VMU Agriculture Academy lecturers visited the University of Palermo

On October 3–6 Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (VMU AA) professor of Faculty of Forest Sciences and Ecology dr. Laima Česonienė and associate professor of Faculty of Engineering dr. Midona Dapkienė visited the University of Palermo (UNIPA) under ERASMUS+ teaching mobility program.

The University of Palermo is a consolidated cultural, scientific and teaching presence in central-western Sicily. Its 16 departments cover the most important domains of contemporary scientific and technological knowledge. About 122 courses (first and second cycle) are offered as well as 44 master and specialization and 23 PhD courses, targeted to the training of specific professional figures, often in cooperation with external institutions and companies.

Prof. dr. L. Česonienė and assoc. prof. dr. M. Dapkienė presented the VMU Agriculture Academy, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Ecology, Faculty of Engineering, introduced the study programs and research carried out in them. VMU AA scientists gave the lectures for bachelor, master and PhD students in the field of evaluation of surface water quality, water management and wastewater treatment. During the seminars prof. dr. L. Česonienė provided the assessment of the influence of climate change on the surface water status and agricultural activity impact on water quality. Assoc. prof. dr. M. Dapkienė shared experiences on wastewater reuse for soil irrigation: necessities, challenges, methods and technologies.

VMU Agriculture Academy scientists had an opportunity to familiarize with the study process and research at Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences of University of Palermo, discussed ERASMUS+ mobility perspectives. The gained experience will be useful in adopting the best practices of the studies and research at VMU Agriculture Academy.

ERASMUS+ teaching visit to University of Rijeka in Croatia

On October 3-7 Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (VMU AA), Faculty of Bioeconomy Development assoc. prof. dr. Erika Besusparienė visited the University of Rijeka in Croatia under the ERASMUS+ training program.

At the university of Rijeka scientist gave lectures on the subject of environmental taxes to undergraduate students, discussed the differences between these taxes in Lithuania and Croatia and also lectured the importance of environmental costs and their accounting, international sustainability standards and non-financial reports for companies for the disclosure of social accountability, regulation in the European Union (EU). The VMU Agricultural Academy and the Faculty of Bioeconomy Development were presented to students and researchers of the University of Rijeka, and the meaning and importance of bioeconomy was discussed.

Although the existing study programmes at the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management at University of Rijekafocus on the tourism sector, specialists, who study economics, accounting, taxes, environmental protection, are trained with broad knowledge. During the visit, the experience of how to ensure the transfer of this knowledge to students, the peculiarities of organizing lectures for full-time and part-time students, and the experience of organizing hybrid lectures was also acquired.

In Croatia contacts have also been established with researchers from the Department of Finance, Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, University of Rijeka, who conduct research in the field of public finance. Together with the researchers, the exhibition of scientific journals was visited in the library of the University of Rijeka, and the possibilities of publishing articles were discussed. The possibilities of public finance research, Croatia’s ongoing integration into the EU, the introduction of the euro, and joining the OECD organization were discussed.

Distinguished Speakers in 13th international scientific conference “Accounting and Finance for Business 2022: Towards Sustainability”

The 13^th international scientific conference “Accounting and Finance for Business 2022: Towards Sustainability” will be held on 10-11^th of November, 2022 at the Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (Kaunas, Lithuania), Faculty of Bioeconomy Development. This year, the Conference will be held online. Conference languages – English and Lithuanian.

The conference is intended to bring together accounting and finance researchers to share experience and business-relevant research results. The main aim of the conference is to present and discuss innovative and sustainability-oriented trends in accounting and finance science, to share new approaches that are important for increasing business competitiveness and efficiency and promoting partnerships between small and medium-sized businesses and the public sector.

November 10^th 9 a.m. speakers with extensive experience in scientific and practical activities will give presentations in the plenary session (English language) of the conference:

Prof. Kaja Tampere – BIOTeacher and scientist in the communication field: organisational communication and public relations, health communication and bullying, organisational culture and corporate social responsibility, sustainability and legitimacy. Kaja works as a professor in Jyväskylä (Finland) and in Tallinn University and Tartu University (Estonia). Author of many scientific articles. Presentation topic: Corporate social responsibility developments in post-communist countries: towards organizations social legitimacy.

Prof. Catalin N. Albu – professor of Accounting with the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania, where conducts research and teaches in several areas of accounting, with a focus on the application of western models in emerging economies. Catalin’s research has been published in Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Accounting Forum, Accounting and Business Research, Australian Accounting Review, and Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, among others. Professor serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation and as member of the editorial board of Accounting Forum. Catalin is the Chair of the External Relations Committee of the European Accounting Association and acts as Vice-President Conferences for the International Association for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER). Presentation topic: A new role for accountants: the case of NFR reporting in former communist countries.

Dr. Juliette E. Torabian – the author of “Wealth, values, culture & education: reviving the essentials for equality and sustainability” published by Springer. A specialist in comparative higher education, the deputy team leader in H2020 PIONEERED and a Postdoctoral researcher in sociology of education at University of Luxembourg, Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences. Juliette is also a senior expert in international development and education with 25 years of experience in strategic planning, policy making and analysis, and capacity building. Juliette is on the editorial board of the Journal of International and Comparative Higher Education and the journal of Sustainability and Climate change. She has an interdisciplinary academic background and 15 years of lecturing experience in pedagogy, gender and human rights, environment, sustainable development, and ethics in business in universities in France, Switzerland and Luxembourg. Presentation topic: Ethics and sustainability in business: the role of higher education.

Rolandas Kubilius – the senior project manager of consulting and auditing company PwC. Rolandas has 14 years of experience in consulting business organizations – he advises company managers, shareholders and investors in making business-relevant decisions. Ronaldas is currently leading PwC Lietuva’s ESG services team and helps businesses solve challenges related to this area. Ronaldas also regularly speaks at events and writes articles and insights for the media on ESG. Presentation topic: Sustainability reports and standards: changes in legal regulation.

November 11^th 9 a.m. conference participants are invited to the discussion (Lithuanian language) “What are the risks for a business importing or exporting goods if financial and accounting specialists do not have the necessary customs knowledge?”. During the discussion, Enrika Naujokė (Customs Practitioners Association), Ingrida Kemežienė (Law firm “Ellex Valiūnas ir partneriai”), Monika Bielskienė (UAB “PricewaterhouseCoopers”) will share their insights.

November 11^th 9 a.m. a special session (English language) “A Digital Learning Platform for Generation Z: Passport to IFRS©” will be organized, which will be moderated by prof. dr. Aylin Poroy Arsoy (Bursa Uludag University).

We invite you to register and participate in the conference.

Registration of speakers and submission of abstracts until October 3^rd 2022!!!

Details can be found on the conference website: https://afk.vdu.lt/en

4th International Scientific Conference AgroEco2022

We kindly invite You to participate in the 4^th International Scientific Conference AgroEco2022: Agroecosystem Sustainability: Links between Carbon Sequestration in Soils, Food Security and Climate Change which will be held at Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (VMU AA), Lithuania, on October 26–27^th, 2022.

Main scientific topics of the Conference:

Soil health and carbon sequestration for sustainability
Soil and crop management towards a chemical pesticide-free agriculture
Biodiversity, crop and production diversification
Precision farming and digital technologies
Food quality and safety
Climate change mitigation

Programme and abstracts

More information about the Conference

Research poster template

Template for abstract

Early REGISTRATION extended until 15^thOctober. Late registration until 20^thOctober.

Abstract submission is extended until 15^th October.

E-mail for inquiries: agroeco@vdu.lt

We are looking forward to seeing you at the conference!

Organisers of AGROECO2022

Call to find Communication Expert for the RURAL PACT tender!

ELARD is looking for an experienced communication expert for full-time position whose main tasks are:website content management and social media, preparing and publishing publications, collecting best practices, also supporting Rural Pact team with organisation of events, especially virtual events.The communication expert shall have relevant higher degree and at least 3 years of professional experience in the field, or at least 5 years of professional experience in the field, and an excellent command of English (level C1). In the case of successful application, the Communication Expert is expected to join Brussels team and please note that frequent travelling to Brussels might be required or even part time living in Brussels if the work requires. ELARD is looking forward to receive the CVs of strong candidates with experience in the above tasks by 1st of September! Together with your CV please send the description of your previous works related to web management and social media (track record). Please send your CV and track record by 1st of September to ELARD e-mail elard@elard.eu For any questions please contact ELARD Administrative Coordinator Beata Styczeń +48 606 85 88 01, elard@elard.eu More information about the Rural Pact tender is available here https://etendering.ted.europa.eu/cft/cft-display.html?cftId=11117

The kick-off meeting of the Erasmus+ MARIPET project

The kick-off meeting of the Erasmus+ project “Innovative Curriculum To Evaluate Marine Fishery Discards As Raw Pet Food For Sustainable Europe” [MARIPET] was held at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim On August 10 and 11. Prof. dr. Artūras Stimbirys and assoc. prof. dr. Anželika Dautartė of the Department of Environment and Ecology took part in the meeting to discuss the goals and objectives of the project and further activities. Meeting participants got the opportunity to visit a salmon slaughterhouse and a salmon production site.

During the MARIPET project, an innovative 5-module training programme, a virtual dedicated environment with an online education kit, platforms for discard fisheries and pet food trainers/experts and pet food manufacturers/experts, and an e-book/guidebook on European Discard Fisheries and Pet Food Production will be developed. The Training workshops and Multiplier events in five countries will finalise the project activities.

The project is coordinated by Ege University (Turkey), project partners: University of Balikesir (Turkey), University of Dubrovnik (Croatia), Agricultural University of Iceland, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality (Turkey), Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and Vytautas Magnus University.

The project’s next meeting will be held at our institution in January 2023.The project will last until February 28, 2024.

During the summer school course “My First Start-up 2022” students created business plans

At the end of June and beginning of July Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (VDU AA) prof. dr. Jan Žukovskis from the Department of Business and Rural Development Management of the Faculty of Bioeconomy Development organized the summer school course “My First Start-Up” for the second consecutive year.

This course was one of the initiatives of the lecturers of the Faculty of Bioeconomy Development, aiming to attract foreign partners to cooperate and share the experience of organizing studies in the field of business development. The aim of the course was to familiarize students with the methodology of business plan and budget preparation and to help them prepare their own plan according to their formulated business idea.

This year the course was conducted remotely. It was attended by 16 students from various foreign universities: seven students from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW, Poland), four students from the Polissia National University (Ukraine), two students from the University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland), one each from the Czestochowa University of Technology and WSB University from Poland. Also, this year lithuanian Domas Grigaliūnas, who studied at Manchester University in England, joined the participants and presented a very practical and innovative “Digital supervision” business idea.

Such courses provide an excellent opportunity for participants to make useful acquaintances, share various ideas, communicate and improve their presentation skills in English. The first feedback from the students about the course was positive, and their projects was very practical and likely to have continuity when organizing a “real” business in the future. The most interesting and advanced projects should be noted: “Trade in organic agricultural products” (by Marta Zielińska), “Production and trade of frozen products” (by Jakub Jurczak, Maciej Sobota), “Production of candles from soy” (by Anita Bazyluk, Diana Dąbek). One among the best project in terms of design was the project “Vegetarian and vegan restaurant” (by Angelika Buchta, Jakub Czyżewski). Two projects were related to psychological counseling (Natalia Radomska, Michał Celmer), including those who suffered from the war in Ukraine (Olha Zaharchuk, Yaroslava Fischuk). Ukrainian students Oleksandr Zarichnyi and Vladyslav Khrapko prepared a paper on Trade of watches, and Oliwia Ślusarczyk and Anna Strzelczyk presented a project on the Ecological information collection and search system “Green coach”.

The organizers of the courses are grateful to the representatives of foreign university partners for their help in attracting students and participating in the final presentation of the project. Special thanks go to the professors of Warsaw University of Life Sciences – prof. Iwona Pomianek, prof. Joanna Rakowska and prof. Dariusz Gozdowski – who sent the largest group of course listeners. The organizers are very grateful for the Polissia National University, lecturer assoc. dr. Mariia Plotnikova and the Rector of the university prof. Oleg Skydan, who invited students to participate in these international summer school courses. Many thanks to the professor of Częstochowa University of Technology and WSB University dr. Paula Pyplacz and to the Head of Human Resource Management study programs from the University of Silesia in Katowice prof. Dorota Chudy-Hyski. They both are sending their best students to this course for the second year.

VMU AA prof. dr. J. Žukovskis hopes that next year the course will be able to take place not only remotely, but also directly in Lithuania.

Prof. dr. Jan Žukovskis

VMU Agriculture Academy

The first meeting of the Erasmus+ project “Medical beekeeping for beekeepers”

The first meeting of the Erasmus+ project “Medical beekeeping for beekeepers” (MEDI-BEEB) took place on July 5-6 in Didim, Turkey. The project is coordinated by Adnan Menderes University (Turkey), project partners: Confederation of Italian Farmers of the Umbria region, Onsekiz Mart University of Cenakale, Wroclaw University of Environment and Life Sciences, Aydin Province Beekeepers’ Association and Vytautas Magnus University. The main goal of the project is to enable beekeepers, considering international standards, to produce reliable and qualitative apitherapy products: propolis, royal jelly, pollen, etc. Within the framework of the project, it is planned to prepare training materials in a virtual environment, to create a video of best practice examples, to organize meetings presenting the results of the project with the target group in each country, and other relevant activities. Prof. dr. Virginija Dulskienė and assoc. prof. dr. Anželika Dautartė from the Department of Environment and Ecology attended the meeting and gave an analysis of the survey findings of Lithuanian beekeepers as well as an assessment of the situation in the Lithuanian beekeeping sector. Perugia will host the next project meeting (Italy).

Scientists from Faculty of Bioeconomy Development visited Bialystok University of Technology

Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (VMU AA) lecturers from the Faculty of Bioeconomy Development, Business and Rural Development Management Department associate professor dr. Lina Marcinkeviciute and lecturer Jolanta Vilkeviciute visited Bialystok University of Technology (BUT) under the “Erasmus+” programme during 6-11 of June.

BUT was established in 1949 and has a long tradition of educating engineers and young scientists. Now there are studying 8500 students and working 660 teachers – experts in their fields. BUT has 7 Faculties (Departments). L. Marcinkeviciute and J. Vilkeviciute visited Department of Finance and Accounting of Faculty of Engineering Management, university library.

During the visit scientists presented VMU AA Faculty of Bioeconomy Development, the main research fields and gave lectures for bachelors in the area of Law and Management.

Lecturers had discussions with the dr. hab. Prof. Zbigniew Korzeb and hab. Dr. Zofia Kołoszko-Chomentowska about the possibilities for cooperation in projects, common scientific articles, student’s and lecturer’s exchange opportunities between institutions.

The main purpose of the visit was to collect data for research, to strengthen the cooperation within “Erasmus+” programme and to establish contacts with the staff of the host institution that can lead to joint implementation of new research projects in the future.

Project MARHERꓽ international learning week in Offida, Italy

Assoc. prof. dr. Rasa Pranskuniene and PhD student Erika Zabulioniene from Bioeconomy Development Faculty, Department of Business and Rural Development Management have participated in Erasmus+ project MARHER international learning activity, organized by I-Strategies (Offida, Italy) during the 25th – 29th of April, 2022. The MARHER Learning Activity consisted in a 5 days of in presence training to test an innovative training course on Heritage Marketing; to present, test and assess the training materials and tools developed in the context of MARHER project; to experience local Cultural Heritage sites; to exchange with professionals in the field of Corporate and non Corporate Heritage Marketing; to do networking among international partners.

MARHER. Heritage Marketing for competitiveness of Europe in the global market is a project funded by Erasmus+ Programme. MARHER’s objective is to identify key competences of a new professional, innovative and creative figure: the expert in Heritage Marketing.

The main project objectives are: a) Definition of a set of competences of the emerging new professional figure: the expert in Heritage Marketing; b) to create ant test an innovate traning course, able to support SMEs and public bodies to use cultural heritage as leverage for their marketing; c) to improve employability of low-skilled and unemployed and recently graduated in human studies who, in the periodic employment rankings, are systematically in the last positions; d) to improve the competitivness of European companies by enhancing their traditions and secular history. The project started on December 2019 and will end in June 2022. The project consortium involves five international partners: Danitacom (Denmark, Lead Partner, danitacom.org), Syddansk Universitet (Denmark, sdu.dk), Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania, vdu.lt), I-strategies (Italy, i-strategies.it), CBE (Belgium, cbe.be) and HIVE (Italy, the-hive.it).