NUBiP scientists participated in the 8th Annual Meeting of ConDDEFFS

    It has already become a tradition to hold annual conferences of deans and directors of European forestry faculties and schools that are devoted to common problems of training forestry specialists. The 8th Annual Meeting of Deans and Directors of European Forestry Faculties and Schools (ConDDEFFS) took place on October, 25-27, 2018 at Transilvania University of Brasov (Romania). During the conference the host university also celebrated its 70th foundation anniversary.

     The conference was attended by deans and directors of forestry universities from more than 15 European countries - from Moldova to Spain. Ukraine wes represented by Rector of the Ukrainian National Forestry University (Lviv), Academician, Yuriy Tunytsya, and Head of the Education and Research Institute of Forestry and Park Gardening of NUBiP of Ukraine, Professor Petro Lakyda. 

    Scientific conference was devoted to the problems of nature-friendly forestry and the response of foresters to the challenges created by nature and society, such as global climate change and its impact on forests.

    Equally important were discussions between deans and directors of forestry faculties, who raised the issues of paradigm change of training forestry experts, and its increasing ecologization, even in Germany and Switzerland. All this leads to a decrease in the number of universities that train solely foresters. Unfortunately, these processes are not implemented here in Ukraine, where over the years of independence the number of universities licensed to train bachelors of forestry has increased from 2 (NUBiP and NLTU) to 27! Such uncontrollable process is not encouraged by the world community! Among other discussion topics were students and teachers mobility processes, as well as the introduction of double diploma programs.

    At the end of the conference, the hosts demonstrated fine examples of natural forestry in the beech-oak mountain forests of Romania. Petro Lakyda negotiated the possibility of signing a cooperation agreement between the rectors of Transilvania University of Brasov and NUBiP of Ukraine.

Oleksandra Leshchenko,
Head of International Programs of
the ERI of Forestry and Park Gardening of NUBiP of Ukraine