Latvian exiles, environment and circulation economy – insights into University of Latvia research ideas

The UL patron Imants Jēkabs Ronis (1927–2014), residing in Sydney, provided a three-year scholarship, which was awarded to the UL student Dž. Dimante, enabling her to write her doctoral thesis, which was completed in 2006. The patron was born in the region of Rundāle, and in the aftermath of World War II he left the homeland with his family. After arriving in Germany in 1944, I. Ronis worked as a teacher at refugee camp, and in 1950 along with his family moved on to Australia. He had acquired higher education in economy and history of economy. His profound affection to books and extensive reading inspired his work in a number of publishing houses and writings in both Australian and Latvian periodicals, remembers his daughter Andra Ronis, who, like her father, is an active member of Sydney Latvian Society. Deep interest in history and patriotic spirit prompted I. Ronis to support the UL students in implementation of a large-scale study to reflect the efforts of diaspora to support its fatherland.

(Photo: Patron Imants J. Ronis (1927-2014). Photo from personal archive)

The doctoral thesis “The Contribution of Latvian exiles to the National Economy of Latvia” contains the analysis of impact yielded by foreign investment and assistance provided during transition economy after restoration of independence, compiled and systematized data on the investments of Latvian exiles in the Latvian economy, and factors that influenced their volumes. Thesis also characterizes the nature of intellectual capital, explores its structure and indicators used for evaluation.

How did the scholarship affect you as a student, and influence your future career?

The scholarship was an incentive to choose that particular subject. I had selected a different topic, when joining doctoral studies. In fact, my studies of this topic commenced thanks to the scholarship. I think that one of the benefits brought by this scholarship was support to research of a challenging topic, it seems unlikely that in the absence of scholarship the contribution of Latvian exiles to the economy of Latvia would be undertaken in such a scale.

Looking back at the stud process, there were both the moments of elevations and despair. At times, it seemed like the work will never be completed. The scholarship was crucial to retaining a grip and not giving up. I had a very strong sense of responsibility towards Mr. Ronis. The scholarship imposes an immense responsibility towards the patron. At the time, Mr. Ronis’ health deteriorated, further driving me to do the job well to delight him. I also discovered that Mr. Ronis had graduated from Riga State Gymnasium No. 1, just like I did. Each of us studied there at different times, nevertheless, we both have studied within the walls of the same school.

The main difficulty was the fact that investments by Latvian exiles were very difficult to quantify, I had to find documented justification and evidence of the amount of investment. A simple survey or interview giving amounts and subsequent summing up of these would not suffice for me to arrive at the amounts invested. Often, I spent an entire day with one interviewee, but only few paragraphs from all the obtained material could qualify for the study. My conclusion was that the most valuable contribution of Latvian exiles were the intangibles, because local Latvians had the opportunity to acquire knowledge, experience in the functioning of the market economy and contacts with Latvian exile home countries, which often opened up opportunities for new markets.

The circumstances without the scholarship are difficult to apprehend, however, when a researcher or a student receives a scholarship, it is both an honour and an immense responsibility that encourages to work harder, to study and to arrive at the final, completed result.

What motivated you to donate to the University of Latvia, in a way, to reciprocate?

It is the sense of duty, because I have received a lot myself. I. Ronis’ scholarship was not the first I received, previously I had received a scholarship to study a year at the University of Cambridge. It was an indescribable experience, because Latvia had just regained its independence, at that time, hardly anybody was studying abroad. The awarded scholarship was a great opportunity to gain new experience, because the recent Soviet times would prevent any opportunity to study abroad, and here, suddenly, one is at the Mecca of knowledge! The subsequent award of Mr. Ronis scholarship, and later also the Fulbright scholarship have been great enablers to my personal development. The sum of all those funds is momentous, and I have responsibility and obligation to reciprocate. I hope I will be able to donate more in the future. I also donate to the University of Cambridge and various charities. Recognition that someone helped me encourages me to help others, too. Lately, the University of Cambridge has been organizing annual calls for graduates. Current students call us each year, inquire about career development and suggest that the university can be supported by donations. This usually reminds me that I need to donate to the University of Latvia, too. Consequently, I think that the UL should involve graduates more actively, reminding them to reciprocate.

How would you describe your experience and participation in international scientific conferences, experience at Hamline University as a Fulbright scholar, current developments in Latvia that influence your field of research?

To be permitted to defend the thesis, the published results must first be presented at conferences. Research is an integral part of academic work. My current research topic is environment and circular economy, but participation in conferences is independent of the topic, research must be presented and discussed in the international scientific environment.

At Hamline University, I conducted a study on the teaching of environmental economy from the perspective of sustainable development. The environmental economy as a sub-sector of economy has emerged only in the 1960s. It is dominated by the optimistic view that setting the right prices for environmental pollution and depletion of resources, as well as introducing various regulatory mechanisms can lead to more environmentally friendly management. Today, the social issues are becoming increasingly important, and we cannot achieve sustainable development only with economic instruments, change of people's behaviour and habits is also essential.

At present, the use of circular economic principles in business is topical. The circular economy means that all resources are used more economically, they remain in the life cycle as long as possible. Resource saving is already embedded in product design and in choice of business model, goods are produced to enable repairs and sustainable maintenance, even better if they are not intended solely to be used by one individual, but as a part of the sharing economy. For example, a person does not buy a product, but receives a service that the product can provide. At the end of the product’s life cycle, the service provider recovers, repairs, reuses or uses the recovered material to produce new products.

Resource saving is more environment-friendly and climate-friendly, and also helps to solve various social challenges. If we could buy the required service rather than the product, it would often also be cheaper. An example is a car: if people had an opportunity to use a shared car, temporarily renting it, to go from point A to point B, it would reduce the load of parking lots and, above all, the necessary resources for car production, because the car would be used much more intensively. A typical example in Latvia is Carguru, which offers such a service, and people can thus rent a car for a short term. If such a fairly simple and relatively inexpensive travel option discouraged people from buying their own car and the total amount of cars in the city were to shrink – the goal would be achieved. Currently, I am investigating the relation between factors that attract or, on the contrary, discourage people from joining the sharing economy.