Rivne, 23 February: In line with the Partnership Agreement signed between the Rivne National University of Water Economy and Nature Management and UNDP a specialised course on Sustainable Development has been officially added to the University's curriculum with the help from a UNDP-led Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development Programme. Over 180 syudents attended a launching lecture on "Community-Based Sustainable Development", which was delivered by leading experts and practitioners.
The scope of partnership with the National University of Water Economy and Nature Management according with the terms of partnership envisages incorporation of the community-based development approach in the academic curriculum to enable preparation of future generation in Ukraine on the subject.
In addition, the University will enhance capacity of the students, representatives of the bodies of local self-government and local communities to undertake bottom up participatory planning and participate in the local level sustainable development activities under the framework of public-private partnership and would promote the concept and experiences of community participation in local sustainable development through various scientific activities and awareness campaigns.
As part of capacity development activities, UNDP/MGSDP supports the University by providing manuals on sustainable development for the students and methodic materials for teaching the course. Vocational training on the topic will be also organized for the teachers and professors of the University later this year.
UNDP applies community-based approach to local development since 1992 through its local development Programmes, including the Crimea Integration and Development Programme, Chornobyl Recovery and Development Programme, Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development Programme and Community Based Approach to Local Development. The students of Management Department of the University learned about practical experience of applying social mobilisation for local sustainable development worldwide and in Ukraine presented by Jaysingh Sah, CBA International Project Manager. “UNDP generated experience in application of social mobilization approach for local sustainable development in various countries and in Ukraine. The introductory lectures aim to show the importance and peculiarity of community-based approach. The students and the lecturers will be interested in introducing this course into curricular after getting acquainted with it”, he said.
The experience of the municipalities shows that there is a need for local scientists and practitioners educated on principles of sustainable development, social mobilisation and community-based approach. The topic of sustainable development is poorly represented in academic discourse in Ukraine; therefore, UNDP/MGSDP supported elaboration of curricular of the course on Sustainable Development and publishing of manual for this course. For the first time in Ukraine, teaching of this course was introduced at the Academy of Municipal Management (Kyiv) in 2007/2008, and now the Faculty of Management of the National University of Water Economy and Nature Management in Rivne is following their example. This process is at preparatory stage also at the Institute of Chemical Technologies of the Eastern-Ukrainian National University Named after Volodymyr Dal` (Rubizhne, Luhansk region).
This course is the only course in academic curriculum introducing the sustainable development principles, community-based approach and social mobilisation to future generation of Ukraine. The course is continuously gaining popularity among students in Academy of Municipal Management, where it is being taught for two years. Anatoly Sadovenko, Academic Secretary of the Academy, who has taught the course to more then 170 students said: “The course is a novel for Ukrainian educational system, it discloses /opens eyes of the students to problems of global development. New generation is responsible for transfer to sustainable development; therefore the course should be introduced as a mandatory course to all universities in Ukraine. The universities should initiate introduction of the course by the Ministry of Education in mandatory curricular”.
UNDP/MGSDP was initiated in 2004 for promoting democratic governance so as to improve living quality of people in urban areas of Ukraine under the framework of public private partnership. The Programme cooperates with local communities of citizens, academia, small businesses and civil society organizations of 22 municipalities in Ukraine and other partners in private and public sectors at the local level on implementation of mechanisms for sustainable development. In 2008, UNDP/MGSDP supported 28 local community projects with total cost of UAH 3,092 mn.
For more details, please, contact Galyna Gulenko, Monitoring and Communications Officer of UNDP/MGSDP, by tel. +38 (044) 501 4203 or via e-mail: galyna.gulenko@undp.org.ua.
