Results of the study «Necessary changes in the educational interface between the academic environment and the real sector of the economy in Ukraine»
Results of the study «Necessary changes in the educational interface between the academic environment and the real sector of the economy in Ukraine»
Over the past 3 years, the field of environmental protection, conservation and restoration, rational use of natural resources, and sustainable development has experienced and manifested all aspects of the staffing crisis, which is worsened by the war and the lack of quality interaction between science, education, and business entities.
The Professional Association of Environmentalists of the World (PAEW) invited leading businesses from various sectors, communities, and universities to work together to identify the main challenges and join forces in training green transformation and reconstruction specialists.
The spring project-research «Necessary changes in the educational interface between the academic environment and the real sector of the economy in Ukraine» was conducted:
According to the results of a nationwide study, only 5-7% of graduates of environmental specialities understand the tools of work and the implementation of theoretical knowledge gained at universities. The overwhelming majority of graduates do not know what CBAM, decarbonisation are, do not know how to work with environmental documentation, do not understand environmental protection technologies and methods of reducing environmental pressure, energy efficiency, etc.
In total, more than 500 participants took part in identifying problems and developing urgent proposals to overcome them. |
Check out how brainstorming meetings were held in Ukrainian cities:
In addition to the main issue of determining the scale of the staffing crisis, the study aimed to determine
– the need for specialists in specific areas (government, business, local government), the availability of an environmental service or a separate specialist, including the availability of vacancies
– the industries that require the most personnel and, accordingly, the orientation of educational programmes towards these industries;
– specific qualification requirements and the biggest gaps;
– demand from students and willingness of educational institutions to cooperate with potential employers.
1.According to the survey, the following business sectors require qualified specialists:
energy sector;
Accordingly, environmental education programmes should be focused on these and related fields.
For example, if we are preparing a potential specialist for the agricultural sector, the educational programme should include issues of agroecology, land management, decarbonisation, restoration of soil fertility or methods of predicting soil fertility decline that can be predicted for 5-10 years ahead, depending on the soil cultivation technology, issues of pollution, salinity, acidification of soils and methods of their restoration, which should be implemented in parallel with economic activity, the rules of CBAM for agricultural and forestry activities.
In addition, almost 30% of the surveyed enterprises either do not have an environmentalist at all or this function is performed by a part-time person, which indicates a low level of environmental management, possible non-compliance with environmental requirements, unsustainable environmental management, and lack of human resources to implement the best technologies.
At the same time, about 10% of enterprises have a vacancy for an environmentalist at the time of the survey.
Meanwhile, almost half of businesses face difficulties in filling vacancies, including inadequate qualifications or lack of candidates.
In turn, businesses are generally satisfied with the qualifications of their specialists. Only about 10% of business representatives pointed to the low level of qualifications and the need for the candidate to speak a foreign language, monitor legislative changes and implement them quickly.
In general, businesses are ready to cooperate and do collaborate with universities in various forms.
2. More than half of the representatives of public authorities have a vacancy, At the same time, in some authorities, the need for vacancies reaches up to 100 people (State Environmental Inspectorate). This situation is catastrophic, as the public authorities that implement state policy and initiate changes to it, face the greatest staffing crisis.
Also, more than half of the public authorities face difficulties, including insufficient qualifications, lack of candidates and unmotivated candidates.
As a result, state policy and the implementation of reforms in the absence of staffing, insufficient qualifications, and lack of material support are incomplete.
The study showed that the State Environmental Inspectorate has the highest qualification requirements and the widest range of qualification knowledge, skills and abilities.
At the same time, this body has the largest number of vacancies.
Accordingly, the implementation of the reform of state supervision and control without taking into account these results and reviewing the remuneration of the SEI employees is doomed from the very beginning.
Almost all public authorities cooperate with higher education institutions.
3. Almost 50% of local authorities do not have an ecologist position at all, in 7% of bodies, the job of ecologist is performed by a part-time person.
At the same time, the list of issues and obligations imposed on local authorities requires the mandatory involvement of a specialist. In the absence of a specialist and the implementation of the decentralisation reform, the preparation and implementation of community environmental programmes, public monitoring, and management of the community’s natural resources are not possible.
4. Most of the interviewed representatives of HEIs reported cooperation with business and government (although some students said that business and government representatives are not involved), no difficulties in the educational process, and the relevance of educational programmes to the qualification needs of employers.
Only about 10% reported difficulties in the educational process (distance learning, COVID, war) and inadequate educational programmes (lack of practical skills).
5. The majority of students are satisfied with the educational process, with only about 10% pointing out difficulties with distance learning, difficult adaptation, outdated curriculum, self-study of a significant part of the programme, a large number of tasks and limited time to complete them
Almost 60 percent of students said that business and government representatives are not involved in the educational process.
The majority of students want to participate in the activities of enterprises in the form of internships and plan to be employed at enterprises. A significant number of them see their future in local government, while only about 20% see themselves working for the state authorities and up to 10% in science.
The main wish of students for improving educational programmes is to have more industrial practice.
Conclusions:
1.Focusing environmental education programmes on the leading sectors of the economy, subject content of educational programmes depending on the functionality and environmental obligations of these sectors, production technologies and the necessary technologies and methods of environmental protection.
More hours for a foreign language, including its practical application (international programmes for students).
A comprehensive course in environmental law as part of the general educational programme.
Inclusion of subjects on EIA, SEA, CBAM, BAT, decarbonisation in the bachelor’s degree programme
2.State approach to the training of specialists for government bodies, with a mandatory qualification requirement of special education under codes 101 and 183 for managers and specialists of the relevant authorities. On the other hand, such an approach will guarantee further employment for students.
Resolving the issue of remuneration of key state authorities (State Environmental Inspectorate) and a special educational programme for employees of the State Environmental Inspectorate and local authorities.
3.Establishing the position of an environmentalist at the legislative level for enterprises, depending on the company’s activities and environmental impact, and in local governments, which will ensure proper management of natural resources.
4.Closer cooperation with potential employers in the educational process. Involvement of employer representatives in the educational process (50% to 50%).
5.Exclusion of distance learning (if possible), reduction of the number of hours for self-study.
6.Revise the hours of internships to increase them, eliminate the formal approach to internships, and have agreements between HEIs and representatives providing the basis for internships.
The project was implemented by the Professional Association of Environmentalists of the World (PAEW) with the support of UNDP Ukraine and financial support from the Government of Sweden
PAEW would like to express special gratitude to the teams of:
and also:
