result of these studies, it is pos-
Thus, only a part of the deciduous tree spe- sible to say that only a part of deciduous tree
cies (grey alder, aspen and birch) is less suscep- species (grey alder, aspen and birch) is less sus-
tible to granulation than the coniferous tree spe- ceptible to granulation than the coniferous tree
cies spruce and pine. species spruce and pine.
Conclusions References
All tested tree species (grey alder, black al- 1. DIN 51731, Prfung fester Brennstoffe -
der, aspen, birch, ash, oak, pine, spruce) are Prelinge aus naturbelassenem Holz -
Anforderungen und Prfung
characterised by a similar relationship between
2. Kaliyan, N., Vance Morey, R. Factors affecting
the samples compression and their relaxation
strength and durability of densified biomass prod-
after removing the load. Thus, at the fraction ucts, Biomass and bioenergy 33 (2009), p.337-
mixture 2,00,05 mm, the common granules 359
relaxation progress for all tree species: oak, ash, 3. NORM M 7135
birch, aspen, spruce, grey alder, black alder and 4. DIN plus
112
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
Mosleh Duhoky1, Nidal Shaaban2, Ahmed Ziirak1, Eman Kadhum3, Ali Mekali4
1
University of Dohuk, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
2
University of Forestry, Sofia, Bulgaria
3
Ministry of Agriculture, Sofia, Bulgaria
4
Embassy of Iraq in Sofia, Bulgaria
Abstract
Overall, the application of good agricultural practices in Kurdistan region, Iraq is based on the general concept
of integrated crop management. The good agricultural practices are essential components of environment-friendly
and economically viable production systems relying on modern technology and aimed at producing high quality
food in an efficient manner. Good agricultural or better horticultural practices (GAP) should consist in a set of most
suitable tools to guarantee quality and assure safety for consumption. All kind of production should utilize GAP
technologies, whether in integrated or organic cultivation. Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) are internationally
acknowledged measures for decrease a risk as a result of pesticide and fertilizer use and they aim at protecting of
human health and stabile agricultural development free of environmental contamination. Their initiating in Kurdistan
region, Iraq is forced by the world globalization and opening of the markets that places the food quality and safety
in the foreground. In view of obtaining safe and healthy food and noon food agricultural products taking also into
account economical social sustainability, in recent years have been proposed and implemented Good Agricultural
Practices (GAP), representing a collection of principles to be applied to on-farm production and post-production
processes. In the context of rapidly changing and globalizing food economy the concept of GAP has evolved in
recent years. Therefore the GAP is becoming an increasingly important issue for many production area regardless
the level of intensification of production processes.
Key words: Good agricultural, practices, safty food, environment, human health, economics, sustainable de-
velopment
113
Mosleh Duhoky, Nidal Shaaban, Ahmed Ziirak, Eman Kadhum, Ali Mekali
114
CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTATION OF GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES IN KURDISTAN REGION, IRAQ
types to F1 hybrids) and species and on the di- tation with pathogens and running
versification of seedling typologies (e.g.: organic, through weed seeds.
toped, grafted, etc.). Therefore possible strate- Do not use none-decomposed or slightly
gies could be the result of a better understanding decomposed manure and chicken ma-
of cause effect relation between seedling charac- nure especially in fertilizing.
teristic and crop performance and to the integra- Manure solution could be applied only
tion of information related to transplant produc- in cases when the distance to the sur-
tion for raising seedling with definite characteris- face water sources (rivers, water
tics. courses, channels, lakes, artificial lakes,
seas etc.) is not smaller then 5 m.
3. Rules for good agriculture practices in soil Good Agricultural Practice in mineral fertili-
fertility regulation and improvement zation includes activities that protect the soil
Greenhouse production of vegetables and from diffusive contamination and/or unfavorable
flowers creates a real risk of a soil fertility dete- change of the nutritive regime:
rioration and produce ecological properties wors- It's impossible a single application of a
ening. It results both in the natural processes of great amounts of fertilizers.
degradation and in intensive anthropogenic work. Application of ammonium fertilizers im-
The rules for Good Agricultural Practices are a mediately after liming is not permited.
collection of cultural methods that share the This result in ammonium poisoning of
environment and their application helps for sup- the plants, contamination of the atmos-
porting of the ecological balance for regulation phere and loss of nitrogen.
and improvement of soil fertility, for production Use of great doses of ammonium fertil-
of high quality produce. izers in months with poor light condi-
GAP requires monitoring of agrochemical tions is not permitted in order to avoid
properties of the soils and creation of correct the ammonia blight of the plants.
system for nutrition and efficient and rational use Do not use ammonia fertilizers in acid
of fertilizers on the basis of the soil and plant soil.
chemical analysis. The rules, requirements and The required nitrogen rate to be applied
time limits for taking of soil and plant samples in a small doses and do not allow one-
were developed in EC and this is the first and sided nitrogen fertilization because it re-
most important stage of the soil agrochemical sults in a number of negative effects -
study. Good Agricultural Practice requires fertil- overgrowing in the vegetation period,
izers, composts, biologically active substances, increase of the risk from diseases and
nutritive substrates and other soil-improvers that pests, vegetation period prolongation,
are used to cover the conditions fixed in the law delay of ripening etc.
and regulation documents in the EC. A complex Use of chlorine-containing potassium
of coordinated measures in the system of fertili- fertilizers is not recommended, espe-
zation aims at the rational and efficient using of cially in crops susceptible to chlorine -
fertilizers in the growing crop conditions is in- tomato, cucumber and melon.
cluded in the GAP. The choice of the terms for The soluble fertilizers to be applied in
fertilizer applying and the ways of fertilization small doses and in short intervals.
aim at providing the plants with nutritive sub- Fertilization in zone II of the sanitary-
stances during the whole vegetation period. In protected area from the water sources
fertilization Good Agricultural Practice is con- for public water-supply where the ni-
firmed with the kind of used fertilizers and their trate content is higher then 25 mg/1 is
effect on the soil fertility, the level of the nutri- forbidden.
tive elements remaining in the soil and the re- Good agricultural practices in use of the bio-
quirements of the growing crop. products in the greenhouse production is a col-
GAP in use of organic fertilizers requires the lection of cultural manners and their application
following: increases the effectiveness of the bio-products
Preliminary composting of the fertilizers as an alternative of mineral fertilization and as
that increase the humus content of the ecological solution for soil fertility improvement.
soil rapidly at a reduced risk of its infes- This is as a result of the improved soil micro-
flora and/or the applied humus and biological
115
Mosleh Duhoky, Nidal Shaaban, Ahmed Ziirak, Eman Kadhum, Ali Mekali
active substances. GAP requires obligatory use Soil sterilization by means of steam pas-
of bio-products, containing useful microorgan- teurization is an old and well-proven practice.
isms after biocide soil treatment (fumigation, Application of 71C for 30 minutes is sufficient
steaming) in order the soil micro-flora to be re- to kill all soil-borne pathogens except few resis-
stored quicker and in compost production - to tant weed seeds and some plant viruses, while
accelerate the composting and to increase the preserving many thermophilic beneficial microor-
compost quality. Good Agricultural Practices ganisms. The main reason for the poor interest in
includes a complex of coordinated measures this method is the cost of purchasing a steam
from the system of fertilization aiming at not generator, which is too high for most growers.
permitting soil acidification and salting as degen- Grafting on pest and disease resistant root-
erative processes harmful both for soil fertility stocks is currently also tested as an alternative
and for the plants: to soil sterilization, especially in crops suscepti-
Application of organic fertilizers for im- ble to Fusarium (Solanaceae, Cucurbitaceae)
provement of the buffer and water- Nevertheless, grafting does not provide protec-
keeping soil ability. tion against all soil-borne pathogens, insects,
Fertilization with mineral fertilizers ac- nematodes and weeds, and, therefore, it cannot
cordingly their hydrolytic and physio- be considered a complete substitution for disin-
logical reaction and the soil response. fection with methyl bromide.
Correction of the soil response by lim- Substitution of methyl bromide by other
ing, gypsuming or cultural methods. chemicals, such as metam-sodium, 1,3 dichloro-
Irrigation with waters possessing quali- propene (1,3-D), chloropicrin, and their combina-
tative characters according to the EC tions have also been tested. However, the appli-
Community Standards, and National cation of these chemicals requires long plant-
Standards. back periods, otherwise phytotoxicity may occur.
GAP recommends farmers to keep review Furthermore, these chemicals are not effective
documentation where they should record all im- against all soil-borne diseases. The inoculation of
portant details from their production practice and the greenhouse soil with suppressive soils con-
to safe the data. GAP includes the following taining fungi and bacteria species, which act
prohibitions and they refer to all farmers: antagonistically to certain pathogens, might be
Do not throw away fertilizer and pack- an environment friendly alternative to methyl
ing remains in the surface waters and in bromide. However, the microorganisms tested up
deserted wells; to date are specialized against one or, at best, a
Do not wash the packing, special cloth- few pathogens, and can be used only when
ing and equipment connected with fer- these particular pathogens or pests constitute a
tilization in rivers, artificial lakes and serious threat for the crop. Soil solarization is
other surface water places; one of the most promising alternatives to the use
Do not store organic and mineral fertiliz- of methyl-bromide disinfection in greenhouses.
ers on the areas near to water sources This technique is based on trapping the visible
or rivers. and ultra-violet solar energy in the greenhouse
soil by means of a polyethylene sheet, which is
4. GAP and pest control used as an air and water-tight cover on its sur-
In addition to the use of non-chemical pest face. Normally, most of the visible and ultra-
control methods for the above-ground parts of violet radiation absorbed by the soil is converted
the plants, it is essential to restrict the applica- into thermic energy, which is re-emitted back to
tion of pesticides also for the control of soil- the environment as infra-red radiation.
borne pathogens. According to the Montreal
protocol, the use of methyl bromide as a soil 5. General consideration for greenhouse GAP
fumigant was phased out since 2005 in the de- The establishment of new greenhouses and
veloped countries, while a phase-out from the the modernization of already existing installations
developing countries has been scheduled for should essentially be based on a functional de-
2015. To cope with this new situation, various sign aimed at optimizing the greenhouse envi-
alternatives are currently proposed and tested ronment while minimizing the need for agro-
against soil-borne pathogens. chemicals. Greenhouse facilities enabling main-
tenance of optimal climatic conditions inside the
116
CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTATION OF GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES IN KURDISTAN REGION, IRAQ
greenhouse constitute a prerequisite for the ap- 6. GAP in open field plant cultivation
plication of good agricultural practices. Monoculture producing cannot be applied,
A functional greenhouse design includes except for annual fooder, bee pastures and green
among others sufficient static strength, optimal manure plants:
orientation depending on the location and the For crop rotation the following guide-
topography, use of covering materials and struc- lines must be applied:
tures resulting in minimal reduction of light Sugar beet, beetroot, turnip, potato,
transmission inside the structure (>80%), and field bean, soy and lupine can be grown
sufficient greenhouse equipment taking into con- in the same field only once in every four
sideration the climatic conditions of the location, years;
the crop needs, the target growing season, the Sunflower can be grown in the same
fuel, land, and water availability, and the cost. field only once in every five years;
Overall, tall greenhouse structures (3-6 m) are At least once in every five years papil-
preferable since they provide more space for lonaceae or green fodder must be grown
plant elongation, enhanced CO2 reserves and a in the rotated field, including successive
more efficient buffering of the inside tempera- secondary crops;
ture. Sub-optimal greenhouse height is a serious Dried peas can be grown only once in
problem, which restricts their prospects to pro- every seven years;
vide high yields and optimal produce quality. Maize can be followed only by plants of
The problems arising from an insufficient low nitrogen need;
greenhouse height include large temperature and At least two-year period of lapse must
humidity fluctuations during day and night, and be kept between the growing of two
the imposition of short growing seasons in fruit- non-annual papillonaceae;
bearing vegetables, which otherwise would have Alfaalfa cannot be followed by any
a potential for long-term production (e.g. to- other papillonaceae, and after Alfaalfa,
mato). the follow-up crop must be of high ni-
The use of fine-mesh screens to reduce in- trogen need;
sect entry into the greenhouse has become a Soy, sunflower and summer rape cannot
common practice in many countries during the follow one another;
last years. Insect exclusion by means of In the crop rotation the joint rate of spi-
screened openings is a fundamental measure cate and maize cannot exceed 75%.
within the frame of Integrated Crop Management Mechanic weed control must be carried
(ICM) strategies in greenhouses, since it is an out prior to weed flowering.
effective means not only to reduce insect dam- Application of soil preparation at differ-
age but also to avoid virus infections. This prob- ent depths annually.
lem may be tackled by increasing the surface Straws bales must be removed from the
percentage of vent openings. Another non- field within one month after gathering.
chemical method of pest control in greenhouses
is the use of photo-selective covering materials, 7. GAP in Nutrient management
which may influence the insect activity inside Focused soil analysis is required in every
the greenhouse. The photo-selective plastic five years (pH, humus content, KA, total
sheets with plant-protective attributes contain of water soluble salts, CaCO3,
specific substances which reduce or even elimi- NO2+NO3, P2O2 and K2O)
nate the transmission of ultra-violet (UV) radia- Soil improvement and spreading of
tion (280-400 nm). The absence of UV radiation treated sewage, sewage sludge and liq-
in the spectrum of the incoming solar radiation uid livestock waste can be carried out
results in insect disorientation, thereby consid- with the consent of the plan and soil
erably restricting their activity inside the green- protection service in accordance with
house, while the yield is not affected by this the relevant regulations.
treatment. When applying nitrogen fertilizers, farm-
ers must not exceed the maximum val-
ues calculated for unfavorable and non
117
Mosleh Duhoky, Nidal Shaaban, Ahmed Ziirak, Eman Kadhum, Ali Mekali
unfavorable areas, as well as nitrate the full length of the coastlines, and
sensitive and non-nitrate sensitive areas. other natural waters designated for
In nitrate sensitive areas it is obligatory swimming;
to follow the regulations of the action protective areas around waterworks and
program (determined by governmental water resources.
decree). Empty packages and wrappings of pesti-
In non-nitrate sensitive areas the follow- cides must be collected, treated and disposed of
ing regulations are applicable: in accordance with the relevant regulations. The
a. Manure can be spread to steeper machinery and pesticide spreaders used to pro-
slopes as long as it is incorporated tect plants must be in perfect technical condi-
promptly. tion.
b. It is forbidden to spread manure
within at least ten meters of water 9. GAP for Conservation and landscape protec-
source, such as well that supplies tion (in nature reserves and environmentally sen-
human or animal consumption, as sitive areas
well as floodplains and immediate ar- Farmers should avoid damaging natural or
eas of watercourses. semi-natural habitats when performing an agri-
c. Quick acting, soluble nitrogen fertiliz- cultural activity (plowing, spreading manure or
ers, addle and liquid waste can only chemicals, or destroying landscape components).
be spread after harvesting in the Farmers should avoid damaging or ruining his-
same year, if less than fourteen days torical and architectural monuments and sites
have elapsed between the spreading situated in the territory of the farm. Farmers
and the sowing of the cover crop. cannot alter the size of the parcel of land. Ame-
d. It is forbidden to spread manure liorative liming, drainage and irrigation are for-
when the soil is frozen hard (the soil bidden.
is frozen to the depth of five centi- Farmers are only allowed to apply environ-
meters), waterlogged or snow cov- mentally favorable mowing methods and tech-
ered. nologies (starting to mow from the center of the
e. Soil manure must be kept in an im- land, leaving edges to the end).
permeable manure store with a col- Construction of temporary or permanent
lection channel and a below-ground buildings is possible only with the consent of the
tank to hold leechate, which has a management of the given national park.
storage capacity of at least eight The time for mowing on protected marshes
months of livestock waste. Liquid must be determined on an individual basis by
waste is to be kept in an imperme- consulting the experts of the given national park.
able storage tank or lagoon with a Existing alleys, forest belts and old trees
storage capacity of at least four must be protected. In the course of technological
months of waste material. operation related to cultivation (haystacks, bales,
manure heaps etc.) can only be created on culti-
8. GAP in pest control vated land. Upon finding nest of increasingly
Only authorized pesticides and fertilizers protected birds, farmers must immediately report
can be used, in compliance with technological it to the given National Park. Only natural mate-
and licensing regulations.Pesticides must be kept rial (wood, cane) are allowed to be used to build
in a store room or cabinet which is locked and night shelter for animals.
separated from other rooms housing people or Shepherds accommodation must fit in with
animals or used for storing human or animal the landscape and be built by using traditional
food, in a way which prevents fire or explosion, building materials and methods. Ponds and inland
and damages to health and the environment (in water spots must be preserved.
accordance with ministry orders on pesticide
circulation and application, and the packaging, 10. GAP in soil erosion
labeling, storage and transportation of pesti- In areas exposed to erosion, the soil must
cides). It is forbidden to store pesticides within be protected with crop cover until the sowing of
at least one kilometer from: spring crop.
118
CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTATION OF GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES IN KURDISTAN REGION, IRAQ
Contour cultivation is required in areas cifics which are regarded as essential for approv-
exposed to erosion. ing organic culture, but any farm or field of or-
Terraces established to prevent erosion ganic culture has not been registered yet in the
must be preserved. Region. The most important reason behind that
It is forbidden to grow root crops on might be due to the absence of a formal ap-
slopes with an angle higher than 12 proved organization able to issue the required
percent. certifications to regard such farms as organic
Green stripes (hedges, field borders) are culture farms.
to be preserved. The ministry of Agriculture is working hard
Operations resulting in soil opening to improve organic culture by applying many
must be followed by soil closing opera- attempts to achieve training courses for the Ag-
tions ricultural staff like:
The increasing concern of consumers with a. Participating of a number of employees
the safe and quality of fresh vegetables and abroad of Iraq in order to benefit from
other food products originating from agriculture the foreign experience in this category.
forced the large super market chains in Europe to Where three of the Agricultural ministry
establish a comprehensive system of certifica- employees participated in a training co-
tion. This system is based on the establishment erce in Australia about IPM. As wall as,
of GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES in form of another number of employees in a train-
specific protocols that should be implemented by ing course about compost preparation in
growers who wish to obtain certification for their Australia.
products. This certification system, which was b. Two of the employees applied two field
known as EUREPGAP up to last year, was re- illustrations for the production and use
cently renamed into GLOBALGAP. The applica- of compost by participating of about 30
tion of the prescribed good agricultural practices farmers in each. These sessions were
is aimed at minimizing detrimental environmental applied by the program of reactivation
impacts of farming operations, reducing the use of Agricultural extension in Iraq (IAER)
of chemical inputs and ensuring a responsible sponsored by the American Universities
approach to worker health and safety including the University of Texas A and
(www.globalgap.org). A major characteristic of M.
this system is the traceability of the product with c. It is proposed to send the employees to
respect to the delivery chain from the field to the CIHEAM institution in Bari _ Italy to par-
shelf, which increases the responsibility of the ticipate in an IPM training session.
growers. Traceability aims at ensuring that all d. Exporting organic pomegranate (pro-
food products are documented at every step of duced from organic orchards in Halabja,
food production, delivering, and distribution. Suleiman city) to Dubai/UAE through
Certification of the production procedure accord- INMA/USAID.
ing to the GLOBALGAP standard is a prerequisite COMPOST has been prepared by some of
for the product to be marketed by joined retail- research centers in Kurdistan Region of IRAQ in
ers. The introduction of the GLOBALGAP certifi- which 45 tons of the COMPOST has been pre-
cation system had serious consequences on pared by local methods to be used in agricultural
greenhouse vegetable production, since it is cur- researches. We suggest the followings:
rently a prerequisite for greenhouse growers who a. Preparation of specific training sessions
wish to export their products to the large fresh for Agricultural extension employees in
vegetable markets of Europe. the ministry of Agriculture and for the
teaching staff of Agricultural Colleges in
11. Organic Culture in Kurdistan Region of Iraq the Region in order to prepare well-
Organic culture was and still the dominant practiced persons (TOT) in Organic cul-
Agricultural mode in Kurdistan Region. Since, the ture.
most of farms especially fruit trees orchards are b. Applying extension training courses for
highly depending on organic manures for increas- farmers to introduce them with organic
ing soil fertility. Further than, the lack of geneti- culture and it's economic and healthy
cally modified cultivars and the reducing of the advantages.
use of chemical fertilizers. In spite of these spe-
119
Mosleh Duhoky, Nidal Shaaban, Ahmed Ziirak, Eman Kadhum, Ali Mekali
c. Including the course of organic culture 4. 2001 FDA Food Code: http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~
into the approached cources of agricul- dms/fc01-toc.html
ture Institutions and Colleges. 5. Center for Disease Control and Prevention:
http://www.cdc.gov/
d. Establishing internationally dependent bu-
6. Foodborne Illness statistics: http://www.cdc.gov/
reaus and companies for investigating
epo/mmwr/mmwr_ss.html
and issuing specific certificates for or- 7. Pathogens fact sheet: http://www.cdc.gov/nci-
ganic culture according to international dod.diseases/diseases.htm
standards. 8. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition:
e. Preparation of a complete plan for or- http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/list.html
ganic culture in both scientific research 9. Current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) re-
centers and Agricultural Colleges. gulations 21 CFR 100-169:
f. Contacting specific organizations of or- http://cm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/part110t.txt
10. Environmental Protection Agency: www.epa.gov
ganic culture all over the world for coor-
11. FDA Juice HACCP Regulations (January 19,
dination and benefiting from their experi-
2001): http://www.foodsafety.gov/~dms/fs-
ence in this category. toc.html#juice
12. EUREPGAP: http://www.eurep.org/sites/in-
Reference dex_e.html
1. Cornell Good Agricultural Practices Project: 13. Academic journal papers reference list:
http://www.gaps.cornell.edu/ FDA Guide to http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/ift3refs.html
Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh 14. Cornell Good Agricultural Practices Project:
Fruits and Vegetables: http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~ http://www.gaps.cornell.edu/
dms/prodguid.html 15. Food Safety Consortium at Iowa State University:
2. International Association of Food Protection: http://www.foodsafety.iastate.edu
http://www.foodprotection.org 16. FAO:GAP:www.fao.org/prods/GAP/index_en.htm
3. University of California Davis: Vegetable Re- 17. www.slideshare.net/dduchar/good-agricultural-
search Information Center: http://vric.ucdavis.edu/ practices-d-ducharme
120
2/2010 (26) MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2/2010 (26)
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1,9 4,2 3,9 4,1 5,1 3,6 -0,7 0,1
7,2 8,7 10,6 12,2 10,0 -4,6 -18,0 -4,0
10,2 7,4 7,8 7,8 9,8 2,8 -18,1 -3,9
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2,8 4,3 4,5 5,8 6,8 3,5 -7,4 1,3
4,8 5,0 6,7 8,5 10,6 6,2 -5,8 1,9
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30,9 32,5 33,7 34,5 36,5 37,7 41,3 39,8
89,2 88,9 90,3 90,9 90,7 93,6 95,8 96,0
70,4 73,4 75,1 75,9 77,0 80,1 80,3 77,4
50,0 54,5 57,4 61,6 65,1 68,8 67,4 59,3
61,6 62,8 63,4 63,2 63,2 62,6 64,4 61,4
41,2 43,3 45,6 48,6 51,6 55,7 57,3 48,1
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48,3 48,9 50,6 51,4 51,9 54,4 56,4 58,2
29,4 31,3 34,1 35,0 38,4 41,6 48,0 45,1
54,1 55,4 57,0 60,2 63,4 67,7 72,2 69,3
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2,8 4,0 1,9 2,0 2,2 2,2 4,4 0,2
1,4 -0,1 2,6 1,6 2,1 3,0 6,3 0,6
3,6 1,4 3,0 4,1 4,4 6,7 10,6 0,2
5,2 4,7 6,8 3,5 4,0 7,9 6,0 4,0
2,0 2,9 6,2 6,9 6,6 10,1 15,3 3,3
0,3 -1,1 1,2 2,7 3,8 5,8 11,1 4,2
2,6 1,9 2,7 2,5 2,6 0,7 4,7 1,8
1,9 0,7 3,6 2,2 1,3 2,6 4,2 4,0
22,5 15,3 11,9 9,1 6,6 4,9 7,9 5,6
3,5 8,4 7,5 2,8 4,3 1,9 3,9 0,9
7,5 5,7 3,7 2,5 2,5 3,8 5,5 0,9
: Eurostat [1]
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. 3.
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7,5 6,2 6,2
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8,8 5,3 4,9 5,5 10,9
6,8 7,4 7,3 7,6 9,6
9,1 7,6 6,4 5,3 14,2
9,2 6,4 4,6 4,5 10,9
125
,
()
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
7,2 8,1 6,6 5,6 6,7
18,0 16,8 10,3 7,7 7,9
6,6 6,2 6,2
16,7 15,7 11,3 10,2 10,5
6,4 6,2 5,2 4,6 5,3
8,9 8,4 7,3 6,7 8,5
: Eurostat [1]
- - 125 -
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21711252 21658528 21610213 21565119 21528627 21496664
1996433 1997590 2003358 2010377 2025866 2053393
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: Eurostat [1]
. 7. 2008/2009.. (.)
/ 2008 2009
EU (27 ) 497455033 499673325 2218292
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10045401 10029873 -15528
410290 412614 2324
38115641 38130302 14661
21528627 21496664 -31963
2025866 2053393 27527
5400998 5411062 10064
: Eurostat [1]
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- 2. Mounthly Bulletins of Latvian statistics,
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, -
3. , . ,
http://www.telegraf.lv/news/
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4. Labklajibas ministrijas informacija interneta:
: http://em.gov.lv
5. 200 . 2
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7. , . : -
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, http://riga-lv.com/blog/2009/02/19/
, latvijskaya-respublika-politicheskie-uroki-iz-
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vadibas koledza, 2009, 253 lpp.
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