Agita Līviņa is a professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Applied Sciences (VUAS), and lead researcher, director of the Institute of Social, Economic and Humanities Research of VUAS, Latvia. She is a chairperson of UNESCO chair on Biosphere&Man in the university as well as chair of the University Eco Council. She is an expert of Latvian Council of Science in field of economics and management. Her research interests are tourism planning, including heritage and protected areas, and talent attraction for small and medium urban areas. She was a Fulbright scholar on research in 2012 at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York. She received the Fellowship of the Government of India for the International training course in 2014 at the English and Foreign Language University in Hyderabad, India. She has held a PhD in regional economics since 2005 and master degree in Geography (regional development), bachelor degree in environmental sciences. She likes trekking, hiking, biking, boating, skiing and to discover new places.