Summary: EU-Central Asia (CA) relations have developed significantly over recent years. Nowadays, both regions are gong through of a unique global hybrid crisis with major challenges for business and social environment. An international partnership under the follow up on fundamental principles and trends of a global development framework is of prime importance. The article aims to address some of the issues outlined in the Decent Work Agenda which is a core doctrine of the 2030 Agenda’s concept and that are relevant to the CA countries. At first the article looks at a brief conceptual overview of the economic transformation of CA economies and role of sustainable business environment in achieving sustainable development goals. The authors discuss the promotion of EU values in employment relations and social dialogue in CA as a precondition for productive and decent employment. Finally, the article article concludes that the theoretical approach to the EU support programmes and instruments followed by their practical implications should be multi- dimensional in nature and benefit from direct in-situ exposure. Furthermore, a comparative assessment approach by experts on benefits of the EU external programmes is badly needed for EU and CA.

Summary: The neo-authoritarian “Trump Era”-induced political problems have been aggravated further by the coronavirus that triggered an economic slowdown. The new landscape put Western capitalism, international cooperation, and European integration at risk. This contribution shows similarities and differences in policies dealt with the recessions of 2008 and 2020 on both sides of the Atlantic, with a focus on the EU and Canada. It examines the rising popularity of the welfare state concept applied both to individuals and industries particularly in the EU, for which the protection of citizens’ well-being and solidarity values are at the bloc integration’s core. Ideologically opposing solutions for those crises reflect a fundamental shift in policymaking, reinforcing state interventions policies vs neoliberal approach to the extent of intensified discussions of a universal basic income notion as a response to the inequalities. The article highlights the need for multi – and cross-disciplinary approaches, benefiting policymaking.

Background and Objectives: Health systems increasingly require workforce governance approaches that move beyond formal qualifications and make physician skills more visible for planning, education, quality management, and resource allocation. However, evidence remains limited on how physician skill information is organisationally documented and used within hospitals, particularly in small health systems. This study examined how information on physician skills is organisationally documented, interpreted, and used for workforce governance across all Latvian university hospitals, and identified organisational, cultural, and digital barriers to systematic skills monitoring. Materials and Methods: A qualitative, exploratory, multi-institutional design was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 stakeholders from human resources, education, quality, and finance across all three Latvian university hospitals. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, with reporting guided by COREQ and SRQR. Results: Eight interrelated themes were identified across three domains. Current practices were fragmented and primarily focused on formal qualifications rather than verifiable practical skills. Internally delivered education was partially documented, whereas externally acquired skills remained largely outside organisational systems. Skill gaps were usually identified reactively through incidents, complaints, or managerial observation. Training needs were determined through decentralised channels, and skill assessment depended heavily on local leadership judgement. Participants also highlighted financial blind spots, weak digital infrastructure, governance ambiguity, cultural resistance, and limited staffing capacity as barriers to implementation. At the same time, respondents consistently reported that improved skill visibility could support strategic workforce planning, targeted education, patient safety, better financial justification, and greater organisational transparency. Conclusions: Latvian university hospitals appear to recognise the organisational value of physician skill visibility but currently lack integrated systems for capturing and using such information systematically. The findings support the need for a context-sensitive, phased approach to skills-based workforce governance and inform a data-informed conceptual framework (Three-Layer Skills Governance Model) for aligning regulatory expectations, organisational processes, and individual skill records in small health systems.