Ukraine has a huge food production potential, owning about 25% of the world black earth resources, and being number one exporter of sunflower oil and the second exporter of corn over the world. But sustainability of agriculture and food production systems is rather poor in Ukraine. About 70% of territories of the country are used for agriculture but its effectiveness is low compared to the best European practices. Also, Ukrainian technical regulations on food and agricultural products do not correspond to European Union one. And according to Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement, Ukraine has to adopt national technical regulations to EU regulations and standardization. Ukraine stated that Ukraine still needs to harmonize over 30 European standards (EN) from 90 EN in Agriculture and over 90 EN from 157 EN in Food Production Technologies.
The Jean Monnet Chair addresses to studying policies, technical regulations and best practices in sustainable food production and consumption in the European Union. The main teaching activity of the Chair comprises three interconnected university teaching courses on 1) The EU strategy for sustainable development; 2) European Union regulations and standardization on food production and consumption; 3) Sustainable approaches in food production and consumption in the EU. The target group for these courses is Master’s students in Environmental Science & Environmental Protection, and Master’s students in Environmental Control & Audit of the Department of Biochemistry and Environmental Control, National University of Food Technologies (NUFT). Additionally, an introductory teaching course on sustainable food production and consumption for Master’s students in Power Engineering of the Department of Heat Power and Refrigeration, NUFT will be delivered. Also, the Chair activities include two summer schools for policy makers, food industry experts and NGO representatives. The Chair comprises 748 contact hours and covers about 420 students/learners.
The main outputs of the Chair are an increased awareness of future professionals, policy makers, food industry experts and NGO representatives in key aspects of sustainable food production and consumption in the European Union, and promotion to applying this knowledge in Ukraine. The Chair will increase the competitiveness of the learners on the national and international labor market.
The important added value of the Chair is developing of curricula on European Union studies for Master’s Programmes at the National University of Food Technologies (NUFT). The Chair will significantly contribute into teaching content of two Master Programmes, bringing three new European Union studies. These Master Programmes already include the European Union study on environmental policy (in term of the Jean Monnet Module). Thus, together the European Union studies will constitute a significant part of these Master Programmes.
The Jean Monnet Chair’s activities, including university teaching courses, summer schools, research, publications, round tables, discussions and online activities will promote dissemination of knowledge on effective European Union policies, regulations and best practices in sustainable food production and consumption and promote leading role of the EU in sustainable development approaches on the European continent. On the other hand, the Jean Monnet Chair will increase a role of NUFT in forming sustainable food policies and practices on the national level.
The main indicators of achievements will be feedbacks from the graduates from the Chair, their employers and representatives of official bodies. Also, peer reviewing of research publications and reports in term of the project will give a strong feedback on the project achievements.