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Questions surrounding mobility and migration are often connected to matters of language, citizenship, socio-economic status and class that are inherently unequal between developed and less-developed nation states. Scholars of geography and demographics have conceptualized both internal and external/international migration with "push" and "pull" factors as salient reasons for mobility. Traditional causes of external migration and so-called "push factors" include conflict, natural disaster, economic collapse, war, and transformations of socio-political systems as well as more promising employment options and decent incomes as contributing factors to external migration (Gonçalves & Schluter, 2020, p.3). Such "forced moves" affect largely disadvantaged populations that are at risk (i.e. asylum seekers, refugees, victims of human trafficking) (Castles, 2003). For individuals engaging in lifestyle migration and lifestyle mobilities and considered voluntary migration, their life circumstances are extremely different in that they are often equipped with "privileged preconditions" (Mancinelli, 2020, p.419) as "nomads from affluence" (Cohen, 1973) including for the most part, education, specialized skills, high standards of living and favorable visa regimes of their home countries (primarily in the West). These factors facilitate a range of choices in terms of where they travel to (i.e. place), also known as network capital, the kind of work they engage in and the rate of their mobility. Based on years of ethnographic work, in this paper, we investigate the different dimensions and discourses of lifestyle migration and lifestyle mobilities, both of which we argue presents a new trajectory and venue to explore within the field of migration linguistics (Borlongan, 2023). By focusing on two different case studies within Norway, we also draw on the notion of mediational repertoires (Lexander & Androutsopolous, 2021) as part of the communicative ecology in which jobs are found and where communication takes place among different types of migrants and their new permanent or temporary homes.

This paper focuses on the 1,224 bird remains found during the excavations of 1990–2015 in the Vilnius Lower Castle, Lithuania. The faunal material originates from a wide time span of the 13th to the 19th centuries. To explore the bird consumption in different periods of occupation of the castle and between different social strata, we analyzed the bird specimens by morphological characteristics. The study included taxonomical identification, recording the taphonomic features and pathologies, and assessing age and sex. As expected, the majority of the bones belong to the domestic chicken, but it is mostly the presence of wild taxa such as hawk, swan, and wild galliforms that demonstrates the various roles the birds played in peoples' everyday lives. Additionally, a few pathologies like avian osteopetrosis were identified that are unique to the eastern Baltic region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study investigates the relationship between internal and external factors of pro-environmental and pro-social engagement, sustainable consumption behaviour and personal characteristics such as age, gender, financial situation and level of education in the Lithuanian population. A quantitative method was used to collect data from 904 respondents in Lithuania. The study results suggest that women are more concerned about pro-environmental and pro-social issues. In addition, pro-environmental commitment, biospheric values, personal norms and perceived responsibility were important for women. Meanwhile, egoistic values, self-efficacy, social norms, biospheric values, and attachment to place were identified as more important for men. The results reveal that older age increasingly correlates with a stronger expression of place attachment, egoistic values and self-efficacy, pro-environmental and pro-social engagement, and sustainable consumption behaviour. The results of this empirical study allow for identifying the determinants that have the most significant impact on men and women or different age groups. Knowledge of factors that significantly impact pro-environmental and pro-social engagement, which promotes sustainable consumption behaviour as a mediator, can allow policymakers, community representatives or leaders to organise social campaigns and/or provide guidelines for project activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engaging active citizenry in public policy decisions using participative and collaborative processes is increasingly recognized as a critical step in implementing the open government concept. In this paper, we examine challenges and success factors as well as specific instruments and good practices in implementing participatory and collaborative governance in different governance contexts. Drawing on a comparative analysis of the approach adopted for the development and implementation of long-term strategies in Lithuania and Finland, we specifically focus on institutionalization of participative and collaborative processes along the policy-making cycle. The findings suggest that the most serious challenges associated with transitioning from 'old' to 'new' governance modes can be expected in countries associated with classical bureaucracy and legalistic institutional culture. In particular, such systems create internal and external pressure to focus on outputs as proof of results, which often trump efforts to enhance learning and consensus-building. Lessons learned from "Finland 2030" and "Lithuania 2030" suggest that institutionalization through leadership, clear responsibilities, a wide consensus within the society and administrations, and permanent stakeholder involvement platforms, is crucial to enable cultural change. The paper proposes a participative and collaborative governance maturity model that could be applied for benchmarking countries or policies. • The paper presents a collaborative and participative governance maturity model. • Institutionalization matters for the longevity of open governance. • Organizational culture is key to collaborative and participative governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A decade of writing on the politics of flat-rate tax adoption and diffusion across post-socialist Europe and Asia has presented these reforms as revolutionary, but at least bold. However, in what ways they might have proven so and for whom has not been investigated. Based on a micro-level study of actual personal income tax rates for the 1991–2018 period, the article engages critically with the scope of the flat tax 'revolution' in three different flat tax nations, early adopter Lithuania, later-adopter Romania and recent-adopter Hungary. The analysis shows that the introduction of flat-rate tax in no way revolutionised actual tax burdens for the majority of earners, not even for high-income earners, whose tax burdens had been declining for at least a decade before the arrival of flat tax in both Romania and Hungary. The article also reveals the crucial role played by standard tax credits in shaping tax regime progressivity not only in flat tax regimes, but also progressive ones. The article suggests that the novelty of policy ideas cannot be assumed, but needs to rest on comparisons of outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]