On September 1–7, 2025, senior researcher of the Institute of Economics and Rural Development at LCSS, Dr. Rita Lankauskienė, visited Portugal to carry out an internship at the University of Beira Interior (UBI), Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, and to participate in the 23rd International SRRNet Conference “Reimagining Corporate Social Responsibility: Organizational Purpose and Human-AI Synergy”.
During the internship, Dr. Lankauskienė became acquainted with the faculty’s staff, research directions, and international cooperation networks. She presented the ongoing research topics of LSMC’s Institute of Economics and Rural Development, discussed opportunities for joint project activities, and explored new possibilities for international collaboration.
As part of the fieldwork, she visited the rural surroundings of Covilhã, where an empirical study was conducted at the “Portugal It Is” off-grid farm, established by members of the Lithuanian diaspora. The study will contribute to the preparation of a joint scientific article. In addition, she visited the creative laboratory “New Hand Lab”, where the LSMC Living Laboratory “LIRA lab” was introduced and methodological insights into living labs were shared.
The conference, which brought together more than 60 researchers from across the globe, featured Dr. Lankauskienė’s presentation “From AI Capabilities to Human Oversight: Designing Socially Responsible Innovation in Living Labs”. She also took part in plenary discussions, panel session „Meet the Editor“ and moderated one of the sessions. New professional connections were established with scholars from South Africa, Australia, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Romania, paving the way for future joint research and publications.
This mission not only strengthened the international visibility of the Institute but also opened up new opportunities for scientific cooperation and knowledge exchange.
For more information: Dr. Rita Lankauskienė, e-mail: rita.lankauskiene@ekvi.lt