Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University (PMBSNU), located in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, hosted the first Water Security Summer School from 12-15 June 2019. This initiative, supported by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme, aims to help Ukrainian higher education align with European standards and practices in ecological and water management.
IWSN Director Professor Chad Staddon gave a series of short presentations on key areas of water security science and policy including urban water security, circular economy, polycentric regulation and the water-energy-food nexus. Ukrainian experts spoke about water for agriculture (this is a big grain-growing region), water management challenges in the Mykolaiv region and nature conservation.
On 14 June the group took a day trip to the Bukh’s Gard national park north of Mykolaiv to see some of the challenges of water security in this ecologically important region. Attendees included students and staff of PMBSNU and other Ukrainian universities, as well as water managers from the public and private sectors. It is an ambition of this three-year project to prepare new curricular materials for teaching water and ecological management to the next generation of Ukrainian professionals.