Social investment and territorial inequalities: maping policies and services in the Baltic states

ENThis book presents an insight into the discussions on how social investment policies could be responsive to territorial inequalities in terms of better policy coordination, capacities and the adaptability of institutional infrastructures to territorial needs. So far, the SI perspective has paid insufficient attention to the role played by combining different conceptions such as territorial differentiation, territorial cohesion, and local development. The principal objective underpinning the chapters is the question as to whether social investment policies could be tailored differently to address territorial capacities and territorial needs. The conceptual and empirical insights into the design of territorially sensitive social investment policy could be useful for both researchers and political practitioners. One of the key hypotheses the book tries to address is the assumption that social investment should shift to higher levels of territorialization by looking more carefully at contextual conditions and the impact of coordination among multigovernance levels (national, regional and municipal). By so doing, the book inspires us to look differently at the territorial sensitivity of such welfare policy strategies implemented in advantaged developing areas as well as those which are disadvantaged peripheral territories. In other words, the book discusses territorial differences that are critical to developing social investment strategy in urban, rural, and suburban areas. By looking at social investment policy design, we also consider the impact of other factors, such as urban infrastructure, governance design and effectiveness, and territorial capital that play a considerable role in the social and economic development of regions and municipalities. [From the Introduction]

• P. 69-116. Territorial profiles: Spatial inequalities and the importance of socioeconomic differences / Artūras Tereškinas, Viktorija Baranauskienė, Jurga Bučaitė-Vilkė
• P. 117-150. Promoting social investment policy through the development of early childhood education and care policy. The Lithuanian case / Aušra Maslauskaitė
• P. 151-188. Active labor market policies as a part of social investment approach / Artūras Tereškinas
• P. 189-227. Social investment and vocational education and training policy: the architecture of combining national standardization and territorial needs / Jurga Bučaitė-Vilkė