On February 16, at the invitation of Assoc. Prof. Iryna Ablieieva hosted an open online lecture by the foreign lecturer Assoc. Prof. Karin Tonderski (University of Linköping, Sweden) on the topic " Role of wetlands in the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients from farmlands", devoted to the International Day of Wetlands. The key audience was the first- and second-year students of study programs 101 "Ecology and environmental protection" and 183 "Environmental protection technologies". The chosen topic of the lecture ensured its interdisciplinary nature in terms of educational components "General ecology (and neoecology)" (wetland ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles), "Hydrology and hydrobiology" (hydrological and hydrobiological regimes of water bodies) and "Landscape science" (water landscapes – wetlands).
Karin Tonderski studies the use and reuse of nutrients and water in a sustainable society, and the role of wetlands for wastewater treatment, phosphorus and nitrogen removal. In addition, her research is related to the processes of biogas production, the use of digestate for agriculture.
The practice of involving Karin Tonderski in the educational process was the first time, but the interactive lecture-discussion aroused lively interest among the students, a number of questions and comments. Students were interested in what a person can do in everyday life to reduce the content of phosphorus and nitrogen in wastewater? Can wetlands disappear completely? What measures should be taken to preserve and restore wetlands? In addition, students learned that wetlands created for the purification of wastewater from phosphorus and nitrogen differ in physical and chemical parameters and biological processes occurring in them.
We have been cooperating with Linköping University since 2019, we have a signed Memorandum of Understanding (June 2021), a joint STINT grant funded by the Swedish government, implemented programs for the academic mobility of graduate students under the Erasmus+ project in 2022-2023.
We hope for further successful cooperation with Swedish colleagues both in the scientific field and in the educational process!