According to the results of the autumn semester of the 2023/2024 academic year, 219 full-time students successfully completed three elective courses within the framework of the European Studies for Technical Specialities at Lviv Polytechnic National University project: "EU Environmental and Climate Sustainability", "EU-Ukraine: Digital Transformation", and "EU Energy and New Trends for Ukraine".
All practical classes were conducted in an interactive manner using various methods, such as simulation exercises, brainstorming, openwork, windbreakers, the microphone method, the problem circle, SCAMPER, etc.
One of the mandatory tasks of the courses was the presentation of student projects, during which students mainly focused on researching EU initiatives and the specifics of their implementation in Ukraine. The choice of project topics was based on the specialization of the teams.
57 full-time students (3 academic groups) from four educational successfully completed the course «EU Environmental and Climate Resilience» and research institutes of Lviv Polytechnic (Institute of Energy and Control Systems, Institute of Computer Technologies, Automation and Metrology, Institute of Geodesy, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences). As a result of studying this discipline, students gained an understanding of the natural ecosystems, their biodiversity and the relationship with climate change; developed skills in analyzing and assessing environmental issues, which allows them to understand the nature of environmental challenges in the EU context; understanding the principles of sustainable development and their application to policy and practice in the European Union, etc.
As part of their individual projects, the students presented research on the green future of Ukraine, the development of waste disposal and recycling systems, and the implementation of EU4environment, EU4Climate, EUWI+, and European Green Deal support programs.
Understanding of the digital transformation of Ukrainian and European society was gained by 74 full-time students (4 academic groups) from the Institute of Computer Technologies, Automation and Metrology and the Institute of Computer Science and Information Technologies as part of the course "Ukraine-EU: Digital Transformation". The students gained skills in analyzing the impact of digital transformation on the development of Ukraine and the European Union, understanding the opportunities and challenges posed by digital transformation.
The following projects were particularly popular among students: "E-Heritage", "Artificial Intelligence. Interaction with Ukraine and the European Union", "Digitalization of educational institutions. Secondary Schools", "Integration of Information Resources of Youth Organizations into the European Online Community", "Problems of Digitalization in Ukraine", etc.
57 students from 2 academic groups (Institute of Energy and Control Systems, Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Technologies, Institute of Telecommunications, Radioelectronics and Electronic Engineering and Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences) within the course "EU Energy and New Trends for Ukraine" gained knowledge of the EU experience in energy efficiency and energy saving, in particular: understanding of the basic principles and structure of energy systems in the European Union; understanding of the principles and methods of energy saving and energy efficiency; ability to develop and implement strategies to reduce energy consumption; ability to understand and interact with international organizations and partners in the energy sector; analysis of the impact of European energy trends on Ukraine.
In the final classes, students presented a range of their research on the following topics: "Development of the renewable energy sector: support for new projects in the field of renewable energy production and use", "European Green Wine Programme (EGVP) and protection and support for organic wine producers in the EU", "Development of green energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels", "European Climate Change Programme (EUCP)", "Ecological transport and development of public transport systems based on electric and hybrid", and others.
The students gave positive feedback on the courses they had taken. The students not only gained theoretical knowledge about the European Union, but also acquired practical skills in implementing experience for the development of Ukrainian communities.
Upon successful completion of the courses, each student received a certificate of completion.
In addition, students attended six online lectures and discussions with practitioners, experts, and researchers from the European Union (Ihor Panchenko, Head of Regional Digital Transformation at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine; Maksym Stolyarchuk, Head of the Digital Development Department of the Lviv Regional Military Administration; Dainius Zalimas, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Vytautas Magnus University, representative of the Republic of Lithuania in the European Commission "For Democracy through Law", Andriy Ursta, energy market analyst at DiXi Group and others), participants of the European public tour, which included a visit to Lviv Open Lab, active participants of the regional business webinar "Approximation to EU standards and opportunities for Ukrainian business: The Experience of the Western Region", the workshop "Boost your digitalization", the simulation game "World of Communities" and interactive events organised during the meetings of the Educational and Research Centre "European Studies for Technical Universities" at Lviv Polytechnic.
