VISIT OF TEACHERS OF VMU AGRICULTURE ACADEMY TO CZECH UNIVERSITY OF LIFE SCIENCES PRAGUE
The teachers of Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy assoc. prof. dr. Midona Dapkienė (Department of Water Engineering, Faculty of Engineering), prof. dr. Laima Česonienė and assoc. prof. dr. Daiva Šileikienė (Department of Environment and Ecology, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Ecology) visited Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU) according to Erasmus+ Mobility agreement on April 17th to 20th 2023.
The Czech University of Life Sciences is a public university. Currently the University has more than 18 000 students (10% are international students), 6 Faculties and 1 Institute. CZU offers over 170 accredited study programmes at BSc, MSc and PhD levels (in 9 BSc, 20 MSc and 18 PhD programmes the language of instruction is English). The University has 1 700 employees, of which more than 700 are professors or associate professors.
The one of faculties of CZU – the Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences is a unique institution in central Europe. The mission of this Faculty is the higher education of foreign and Czech students in the fields of tropical agriculture, rural development and the sustainable management of natural and energy resources in the tropics. This experience would be useful in VMU Agriculture Academy, as a large number of students from various African and Asian countries are attracted to study in this Faculty.
The representatives of VMU Agriculture Academy gave the lectures for bachelor, master and Erasmus students of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences in the field of wastewater treatment and reuse, influence of climate change on surface water status, environmental policy and Green Deal.
The Faculty of Environmental Sciences is divided into six departments (Department of Water Resources and Environmental Modeling, Department of Applied Ecology, Department of Ecology and other) which cover the whole field of education and science at the Faculty.
The teachers had an opportunity to familiarize with the study process and reasearch at CZU, to visit the laboratories of Faculty as well as to discuss the possibilities of the joint project.
The representatives of Agriculture Academy also had an opportunity to visit Amálie Smart Landscape, located in a rural area near Prague. The Amálie site is one of the pilot projects of the CZU, in which experts are implementing specific measures to increase the adaptation of the landscape to climate change. On an area of approximately 500 hectares of agricultural land owned by the CZU, measures are being implemented, in particular to retain surface water, restore natural wetlands, secure erosion-prone slopes and monitor the hydrological regime. The Head of Department of Applied Ecology prof. Jan Vymazal showed all the components of the pilot, introduced to the goals of the ongoing project and the benefits of Smart Landscape.
