Changes in wave dynamics at the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Proper during 1993–2008

Using data gathered by visual wave observations at three Lithuanian coastal observation sites during 1993-2008, we make an attempt to relate the recent changes in the intensity of coastal processes on the Lithuanian coast to changes in the local wave regime. There exist considerable interannual variations in the overall wave activity but no statistically significant trends in wave heights for the study period. The directional distribution of wave approach directions has become considerably narrower since about 2002. This feature is most prominent at Palanga where since 2002 almost all waves have approached from SW. This change apparently leads to a decrease in the sediment supply to the Curonian Spit and to a certain starvation of the Lithuanian coast

PREREQUISITES FOR THE CREATION OF THE "FROM FARM TO SCHOOL" MODEL IN THE KLAIPEDA REGION: THE STUDY OF TARGET GROUPS’ EXPECTATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS

The focus of the article is on school meal programs that are common throughout the world and are implemented to promote students’ healthy eating habits and bring added value to their learning outcomes. In recent years there has been increasing emphasis on the possibility of improving school meals by including locally grown products, thus contributing to the development of local economic systems. This model has acquired the name "Farm to School" in practice of some countries and, according to its supporters, emphasizes public procurement of locally grown food as a key market opportunity for farmers. The article has been prepared within the BSR Food Coalition project (funded by Interreg Baltic Sea Region Program, contract #S002). The project seeks to create the conditions for the emergence of the "From farm to school" model in the Baltic States. The study presented in the article aims at disclosing the conditions and opportunities for the promotion and use of foods produced by local farmers in general education schools in Klaipeda region, Lithuania as well as at defining necessary educational efforts to increase healthy nutrition, develop general health habits, and agricultural and food system literacy within general education schools and their communities. To achieve the aim the surveys with project target groups (school administration, students and their parents) have been carried out in Klaipeda region. The objectives of the survey were to gather data on target groups’ perceptions of local school food procurement and to disclose their opinion, needs and expectations related to model development. The findings of the study would be helpful for designing the further steps of collaboration between schools and local farmers in Klaipeda region.

Changes of hydrological conditions in the Curonian Lagoon

The Curonian Lagoon is a large shallow coastal water body in the south-eastern part of the Baltic Sea. The global climate change, the rise in water level could influence water ecosystems. The paper presents the spatial and temporal variation of water level, water temperature in the Curonian Lagoon. The mean water level is rising by approximately 0.30 cm year–1 in the Klaipėda Strait and 0.36 cm year–1 in the Curonian Lagoon near Nida during the period 1961–2005. The increase of water level is associated with changes in atmospheric circulation in the North Atlantic region that indicate correlations with the NAO index. The water level fluctuations in the Curonian Lagoon are caused by variations in air mass dynamics in the North Atlantic areas. Statistical long-term mean water levels, which are regarded as standard in Lithuania and used for engineering and hydro-technical purposes, should be corrected with regard to the water level trend to rise

Vidutinis daugiametis Kuršių marių vandens druskingumas 1993-2005 m

Water salinity and its variations in time and space in the Curonian Lagoon during the last decades are fractionally described. Spatial and temporal water salinity variations in the Curonian Lagoon with regard to marine water intrusions from the Baltic Sea were analysed on the basis of the data on water salinity measured in the Curonian Lagoon during the last decade (1993-2005). Data analysis showed that then umber of days per year with salinity higher than 0.15%o in the central part of the Curonian Lagoon was highly variable. However, years with surface water salinity not higher than 0.5%o prevailed in the period under investigation. It is important to note that a lack of salinity measurements in the near bottom layer ofthe Curonian Lagoon limits our knowledge of marine water intrusions and, therefore, may lead to an underestimation of mean salinity values in the northern and central parts of the Curonian Lagoon

Peculiarities of the long-term water level fluctuations in the south-eastern part of the Baltic sea and the Curonian lagoon

 Studies of climate changes and climate warming problems are connected with the analysis of the geophysical processes including changes in regime of some hydrological elements. One of the indicators of the changing climate is the water level, i.e. the long-term changes of water level. In this paper the measurements by the Centre of Marine Research (Ministry of Environment) time series of water level were used for the analysis of long-term changes of water level in the south-eastern part of the Baltic Sea and in the Curonian Lagoon. One of the factors for the water level rising is land moving. The great concern should cause the increase in water level observed in the 20th century, which could be directly related to the problems of the coast erosion, land overflow the distortion of the ecological equilibrium. Article in Lithuanian Kuršių marių ir pietrytinės Baltijos jūros dalies vandens lygio daugiamečių svyravimų analizės metodologiniai ypatumai Santrauka. Šiuolaikiniai klimato kaitos tyrimai bei klimato šiltėjimo problemų sprendimas susiję su geofizinių reiškinių bei hidrologinių elementų režimo kaitos analize. Susirūpinimą kelia pastaraisiais 20 a. dešimtmečiais spartesnis vandens lygio kilimas bei su tuo tiesiogiai susiję krantų ardymo, sausumos užliejimo, ekologinės pusiausvyros pažeidimo problemos. Ne mažiau svarbus veiksnys, lemiantis daugiametį vandens lygio kitimą Baltijos jūroje, yra Žemės plutos judėjimas. Straipsnyje, remiantis Aplinkos ministerijos Jūrinių tyrimų centro duomenimis, analizuojamas daugiametis vandens lygio kitimas pietrytinėje Baltijos jūros dalyje ir Kuršių mariose. Raktažodžiai: vandens lygis, kitimas, dėsningumas, tendencija, Kuršių marios, Klaipėdos sąsiauris, Baltijos jūra

Preconditions for the creation of the "From farm to school" model in the Klaipėda region: the prospects for farmers' involvement

Straipsnyje analizuojamos smulkių ir vidutinių ūkių perspektyvos, susijusios su modelio „Nuo ūkio iki mokyklos“ kūrimu Klaipėdos regione. Tyrimu siekta atskleisti Klaipėdos regiono ūkininkų įtraukimo į bendradarbiavimo su švietimo įstaigomis proceso galimybes, siekiant teikti joms ūkių produkciją / paslaugas. Diskusijų grupei diskutuojant su Klaipėdos regiono smulkių ir vidutinių ūkių atstovais aptarti tyrimui aktualūs klausimai: ar ūkininkus domina produkcijos tiekimas ir paslaugų teikimas švietimo įstaigoms; kaip jie vertina viešųjų pirkimų sistemą; kokios galimos bendradarbiavimo galimybės ir kliūtys, kt. Rezultatai atskleidė, kad Klaipėdos regiono ūkininkų, savivaldybės darbuotojų ir švietimo įstaigų, kaip paslaugų pirkėjų, poreikiai bei bendradarbiavimo lūkesčiai iš esmės sutampa. Tyrimo dalyviai sutiko, kad vietos augintojų maistas yra geras, norėtų, kad vaikai mokyklose būtų maitinami kokybišku maistu iš vietinių ūkių. Visgi tyrimo rezultatai suponavo prielaidą dėl nepakankamo smulkių ir vidutinių ūkininkų raštingumo, siekiant veiksmingai plėtoti bendradarbiavimą su švietimo įstaigomis. Todėl straipsniu siekiama didinti smulkių ir vidutinių ūkių atstovų bei visų suinteresuotųjų grupių informuotumą apie modelį „Nuo ūkio iki mokyklos“, kuris galėtų lemti didesnį ūkininkų įtraukimą ir stiprintų vietos ūkininkų bei švietimo įstaigų bendruomenių tarpusavio ryšį. Geresnis informuotumas galėtų padėti plėtoti kryptingus suinteresuotų šalių veiksmus, siekiant trumpinti maisto tiekimo grandines, gerinti mokinių maisto kokybę, skatinti smulkių ir vidutinių ūkių produktų tiekimą švietimo įstaigoms Klaipėdos regione. Be to, tyrimu siekta prisidėti prie nacionalinės Darnaus vystymosi strategijos tikslų įgyvendinimo, kaip galima smulkių ir vidutinių ūkių veikla ir paslaugomis išsaugoti ar atkurti natūralias ekosistemas. Pagrindiniai žodžiai: „Nuo ūkio iki mokyklos“, ūkininkų įtraukimas, ūkininkų ir švietimo įstaigų bendradarbiavimas.An analysis of the experience of foreign countries implementing ‘From Farm to School’ and similar programmes suggests that a distinctive feature of these programmes is their multi-component nature. The programmes involve schools and farms, and many other social actors, such as nutrition services, hygiene services, public health centres, and food manufacturers. These social actors traditionally have different goals and objectives, not necessarily focusing on school meals. Therefore, the need to participate together in creating new school food markets poses certain challenges to local producers. Countries seeking to initiate similar programmes should start with the development of a theoretical model. The theoretical model is an effective tool that allows you to quickly formulate the overall vision of a programme, aligning it with the goals and objectives of the social stakeholders. The theoretical model helps to combine and explain complex, fundamentally different programme components and results, which in turn can increase the effectiveness of the participation of relevant social actors in the development and integration of programme components, and increase the likelihood of achieving the desired results. Within the framework of the project ‘BSR Food Coalition’ (No #S002, 2021– 2024) financed by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme, it has been specifically sought to create conditions for the ‘From Farm to School’ model to appear in the Baltic countries, including Lithuania. The aim of this project is to find out the existing cooperation between farmers, educational institutions and municipalities, identifying challenges and problem areas, and discussing possible options for solving them. The initial research included farmers, municipalities and schools in the Klaipėda region. The article discusses the prospects for small and mediumsize farms relating to the development of the ‘From Farm to School’ model in the Klaipėda region. In recent years, the possibility of improving school meals by including locally grown products has been increasingly emphasised, thus contributing to the development of local economic systems. This model has acquired the name ‘From Farm to School’ in the practice of some countries. The ‘From Farm to School’ model would enrich the relations of educational institutions with local small farms, which are the main producers of organic and local food in the Klaipėda region. The model emphasises the public procurement of locally grown food as a key market opportunity for farmers. In addition, small and medium-size farms play an important role in providing food to local communities, and their owners contribute significantly to the vitality of the community by developing ecosystem services, economic health, and social well-being. The research methodology of farmer participation in the ‘From Farm to School’ model is based on the idea of ‘engagement’, which is defined as the creation of social connections, reciprocity, and a sense of trust. The most important goal of schools’ cooperation with local agriculture is to facilitate a paradigm shift, the transition from the school food supply culture, otherwise known as ‘value for money’, to a culture based on the concept of ‘society and nature’. The research aimed to reveal the possibilities for involving farmers in the Klaipėda region in cooperation with educational institutions by providing them with farm products/services. A focus group discussion was held in order to find out the current concept of cooperation between farmers, educational institutions and municipalities, to identify existing challenges and problem areas, and to discuss possible options for their solution. The focus group discussion was attended by both representatives of arable farms (grain, horticulture) and pastoral farms (poultry, cattle). Almost half the participating farmers represented organic farms. Some farmers who took part in the discussion represented biodynamic farms. The focus group discussion was also attended by representatives of the agricultural departments of the Klaipėda and Skuodas district administrations, as well as representatives of the Education and Sports Department of Klaipėda district. The participation of these representatives was crucial in order to define procedures regulated by legislation, etc. Representatives of educational institutions in the Skuodas district also participated in the discussion, and presented the good experience of cooperation with local farms. This composition of focus group participants was considered suitable for discussing the problem. In analysing the transcribed statements of the focus group participants, the following main themes emerged: the quality of products/services provided by farms, cooperation with educational institutions (the current situation, expectations and challenges), issues of public procurement organisation and execution, the education provided by farms, the role of the local authority, and good examples of cooperation between farmers and educational institutions. The overall results showed that the needs and expectations for cooperation between Klaipėda region farmers, local authority employees and educational institutions as buyers of services basically coincide. The participants in the research agreed that the food from local growers is good, and they would like children to be fed quality food from local farms in schools. [...] Keywords: ‘From Farm to School’, involvement of farmers, cooperation between farmers and educational institutions

Preconditions for the "farm-to-school" model from stakeholders' perspective: the case of Klaipeda region

Farm-to-school programs represent a global movement aimed at bolstering childhood nutrition, enhancing the quality of school meals, and empowering of local markets. However, these initiatives exhibit significant diversity in their implementation strategies across different countries and remain variably defined in both research and program evaluation literature. In the context of the Klaipeda region project, Farm-to-school programs could be conceptualized as initiatives centred around local or regional food procurement, alongside agriculture and nutrition-based educational endeavours. These activities would encompass the provision of locally sourced foods in schools, the facilitation of educational sessions, and the establishment of school gardens, all aimed at bridging the gap between educational institutions, local farmers, food producers, and distributors. The overarching goal is to integrate fresh, locally sourced food into both school cafeterias and curricula. The research findings, based on interviews conducted in the Klaipeda region with municipality specialists, shed light on the specific nuances of possible Farm-to-school program implementation in this region. Key takeaways from the responses include the commitment to regulatory compliance with Green Public Procurement rules, with a strong emphasis on sourcing food produced within Lithuania. Despite their dedication to supporting local agriculture and providing fresh, locally sourced food, these programmes grapple with challenges related to quantity, cost, administrative hurdles, and procurement policies. Decision-making processes are influenced by a diverse array of stakeholders, including municipal bodies and the broader community. Keywords: Farm-to-school programme, stakeholder involvement, Klaipeda region