Discussion of the first joint results of the international project ERASMUS+ “From theoretical-oriented to practical education in agrarian studies” (TOPAS)

    On March 25-26, 2021 an international online conference devoted to the results of ERASMUS+ “From theoretical-oriented to practical education in agrarian studies” (TOPAS) was held at the Samarkand Institute of Veterinary Medicine with the support of Andijan Institute of Agriculture and Agricultural Technologies (Uzbekistan).

    TOPAS is a European project co-funded by the EU program “Erasmus +” that involves ten partners in six European countries: Germany, Great Britain, Romania, Poland, Armenia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

     The main goal of the project is to facilitate the transition from teacher centered knowledge-based form of education to student-centered practice based education in Agriculture studies - and hence employability - in Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Armenia by enhancing the cooperation university-agrarian enterprises through adequate internship schemes. Project duration is 2017-2021. The coordinator of the project is Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences (Germany) (project manager - Prof. Dr. Dr.h.c.mult. SNAU, ANAU Ralf Schlauderer). Partner universities include National University of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sumy National Agrarian University (Ukraine), Writtle University College (United Kingdom), Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences (Poland), University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Iasi (Romania), Yerevan State University (Armenia), Samarkand Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Andijan Institute of Agriculture and Agricultural Technologies (Uzbekistan).

    NUBiP of Ukraine was represented by the Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Anatoliy Dibrova, the Head of the ERC for International Activity, Oleksandr Labenko, Associate Professor Tetyana Kuts (Faculty of Economics) and Associate Professor Natalia Kovalenko (Faculty of Agricultural Management).

    The conference was opened by the project manager, Professor Ralph Schlauderer (Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences (Germany)) and the host of the conference Rector Khudainazar Yunusov (Samarkand Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Uzbekistan). In their welcoming speeches, the speakers noted the importance of the agricultural sector for economic development, stressed the need for practical training of students and presented options for improving the conditions of internships at universities.

   Professor Stanislaw Minta (Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences (Poland)) made a report on the topic: “Main problems in selecting internship opportunities for students and options for their solution”. It was noted that, regardless of the country, all universities face almost the same problems when selecting quality internship opportunities.

   The report by Professor Henry Matthews was devoted to the approaches to learning and the development of the agricultural sector during COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that the beginning of the decade was marked by the forced transition to online learning and this will have an impact on the educational process for the next decade, but at the same time, it will provide an opportunity for the innovative development of all European universities.

   Topics under consideration included the transition from frontal education, based on the acquired knowledge, to non-frontal, focused on students and providing more practical skills. This field was covered by Professort Nikki van Weggel (Writtle University College (United Kingdom)).

    Professor Peter Wolf (Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences (Germany)) and Professor Aram Arakelyan (Yerevan State University (Armenia)) presented materials on the collection and use of special databases, which can be useful both for the educational and research process.

    NUBiP of Ukraine was represented by Dr. Kateryna Tuzhyk, who delivered a report on the implementation of the UFMD subproject “Ukrainian Farm Data Management”. It was noted that the purpose of the subproject was to institutionalize the ongoing collection of data of agricultural enterprises. The main advantage was the long-term cooperation between the participating universities on data collection and exchange.

   The concluding reports by Professor Farkhod Abrorov and Professor Bakhodirjon Nosirov were devoted to the achievements in the implementation of the TOPAS project.

   The final reporting meeting will take place at Sumy National Agrarian University (Ukraine).

Oleksandr Labenko