On February 6, 2024, the exhibition “ETH with Ukraine-Exchanging Knowledge for a Sustainable and Resilient Future”, organized and conducted by the staff of Sumy National Agrarian University, ended in the Swiss city of Zürich.
About the war in Ukraine in the center of Zürich
The main goal of the exhibition “ETH with Ukraine – Knowledge Sharing for a Sustainable and Resilient Future” was to demonstrate the consequences of Russia’s military actions on the territory of Ukraine. In total, there were 7 thematic clusters, including education and culture, agriculture and energy, construction, etc. Each section became a kind of repository where multimedia presentations were placed, combining text, drawings, models, videos, interactive installations, and construction components. In this way, the exhibition organizers showed the documented facts of war destruction and provided spatial information about the situation in Ukraine today. Moreover, they demonstrated scientific research and strategies that shape the idea of post-war recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine. Olena MELNYK, a researcher at Sumy National Agrarian University and a senior researcher at ETH Zürich, also presented her experience in the field of restoring soils damaged by the fighting.
The Swiss have united to help Ukraine
The exhibition was organized by the Swiss Network with Ukraine, which began operating at ETH Zürich University with the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the spring of 2022. It is a dynamic forum of individuals and organizations that connects the urgent problems of the military situation in Ukraine with the prospects for reconstruction in the spirit of solidarity, sustainability and democracy. The network integrates both short-term relief efforts and long-term development strategies at the local and global levels.
Olena MELNYK on post-war soil restoration
As mentioned above, during the exhibition, leading scientists from Switzerland and Ukraine were able to present their work on important current topics. Among them was Olena MELNIK, Head of the International Projects Sector at the SNAU, Associate Professor of Ecology and Botany, and since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Senior Research Fellow at ETH Zürich, who gave a lecture on “The Impact of the War in Ukraine on the Environment: Focus on Soil and Land Management in Ukraine.” She commented on her speech on her official Facebook page:
“We need to prioritize building capacity to map, monitor and manage environmental risks on Ukrainian farmland. This involves creating a network of science and business to use modern technologies such as geospatial data and UAV surveys, as well as soil sample analysis. Our goal is to ensure sustainable agriculture and food security. However, when developing land restoration plans, we must take a long-term perspective, taking into account the demands of the times and global challenges. We offer Ukrainian farmers an action plan or to-do list, starting with recommendations for decontamination and land remediation and moving to a sustainable agriculture strategy.”
To view Olena MELNYK’s report on post-war soil restoration and land management in Ukraine, please follow the link: https://uasaz.org/blog/lecture-environmental-impact-of-the-war-in-ukraine-a-focus-on-ukraines-soil-and-land-management
About Olena MELNYK’s path to ETH Zürich in the series of interviews “SNAU Abroad”: https://snau.edu.ua/snau-za-kordonom-olena-melnik-shvejcariya/
