On the morning of February 24, 2022, the armed troops of the Russian Federation invaded on the territory of sovereign Ukraine in all directions. Since that time, Ukrainians have been under constant fire from Russian aircraft and missiles in the basements of their homes and bomb shelters around the clock. Peaceful Ukrainian cities and towns are being shelled, hospitals, schools, orphanages, residential areas are treacherously destroyed, women and children are dying.

The Ukrainian people defend their land, freedom and democratic values. This is our state, for which our ancestors fought for centuries, giving their lives, because for us the greatest value is a free, united and independent Ukraine!

Your sons are also dying here, more than 5,000 killed and wounded, hundreds of Russian soldiers are in captivity. You must know the truth! The truth that your political leadership is an aggressor and is killing innocent Ukrainian people, is sending your soldiers to death. The world community has united against the aggression of the Russian Federation, imposing sanctions that isolate you from the entire civilized world.

We call on you to publicly demonstrate your position against war, the destruction of moral principles and norms of international law, flagrant crimes against humanity. Do not be afraid to tell the truth, whatever it may be, to your family, colleagues, friends.

Listen to reason and conscience, put aside fear, go out on the streets, to rallies, protest, do not be silent! Remember that your silence is measured by the death of our and your children!

Chairman of the Council of Rectors of the Lviv region,

Rector of the National University "Lviv Polytechnic", Professor Yuriy Bobalo

On February 28, 2022, a University Administration Council took place.

Issues related to the functioning of the university under the conditions of martial law in the country were considered.

Based on the results of consideration of the agenda of the University Administration Council, the following decisions were made:

Holidays have been announced from February 28 to March 19, 2022 for students who study in all programs, all levels of education and forms of university education, as well as students of preparatory courses, making appropriate changes to the educational schedule and learning process. Directors of the educational and research institutes and heads of structural departments should inform the participants of the educational process remotely about safety instructions and recommendations posted on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine at the link.

A self-defense unit of the university has been formed to strengthen the protection of its facilities and property, as well as to prevent acts of sabotage. The university continues round-the-clock duty of management in accordance with the order of the rector of February 24, 2022 № 45.

Rector of the University, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Professor Volodymyr Zagorskyi offered to help our heroic soldiers financially by transferring the funds raised by the university staff to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Forestry technicians express their sincere gratitude to all foreign colleagues and friends for the letters of support and solidarity sent to the university, in which our friends express their concern and condemn the act of aggression of the Russian Federation. We continue to receive the letters of support.

Dear university community!

The Russian Federation launched a war against Ukraine, carrying out a full-scale invasion of our territory. Infrastructure facilities as well as residential buildings throughout our country were attacked.

The President signed a decree dated 24.02.2022 № 64/2022 “On the imposition of martial law in Ukraine”.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are repelling the enemy. All Ukrainian people have mobilized and are desperately resisting the Russian aggressor.

The whole world supported Ukraine in its efforts to protect its independence and territorial integrity.

At this extremely important time, the university staff is faced with the task of acting in an organized and responsible manner, consolidating their efforts and maintaining order. I urge each of you to follow the official information channels and information on the university website.

Regarding the work of the university at this time:

1) The university has a round-the-clock headquarters for operational management of the university in martial law.

2) The structural subdivisions that ensure the viability of the university work as usual.

3) The educational process continues in accordance with the curriculum and schedule of classes in distance mode. The university administration will decide on the recommendation of the Ministry of Education and Science to stop the educational process in all educational institutions and announce a two-week vacation.

4) Entrance to the educational buildings of the university for employees - only on service certificates.

We believe in the victory of the Ukrainian army and the Ukrainian people in the confrontation with the Russian aggressor. We are on our land, defending our home. The truth is on our side, and therefore - VICTORY!

Take care of yourself and your loved ones!

Glory to Ukraine!

Rector, Volodymyr Zagorskyi

Ukrainian National Forestry University receives numerous letters of appeal from foreign partners and friends with words of support and solidarity. Our friends express concern and solidarity in condemning the act of aggression of the Russian Federation.

Today we received letters from:

• University of Sustainable Development in Eberswalde (Germany);
• Rothenburg University of Applied Forest Sciences (Germany);
• Albrecht-Ludwigs University of Freiburg (Germany);
• Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland);
• Warsaw School of Economics (Poland);
• Lodz University of Technology (Poland);
• Institute of Rural Development and Agriculture of the Polish Academy of Sciences;
• Wageningen University (Netherlands);
• Institute of Natural Resources Research (Finland);
• Bureau of Bioeconomics Studies (Germany);
• European Training Foundation (Italy);
• Innovation Cluster for Sustainable Development (Italy);
• European Forest Sector Innovation Association (Belgium);
• University of Forestry, Nantes (France);
• University of Applied Sciences, Bern (Switzerland);
• Institute of Forestry and Ecology (Serbia);
• fellow scientists from Spain;
• fellow scientists from Georgia;
• Fellow scientists from Belarus;
• Coimbra Polytechnic Institute (Portugal);
• National University of Ireland (Cork, Ireland);
• Estonian Qualifications Agency (Estonia);
• Tallinn University of Applied Sciences (Estonia)
• University of Agriculture and Forestry. Mendel (Czech Republic)
• International Union of Forest Research Organizations (Austria)
• University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)
• University of Ghent (Belgium) and others.

Thank you, dear colleagues, that you #standwithUkraine!

On February 17, 2022, a round table meeting "Expansion of sports horizons" was held at the National University "Lviv Polytechnic" together with the participation of representatives of higher educational institutions of Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Among the participants of the event were vice-rectors, heads of departments of physical education and heads of sports clubs of higher education institutions of the two regions, who are involved in the project "Let's change the country together".

A representative of our university, Victor Gural, the head of the sports club "Lisotechnik" attended the event.

The meeting was opened by the Chairman of the Board of Rectors of Lviv Region, Rector of Lviv Polytechnic National University Yuriy Bobalo, who stressed that physical education and sports in universities are an extremely important component of modern higher education.

Participants of the round table expressed deep concern over the lack of necessary regulatory support for sports, indifference of some heads of higher education institutions to student sports, lack of financial support for student sports from sports departments of regional state administrations and complete disregard for financial needs of student sports. 

Summing up the meeting, they proposed to approve the appeal to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and other interested institutions on the need to address the issues discussed. The initiative was unanimously supported by all participants of the project "Expansion of sports horizons".

Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk Regional Branches of the Committee on Physical Education and Sports of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Lviv Regional Sports Society Hart, Lviv Polytechnic National University, Ivan Bobersky Lviv State University of Physical Culture organized the project "Expanding Sports Horizons" in cooperation with the Lviv Regional Council and the public organization "Carpathian-Ukraine Euroregion".

Senior Lecturer of the Department of Management and Marketing, Ph.D. Yulia Shvedyuk took part in the international project DAAD "Transnational Biosphere Forests – Cooperative Learning in UNESCO Biosphere Regions for Conflict Prevention and Sustainable Transformation" and completed a research internship at the Center for Economics and Ecosystem Management of the University of Sustainable Development (Germany). The research supervisor of the project is Dr. Pierre Ibish, Professor at the Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Protection, University of Sustainable Development, Eberswalde.

During the internship the peculiarities of recreational and tourist activities in the Schorfheide-Horin Biosphere Reserve in the conditions of increasing environmental threats, diversity and variability of natural conditions in response to VUCA challenges (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) were studied in conflict prevention and sustainable transformation practices in protected areas. In order to determine the economic assessment of cultural services of ecosystems (recreation, tourism, attractiveness of landscapes, cultural value, aesthetic value, etc.) surveys of various stakeholder groups (employees of the biosphere reserve, researchers of the Institute of Biosphere Reserves, tourists, etc.) were made. 

The results of the research internship will be used in the educational process, in particular during the teaching of disciplines "Recreational Management" for students of the specialty 073 "Management" and "Organization and management in environmental protection" for students of the specialty 101 "Ecology".

Abroad internships allow to disseminate experience and areas of research in Ukraine, exchange knowledge, strengthen international cooperation, in particular between the University of Sustainable Development in Eberswalde and UNFU.

On February 21, 2022, the founding meeting of the Public Organization "Alumni Association of the State Higher Educational Institution “Ukrainian National Forestry University” took place.

The meeting was aimed to establish a public organization and approve its Charter. The Doctor of Technical Sciences and Professor Orest Kiyko, the head of the Department of Furniture and Wood Products of the Institute of Woodworking Technologies and Design of the National Forestry University of Ukraine was elected the head of the organization (Chairman of the Board).

The Board of the Association also included: Vice-Rector for Educational Work and International Relations Mykola Borys, directors of the Educational and Research Institutes Stepan Myklush, Igor Rebeznyuk, Volodymyr Maevskyi, Pavlo Dynka and Deputy Director of the Institute of Forestry and Park Gardening Sergiy Havryliuk.

Note that the main purposes of the Association of UNFU Alumni are:

• uniting the efforts of graduates of all generations and friends of UNFU for the development of Alma-mater, preservation and increase of its traditions and spiritual values;
• promoting the implementation of educational, scientific, socio-economic and industrial development projects of UNFU;
• promoting the exchange of professional experience and ensuring relations of the Association members with the staff of UNFU;
• protection of legitimate social, economic, creative and other interests of its members and promotion of scientific and technical development of Ukraine.

On February 15, 2022, in the framework of professional orientation the delegation of the Ukrainian National Forestry University represented by the head of the coordination center of career guidance, head of the Department of History of Ukraine, Economic Theory and Law Liubov Sheptytska, a group of teachers of design, and some students held four outreach meetings with high school students, teaching staff of three secondary schools and Gorodok Small Academy of Arts named after Petro Andrusiv. 

According to the plan, the first to be visited was the Velykolyubynsky Secondary Educational Institution of the Velykolyubynsky Village Council of the Lviv region. Subsequently, a meeting was held with students and Kateryna Blaschak, director of the secondary school in the village Rodatychi. The third institution that was visited for career guidance was the High school №2 in Gorodok.

A presentation about UNFU, existing directions and profiles of training, information about the university website, the rules of admission, etc. was presented to the attention of high school students and their teachers of all the above-mentioned schools.

The head of the Department of Design, Volodymyr Prusak additionally informed the students about the history of the department, its leading place in the design education system, about the creative and scientific activity of the department, the highly professional staff of the department and their role in training highly qualified design specialists.

Teachers of the Department of Design Zenovia Makar and Inna Prokopchuk in their speeches focused on the prospects of education in forestry, which successfully combines artistic and technical components, thorough theoretical and practical training, confidence in future employment, opportunities for self-development and personal growth. Emphasis was placed on the approaches to learning welcomed by the Department of Design - partnership, mutual respect and support of students in everything.

Vladyslava Lonchuk, a fifth-year student of the Department of Design, captivated students with a story about the existing student self-government, student leisure activities and opportunities to develop creative abilities and their participation in various cultural events. Later, students received answers to questions that interested them.

All students were given information booklets of UNFU in order to provide potential entrants with full information about admission, institutes and specialties, invited to visit on February 19, 2022 "Open Day" with sincere wishes of conscious choice of educational institution to obtain the desired profession.

Finally, the delegation visited the Gorodok Small Academy of Arts named after Petro Andrusiv that is one of the specialized art institutions in the network of art schools in Lviv region. The educational institution was founded in 2003, and since 2010 it has been named after a prominent Ukrainian artist, art critic Petro Andrusiv, known overseas and almost unknown in Ukraine. The artist’s creative output includes about 400 works: paintings, illustrations, church paintings. The teaching staff of the academy, led by the principal Olga Pivovar, kindly welcomed the delegation, conducted a tour and acquainted with the history of the school. Teachers of the Department of Design with special interest talked to the students, wished creative development to young talents and invited to visit UNFU.

Each meeting within the framework of career guidance aimed to convey to the students the objective information about the university, to promote specialties taking into account the value orientations and benefits of studying at UNFU.

Tanya Dulyaba is a young artist who is exhibiting her work for the first time at a solo exhibition in Chicago, on February 4, 2022, at the Ukrainian National Museum. "Home away from home" is the title of the exhibition, which lays down the philosophy of our existence under the sky, far from Ukraine, and from the home town in Radekhiv, Lviv region, where she studied at art school, embroidered, painted, was interested in ethnography, dreamed of traveling. 

After school she entered the Ukrainian National Forestry University, choosing the Department of Design. Did you imagine until recently that more than 1,000 works created by her would be sold to North Carolina and on the Outer Banks Peninsula would be the decoration of many luxury homes overlooking the ocean? The energy to climb to the top of professionalism gives her the desire to constantly improve herself, continuing her studies with American masters of design (after a bachelor's degree in design in 2013 Tanya continued her studies in the United States, in Albemarle, North Carolina, College of Design). It is not a coincidence that all local newspapers and magazines, encouraging colored advertisements to buy houses by the ocean, place interiors decorated by Tanya Dulyaba, the chief designer of the largest investment and development company "Saga Constraction". Her paintings can be purchased at large furniture stores in Outer Banks, and journalists at North Beach Sun have repeatedly written about Tanya Dulyaba, nominating her as one of the most creative young artists. It is distinguished by its "island" style - the waves of the ocean, the sun, birds and wild horses with manes, which are combed by the wind, skillfully conveys a state of peace and tranquility. Her works are light in plot, atmospheric and moody, done in light warm tones.

Tatiana draws inspiration for the color palette from the sunny nature and Radekhiv green slopes. At the exhibition, visitors feel the warmth of this region, located 8000 km from Chicago, the house to which Tanya returns every year. 

Another talented artist is Christina Kozyuk, who in 2005 became a Bachelor of Design, studying at the Department of Design in our university. A talented girl from Chortkiv, Ternopil region, was thrown overseas by fate in Sedona, Arizona, USA. Christina is an artist and now the owner of the Kozyuk Gallery.

A girl with a big heart, whose works are exhibited in museums in Ukraine, France and the USA, donated her canvas to the Charitable Fundraiser for the purchase of medical equipment for the Nadvirna Children's Hospital. Actively supports projects of other charitable organizations, including the Union of Ukrainian Women of America. In December 2021, during the celebration of St. Andrew's Party at a concert by Oleg Skrypka and the band "VV", the canvas "Blue Roses" was sold at a charity auction for $ 3,000.

We are happy and proud that our graduates, even while far abroad, do not forget about their origins, are inspired by native nature. Thus, studying at the Department of Design of UNFU, they receive a high level of education in both design and fine arts, and become successful everywhere, achieve excellence and professionalism.