The desire to preserve the environment brings together specialists from various fields, encouraging them to learn new things, work in teams, and jointly seek solutions to environmental problems.

In the summer of 2024, the “Adaptive Ecosystem Management” course began under the guidance of Ph.D. Yulia Nikitchenko. From July 23 to August 27, participants familiarized themselves with the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation and studied the intricacies of developing environmental projects based on this methodology.

Due to the limited number of places, unfortunately, not all interested parties were able to join the first cohort of the training. After the successful completion of the first cohort’s training, we are eager to announce great news: recruitment for the second cohort of this course will start soon. We plan to begin the training on October 22, 2024.

Registration will be announced later. Stay tuned for updates!

Main course objectives:

• Master and apply knowledge of ecosystem management within the framework of the ecosystem approach.
• Familiarize with the adaptive management method based on the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation.
• Apply the acquired knowledge in practice to develop projects in the field of nature conservation (group work).

During the lecture sessions, participants explored various aspects of conservation practice according to the Open Standards, while in practical classes, they developed environmental projects in groups under the guidance of tutors Yulia Khrutba, Roksolana Lysak, and Olga Khrutba.

The groups were formed from representatives of both academic and conservation communities, including representatives from five universities in Kyiv, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Dnipro, and Mykolaiv, as well as representatives from seven national parks and reserves from Kyiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Zakarpattia, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. This diverse interaction contributed to the effective use of participants’ knowledge and experience during group work.

Participants gained knowledge that will help them correctly identify problems of protected areas and find appropriate solutions. The combination of experience and teamwork proves that through joint efforts, original and innovative solutions can be found for any problems.