The training, the first in-person classes after COVID and the war, are being held this week at the Faculty of Tourism and Geography

The Faculty of Tourism and Geography of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili is hosting the fourth training session of the ClimEd project between May 6 and May 10. It aims to train Ukrainian researchers to undertake academic programmes in climate services in their country. However, it is the first in-person training after the COVID-19 pandemic and the outbreak of war in this eastern European country. The meeting has been organised by the University Institute for Research in Sustainability, Climate Change, and Energy Transition (IU-Rescat) and the Centre for Climate Change (3C) of the URV. ClimEd is a European Erasmus+ project for Qualification in Higher Education, in which Ukrainian ministries and institutions, and two universities from Finland and Estonia, also take part.

About twenty researchers from Ukraine have travelled to the Vila-seca campus to participate in the conference along with the URV members. The sessions will be given by research staff from the URV and the other institutions involved in the project. “This collaboration symbolises a step forward in the normalisation and advancement of academic and scientific dialogue,” says Jon Xavier Olano, a researcher at IU-Rescat and one of the organisers of the event. After the interruption in training researchers as a result of the outbreak of war, this innovative project now seeks to revitalise and expand the educational infrastructure in the discipline of climate in Ukraine, providing new impetus to international collaboration.

In particular, the project aims to develop curricula and academic programmes that comply with the standards of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and are based on competencies for the comprehensive continuous education of specialists in the field of climate services, and to initiate and develop additional education on climate change. The training session primarily targets decision-makers and experts in climate-dependent economic sectors, but is also open to the general public.

After the rector of the URV, Josep Pallarès, and the dean of the Faculty of Tourism and Geography, Òscar Saladié, inaugurated the project this Monday, the event, with sessions in both the morning and afternoon, will continue until Friday.