Nowadays the importance of involvement of citizens in decision-making processes is underlined in most recent research on effectiveness of public administration. Taking into consideration that development of science and research is fundamental for economic growth as well as sustainable development, the process of policy making in science should involve relevant stakeholders building effective relationships with key stakeholders. In case of EU, Ministries responsible for science have developed Smart Specialization Strategies for transformation of economies towards higher added value. For successful implementation of the strategies, Ministries have identified different initiatives towards involvement of key stakeholders in science policy making. In circumstances of low public and private funding to research and development in EU-13, the communication with science community has been challenging. Taking into account all mentioned before, the purpose of the study is to analyse the approaches on involvement of stakeholders in science policy making, especially in EU countries with relatively low budget for research and development. In order to achieve the purpose, the tasks are formulated as follows: 1) to review the theoretical background for involvement of stakeholders in science policy making in EU; 2) to analyse the best practice in ensuring the participation of key stakeholders in science policy making in EU, special focusing on case of Latvia; 3) to provide the recommendations for the ministries in EU responsible for science in ensuring the participation of key stakeholders in policy making. Research methods used: scientific literature studies, statistical data analysis, expert survey. The research showed that effective involvement of key stakeholders in science policy making process is topical challenge for policy makers in EU, especially in countries with low share of budget for research and development. Successful strategy of involvement of key stakeholders in science policy includes effective communication at different levels, development of high-quality services as well as development of participatory administrative culture for civil servants.

In case of Latvia, formal requirements of involvement of citizens in decision-making processes at national, regional and local are defined in different legal acts. In preparation of planning documents some municipalities and public institutions are developing individual approaches to insure effective dialogue with stakeholders. Taking into account ongoing administrative territorial reform in Latvia, there is a need for more inclusive models of citizens’ participation in decision-making process in regional level. Taking into account before mentioned, the aim of the paper is to analyse the approaches of involvement of stakeholders in decision-making processes in context of regional development. In order to achieve the aim, following research methods have been used: scientific literature studies, statistical data analysis, expert survey. Main results and conclusions of the paper: the research showed that policy makers in EU using diverse approaches in more effective involvement of citizens and key stakeholders in decision-making – some of them are rather creative and could be called as good practice examples. In case of Latvia, existing approaches could be defined rather as formal engagement activities towards fulfilment of requirements of legal acts. However, in some cases public administrators showed innovative approach towards development of effective dialogue with citizens.

-The aim of the paper is to present the methodology and results of some empirical research of the assessment of wellbeing at local level in context of regional development. To achieve the aim, such qualitative and quantitative methods of research as comparing, grouping, graphical analysis and focus group methods were be used. The main result and finding of the paper is the conclusion that in order to promote the regional development of the territory, the assessment of well-being at the level of administrative territory is needed. Based on this assessment, the policy can be developed in order to promote the regional development and social cohesion of the territory, as well as to have better communication between municipality and inhabitants.

The aim of the paper is to present a possible citizen- oriented governance model and discuss the outcomes of empirical research, which are targeted to municipalities and are based on the approbation of a subjective well-being methodology. The main findings of the study show that citizen participation in decision-making processes is crucial in order to improve the well-being in the municipality. The empirical research of the Salaspils municipality and comparisons with several other municipalities in Latvia and other countries demonstrated that the citizen-oriented local governance model provides wide opportunities for improved dialogue between the municipality and society, which in turn promotes the development of a co-responsibility approach in resolving different issues within the municipality.

This research examines the consequences of COVID-19 on the adult education sector in Latvia in the context of regional restructuring. A survey of adult education institutions of Latvia (N = 60) was used as the main research method. Main findings of the research: in the pandemic context, the main challenges in the adult sector are related to the lack of digital skills, technological issues, and transformation of the content of the subject to distance learning.