| Abstract [eng] |
The aim of the master thesis is to analyse the situation and development tendencies of municipal international cooperation in Siauliai county municipalities. The analysis and systematization of Lithuanian and foreign authors scientific publications, research results, internet sources, legislation of the Republic of Lithuania and European Union, and the research of municipal international cooperation in Siauliai county municipalities under the expert evaluation method, allowed to reveal the peculiarities of cooperation relations establishment and development, evaluate usefulness of the activities and identify the problems. The research ascertained that the shortage of human resources, language barrier, lack of funding are the main problems that are under the influence of municipalities authority’s attitude – international cooperation is not considered to be the most prioritetical activity in the municipality. Therefore, the development tendencies of municipal international cooperation are directly dependent on the local authority and their attitude towards the need of international cooperation. Whereas, municipal international cooperation is the most recent and practically not analysed field of the research in Lithuania and little research has been done globally, the collected data of the research is important to Lithuanian municipalities, their administrations and local communities. The results and the recommendations of the master thesis definetly provide the opportunity to develop the international cooperation process in order to improve the effectiveness of this area. The research data creates the theoretical basis for the development of guidelines of effective municipal international cooperation and allows local authority to design development policies and methods for international cooperation. |
