Challenges in developing a joint study programme: the case of the Baltic state
LTToday students expect that their university will provide them not only with valuable knowledge, skills and competencies, but will also be prestigious and practically accessible both on the daily basis, to diversify and enrich the study process experience, and during global pandemic crises, which will probably remain a serious challenge in the next decades. The topicality of this study is based on the need to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the European Union higher education system and enhance its competiveness and shift from traditional to remote study forms that could help students to overcome temporary lockdown situations caused by global pandemic crisis. The aim of the current research was to present the data obtained during the development of the joint master studies programme "Agri-food Business Management" to be implemented in the Baltic States – Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. The specific research tasks were: 1) to justify the need and topicality for creation of joint study programmes and their potential; 2) to characterize the practical implementation of the master studies programme "Agri-food Business Management" by identifying its advantages and challenges. The research employed desk study, analysis and synthesis methods, comparative analysis, logical construction and in-depth interviews with the "Agri-food Business Management" stakeholders in the Baltic States. The study reveals that participation in the joint study programme implementation significantly enhances competitiveness of the three involved universities as offers more interdisciplinary knowledge, students’ mobility during the studies and flexibility in organizing the study process as well as sharing external risks. However, the external threats associated with global pandemic crises have many uncontrollable side effects (lockdown, quarantine, specific hygiene requirements, decreasing of income etc.).
ENthat need to be addressed by the universities very seriously, thus remote studies’ environment needs to be regularly improved and tailored to the joint study programme students’ needs. Keywords: competitiveness, agri-food business, remote studies, the Baltic States. [From the publication]
