Based on the materials of the joint final seminar "Sustainable Development Switzerland-Eastern Europe: Case Study and Real World Lab in Western Ukraine" for students of the University of Bern, Switzerland, and the Ukrainian National Forestry University of Ukraine (UNFU), Lviv.
On September 12, 2022, a joint final training seminar was held for students of UNFU and the University of Bern, Switzerland. The purpose of the seminar was to present the results of research conducted within the framework of the Real World Labor (RWL) project and was dedicated to the issues of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals at different hierarchical levels, taking into account the experience of Ukraine and Switzerland. The final workshop was preceded by thorough preparation that began in late 2021 and included a series of joint working meetings held regularly in the format of Zoom conferences (a total of 8 such meetings took place). Representatives of UNFU, the University of Bern, and the Boryslav City Council were involved in the implementation of the project. The work was carried out with the support of the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow, Forest, and Landscape Research (WSL). In particular, teachers, graduate students, and students of master's programs of various specialties from three scientific and educational institutes (forestry and horticulture; woodworking and computer technologies and design; environmental economics and management) participated in the project from UNFU.
Taras Chelepis, a Ph.D. student from the university, participated in the work of the final seminar together with Oksana Pelyukh, Assoc. Prof. Lyudmyla Zagvoyska, Assoc. Prof. Lyudmyla Maksymiv (project manager from Ukraine), Prof. Ihor Soloviy. Organizational assistance to the project was provided by Prof. Vasyl Lavny. Prof. Orest Kiyko also contributed to the successful course of work, he took an active part in work meetings, provided constructive suggestions regarding research directions, and supported students in the process of projects development. At one of these seminars, Prof. O. Kiyko made a report for the Ukrainian and Swiss participants on the topic "Ukrainian context: problems and perspectives of the forest sector development", which helped the Swiss students to better understand the peculiarities of the functioning of the forest sector of the Ukrainian economy in pre-war times, as well as the problems and risks that arose in this segment during the war. The report of Prof. O. Kiyka was supplemented by a presentation of the student Solomiia Salabai on the topic "Mobile homes as an innovation in future housing", prepared within the framework of the "Special week" project, which has been implemented with great success at the Ukrainian National Forestry University for several years in a row for students of European universities under the leadership of Prof. O. Kiyko.
From the city of Boryslav, Lviv region, the director of gymnasium No. 9 of the Boryslav City Council, Ms. Halyna Novytska, took part in the seminar. She closely cooperated with the project participants, providing them with comprehensive support, in particular, providing data for calculating the attractiveness of the investment project to increase the level of energy efficiency of the institution headed by her. It is worth mentioning that that the cooperation between UNFU and the Boryslav City Council is carried out under the agreement and has several directions: from the provision of scientific consultations in the field of energy saving, in particular the effective use of bioenergy, to the preparation and implementation of joint educational and investment projects in the field of energy efficiency and energy saving. The Boryslav City Council plays an important role in the practical training of future specialists among our students in the field of energy efficiency and rational use of forest resources. An important role in this process is played by the Center for Ecology, Tourism and Sustainable Development of the Boryslav City Council, headed by scientist Mr. Myron Zeitler, who advised members of the working group, in particular, on the management of the Boryslav municipal forest. The mayor of Boryslav Mr. Ihor Yavorsky also provided the support for this cooperation.
From the University of Bern, the cooperation within RWL was led by the representative of the Center for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Bern, Switzerland, represented by Dr. Heino Meessen, who has many years of experience in cooperation with UNFU, in particular, he was an active participant in several ENARECO (Environmental and Natural Resource Economics) projects, which UNFU (then the Ukrainian State Forestry University) carried out during 1996 - 2002 as part of a consortium of several European universities. The result of this cooperation was the initiation of the first master's program in continental Europe "Economics of the environment and natural resources" (1998), imbued with ideas of sustainable development, at our university. The co-organizer of the final training seminar from the University of Bern was the co-head of the Department of New and Modern History of the Faculty of Philosophy and History of the University of Bern, Doctor of Science, a specialist in modern general and Eastern European history, Prof. Julia Richers, who initiated the teaching of the discipline "Sustainable Development" at the mentioned university. Students of the discipline are students of various courses and various specialties. Within the framework of this discipline, Swiss students together with UNFU students, and students of the discipline "Sustainable Bioenergy" under the leadership of representatives of both universities prepared joint projects. The technical support of the project was carried out by Jonas Chastonay, which was facilitated by the joint online platform he created based on the University of Bern for Ukrainian and Swiss participants.
It should be noted that the University of Bern strongly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and consistently expresses solidarity with Ukraine and its higher educational institutions, supporting Ukrainian students and researchers in every possible way (more details - https://www.unibe.ch/ukraine/index_ger.html). One of the manifestations of such support was a series of online meetings initiated and conducted by the Swiss side with university teachers and students.
Within the framework of the RWL, a joint weekly practice of Swiss and Ukrainian students was initially foreseen in the city of Boryslav. The war in Ukraine prevented the implementation of this idea in its original form, making it impossible for teachers and students to work in Boryslav, but the Swiss side decided to continue cooperation, which was reformatted taking into account new realities. Despite the online mode of work, the project participants managed to achieve the goal, processing a significant amount of material on the subject of research, and communicating with Ukrainian scientists and practitioners.
According to the program of the seminar, the work of four working groups, which included participants from Switzerland and Ukraine, was presented. Working group No. 1 presented a macro-level project called "No Sustainability without Security", analyzing the relationship between sustainable development and security issues. Students highlighted the risks to the world due to the war in Ukraine, including food security and energy instability. It was emphasized that environmental challenges pose risks to our collective security. Drought leads to crop loss and water shortages, floods force people to leave their homes, lead to deforestation; natural resources become scarce; vital ecosystems are degraded.
The next two working groups worked at the mesolevel.
Working group No. 2 presented a project dedicated to the management of sustainable forestry with an emphasis on the management of urban forests in the example of the municipal forest of Boryslav. The scientific advisor from UNFU - 
prof. Ihor Soloviy. Postgraduate student Taras Chelepis actively joined the work in the group (scientific supervisor - Doctor of Economics, Prof. I. Soloviy). It is also worth noting the work of Andriy Tkachuk, a master's student of the Institute of Forestry and Horticulture, who, while providing specific proposals for improving the management of forestry at the research object, demonstrated a high level of knowledge of professional disciplines and the ability to apply them correctly.
Working group No. 3 presented a project called "Oil and Gas History with Touristic Potential", carried out under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Julia Richers, who at the same time heads the Eastern European Studies at the University of Bern. 
Students analyzed the possibilities of sustainable development of industrial tourism, which will be accompanied by the study of the cultural heritage of the Carpathian region. The industrial and cultural heritage of Boryslav with its rich oil fields and long experience in their development form a reliable basis for the development of this type of tourism.
A significant role in the theoretical justification of the research of the second and fourth working groups was played by Dr. Oksana Pelyukh, who in the process of working on projects made two reports on the topic "Cost-benefit analysis of the project to increase the level of energy efficiency of educational institutions: a case study of school No. 9 in Boryslav, Lviv oblast" (prepared in co-authorship with Associate Professor L. Zagvoyska) and "Empirical sociological research: forests perceptions in Ukraine and Switzerland a focus".
After the presentation of the research results of all the working groups and the discussion, the directions for further cooperation were outlined, among them the organization and holding in the next academic year of joint practice for students based on the Carpathian Euroregion together with representatives of Slovakia and Poland, and in the medium-term perspective – a research into the prerequisites of sustainable development tourism for the preservation of the cultural and natural heritage of the Carpathian Euroregion in the historical context with the participation of Slovakia and Poland.
