Ihor KOVALENKO, Vice-Rector for Academic and Educational Work, was part of the educational mission of representatives of agricultural education in the Netherlands.
The beginning of October was a successful start for work and international cooperation for Sumy National Agrarian University and its staff. On October 1-6, a working visit of the educational mission of representatives of agrarian education took place in the Netherlands.
The Ukrainian delegation consisted of representatives of the country’s leading agrarian universities, including SNAU, because the topic of the working trip concerned the improvement of educational programs related to agriculture and the expansion of their further development prospects on the territory of Ukraine and the EU.
Ihor KOVALENKO, Vice-Rector for Academic and Educational Work, doctor of biological sciences, professor, was a representative from Sumy National Agrarian University.
The organizers of the educational mission were the Department of International Cooperation in the Field of Education of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Protection and Food Quality of the Netherlands and the Association “Ukrainian Club of Agrarian Business”. Assistance and financial support was provided by the department of the agricultural attaché of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ukraine.
During the working visit, Ihor KOVALENKO, as part of the Ukrainian delegation, studied the experience of Dutch universities regarding research and integration into educational programs on regenerative agriculture, as well as cooperation between universities and businesses/farmers regarding the practical study of cases of using the latest technologies.
In addition, the participants visited a number of agricultural universities and farms in the Netherlands, in order to visually observe the system of integration of education and business.
Impressions and experience were discussed at a round table at Wageningen University, where common ways were found to solve the existing challenges of implementing the Dutch education system. They also shared their own experience of combining agricultural issues within the framework of educational programs and cooperation with business.
For example, Ihor KOVALENKO emphasized the important aspects of the experience of cooperation between Sumy National Agrarian University and RAU (Great Britain) on the master’s program “Sustainable Agriculture and Food Safety”, in the framework of which our students have the opportunity not only to acquire knowledge from foreign professionals, but also to practice them on devices given directly by the partner university (read by following the links: https://snau.edu.ua/vidteper-prilad-xrf-thermo-scientific-xl2-u-laboratori%d1%97-snau/ ; https://snau.edu.ua/rau-peredav-naukovcyam-snau-vazhlivij-dlya-provedennya-doslidzhen-prilad/ ) Partnership with RAU was and remains one of the best Ukrainian cases of joint international work.
Moreover, SNAU actively cooperates with business to train young workers, based on requests from representatives of private enterprises. Based on the results of such work, we receive equipment, devices and sites for practical training.
Ihor KOVALENKO comments on his working trip on his Facebook page:
“We are working on expanding the international relations of Ukrainian agricultural universities and deepening cooperation with universities in the Netherlands.”
Read more about the news of our partners on the official website: https://www.wageningen.nl/.
