WEST UKRAINIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

 The Embassy of the State of Israel in Ukraine initiated a conference of Mashav alumni in Kyiv with the participation of Deputy Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Eynat Shlein and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to Ukraine Michael Brodsky.

The meeting was attended by Leonid Bytsiura, Acting Head of the Department of Ecology and Healthcare of WUNU. In his speech, he focused on the implementation of technological expertise in the field of drinking and domestic water supply, irrigation in the agricultural sector, climate adaptation of the national economy, modernisation of environmental monitoring, development of university science, and cooperation with relevant institutions and organisations in Ukraine and Israel.

‘Our university is implementing its own development strategy, which includes, among other things, the application of successful international practices. For me, as a teacher and researcher, the example of Israeli solutions in the field of agricultural technology and ecology is a key element of my work in the water sector, along with the experience of the USA, Finland and South Korea. Based on the experience gained, the staff of our department has modernised the courses Environmental Innovations, Environmental Management, Fundamentals of Military Ecology, Design of Environmental Protection Facilities and Measures, Technoecology and Industrial Ecology, and others.'

'A new master's degree programme was introduced. The laboratory of chemical analysis and environmental research has been modernised, a system of local environmental monitoring of WUNU campus has been created, project work is underway in the areas of bioenergy, implementation of soil remediation technologies, post-war environmental restoration, research on the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence tools for water efficiency, experimental activities on the use of environmental technologies in agriculture and production,’ said Leonid Bytsiura.

Of particular note is the cooperation between WUNU and the Ukrainian Water Association, whose activities are focused on establishing interaction between all stakeholders of water policy: government officials, members of parliament, heads of relevant institutions, experts and scientists. In various forms (seminars, roundtables, conferences of various levels), WUNU scientists took part in 40 environmental events over the past three years, including 12 with the participation of Israeli colleagues and alumni of MASHAV projects.

Cooperation with Israeli colleagues is ongoing. In addition, WUNU has been successfully implementing psychological projects with the Israel Trauma Association, which has helped to establish the Education and Research Centre for Social and Psychological Support and Resilience at the university.