Social Investment and Territorial Inequalities: Mapping Policies and Services in the Baltic States

The book addresses the question of whether social investment policies could be tailored differently to address territorial inequalities and territorial needs. The active labour market, vocational education and early childcare policies are analyzed as social investment cases to reveal territorially sensitive public intervention tools in Lithuania.

Drawing on recent research perspectives, the book discusses how social investment policies could be responsive to territorial inequalities in terms of better policy coordination, capacities, and institutional infrastructures' adaptability to territorial needs. By combining theoretical notions about territorial cohesion, territorial development, and social investment, the book provides an argument for the territorialization of social investment policy in the case of Lithuania. The contributions of various authors encourage a different way of looking at the territorial sensitivity of welfare policy strategies implemented in advantaged developing areas and those which are disadvantaged peripheral territories.

Autorentext

Jurga Buc aite -Vilke is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology, at Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. Her long-running research interests include local governance, participatory and representative democracy, community development and social policy areas. She has published several articles and chapters on local democracy, municipal governance and public services.

Inhalt

Jurga Buait-Vilk : Introduction. Challenging territorial inequalities and social investment policies. Book scope and content. George Mavrommatis, Panagiotis Artelaris : Territorial cohesion, spatial justice, and the social investment approach Ruggero Cefalo, Marta Cordini, Tatjana Boczy : A Social Investment approach for place-sensitive services: what is the potential impact on territorial inequalities? Jurga Buait-Vilk, Viktorija Baranauskien, Artras Terekinas. : Territorial profiles: spatial inequalities and the importance of socio-economic differences Aura Maslauskait. : Promoting social investment policy through the development of early childhood education and care policy: The Lithuanian case ** Artras Terekinas. : Active Labour Market Policies as a Part of Social Investment Approach Jurga Buait-Vilk. : Social investment and vocational education and training policy: The architecture of combining national standardization and territorial needs Jurga Buait-Vilk. :** In summary: Is a social investment approach compatible with territories? Lessons to be learned.