The Corporate Agriculture division dealing with the procurement and growing of potatoes for Farm Frites in all production locations worldwide is in need of a strategy to initiate sustainable development. The scope of the project is limited to the activities in Belgium, Egypt, the Netherlands and Poland. A strategy for sustainable agriculture is developed, with goals and key performance indicators, and the methodology that led to this strategy is described as well. The methodology consists of seven steps, with an initial zero-measurement step. The zero- measurements is to describe the current status of sustainable agriculture (0), then the business priorities are identified (1), followed by setting of goals and key performance indicators (2). This leads to a strategy proposal (3), the strategy is then adopted by the general management (4), and integrated in the farming business operations (5). The progress on the strategy is reported on (6), and if need be, regularly revised and updated (7). The developed strategy on sustainable agriculture consists of four main strategic goals; Health and safety of workers first; Ensuring a safe and sustainable potato product; Using of farm inputs in the most responsible way; Sharing of best sustainable farming practices. The level of sustainable agriculture in Belgium and the Netherlands is more or less the same, where progress is made, mostly following requirements from laws and regulations. There are sustainable agriculture initiatives where best practices are shared. Sustainable agriculture in Poland is most advanced in the Farm Frites organisation, where Farm Frites Poland is actively collaborating with farmers to become more sustainable. Sustainable agriculture in Egypt has still a lot to improve, where the first priorities should be to follow and implement some basic good agriculture practices. The strategy building methodology of seven steps with an initial zero-measurement has been proved effective, resulting in a description of the level of sustainable agriculture and a strategy to further increase the sustainability of agriculture in Belgium, Egypt, the Netherlands and Poland. However, only steps zero till three have been carried out, and the strategy is still to be adopted (step four).

Rammed Concrete is a material study of an old building technique called rammed concrete and its predecessor rammed earth. Rammed earth is a technique used for constructing foundations, floors, and walls with the use of natural materials. It can be found all around the world and is commonly known by its French name “Pisé” from piser which means “to stamp, pound”. In short, earth is extracted from the ground and compacted in layers inside a formwork. Rammed earth structures can be traced all the way back to ancient China, with parts of the Great Wall and Han Dynasty watchtowers utilizing this technique. An updated version of rammed earth also known as rammed concrete, was developed in 1820 by Francois Martin Lebrun. It replaces the clay as its binder with cement. Resulting in a more robust construction, making it more resistant to rain and snow. However, at the beginning of the 20th century, reinforced concrete was introduced and just like anything else deemed less superior – the technique was slowly forgotten and rarely used, at least not for another 100 years. This thesis explores the idea of whether we could build with this technique in a contemporary context.

Susidomėjimas ateities studijomis kaip moksline veikla ypač padidėjo pastaraisiais metais, tai paskatino poreikis prognozuoti galimus socialinius, ekonominius, ekologinius ar politinius pokyčius sparčiai besivystančiame pasaulyje. Socialiniuose bei politikos moksluose prognostiniai metodai ilgą laiką buvo laikomi nepatikimais, tačiau, pastaruoju metu, suvokdami prognozavimą kaip neatsiejamą strateginio planavimo dalį politinių procesų tyrėjai vis dažniau taiko scenarijų konstravimo metodą, mėgindami atrasti galimus ateities įvykių raidos variantus. Patikimas energijos išteklių tiekimas yra vienas pagrindinių valstybės saugumo garantų. Ateities energetikos sektoriaus vystymasis priklauso nuo daugelio kintamųjų, tokių kaip augantis energijos poreikis, aplinkosaugos reikalavimai, technologinis progresas, liberalizavimo procesai ir t.t., todėl norint tinkamai pasiruošti galimiems pokyčiams reikalingas nuoseklus ir racionalus politinis planavimas. Labai svarbu įvertinti būsimus iššūkius, galimybes bei tikėtinas raidos kryptis, o scenarijų kūrimas yra tinkamiausias metodinis įrankis šiems tikslams pasiekti. Pagrindinis darbo tikslas yra sukonstruoti galimus Lietuvos, Latvijos ir Lenkijos energetinio saugumo scenarijus. Norint pasiekti šį tikslą pirmiausiai reikia apsibrėžti energetinio saugumo sąvoką bei scenarijų konstravimo metodą. Svarbu apžvelgti visų trijų valstybių energetikos sektorius, jų stipriąsias ir silpnąsias puses. Kadangi Lietuva, Latvija ir Lenkija yra Europos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Over the last decade policy analysts around the world demonstrate a growing interest in future studies. It is influenced by the need to foresee economic, social or political changes in rapidly developing world. For a long time future studies in political and social sciences were considered unreliable. However, in the recent years, foresight became an important part of strategic planning, thus scenario building method is more and more often used by policy analysts. Uninterrupted and reliable energy supply is one of the main pillars of country’s national security. Future development of the energy sector depends on many variables such as the growing energy demand, the technological development, the liberalization of the energy markets etc. Therefore, if countries want to prepare properly for possible changes, consistent and rational political planning is needed. It is very important to assess the future challenges, possibilities and the most likely trends of development, whereas scenario building is the most suitable method for reaching these objectives. The main objective of this research paper is to build possible energy security scenarios for Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. First of all, to achieve this objective one needs to define energy security and scenario building method. It is also important to review the energy sector of each of the three countries, in order to find strengths, weaknesses and main threats to their security. The EU common energy policy has a direct... [to full text]