The Educational and Scientific Institute of Sustainable Development named after Viacheslav Chornovil (ISRD) is one of the youngest institutes of Lviv Polytechnic National University. The institute received its current name in June 2017.
The educational institution first opened its doors in 1947 as the Lviv Electromechanical College. In 1963, it was renamed the Lviv College of Radio Electronics, well-known throughout Ukraine and the entire USSR. On the basis of the College of Radio Electronics, the “Western Ukrainian Collegium” College was established in 1994. Owing to the development of human resources and scientific–technical capacity, the institution became an institute in 2003—first as the Western Ukrainian Institute of Information Technologies and Management under the Donetsk State Academy of Management, and later as the Lviv State Institute of Advanced Technologies and Management. The name of Hero of Ukraine Viacheslav Maksymovych Chornovil was conferred on the institute by an order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in 2005. This is because the life of the prominent Ukrainian statesman included a page tied to our institution: when the dissident persecuted by the Soviet authorities could not get a job anywhere, he worked for some time as a stoker at the college. Pursuant to the Cabinet of Ministers’ directive of November 17, 2010, on January 24, 2011, the institute became a structural unit of Lviv Polytechnic National University. After the Lviv State Institute of Advanced Technologies and Management named after Viacheslav Chornovil joined Lviv Polytechnic and underwent reorganisation, two new educational and scientific institutes were created: the Institute of Psychology and Law and the Institute of Advanced Technologies and Management named after V. Chornovil. On October 17, 2011, the Educational and Scientific Institute of Ecology, Environmental Protection Activities and Tourism named after Viacheslav Chornovil was established.
The institute’s departments were also reorganised. In May 2015, the Department of Civil Safety was created. In 2017, the Department of General Ecology and Eco-Information Systems was reorganised by merging it into the Department of Environmental Safety and Environmental Protection Activities.
Today, the institute has 5 departments: the Department of Environmental Safety and Environmental Protection Activities (EBPD), the Department of Ecology and Balanced Nature Management (EZP), the Department of Entrepreneurship and Environmental Expertise of Goods (PEET), the Department of Tourism (TUR), and the Department of Civil Safety (CS). High-quality educational services are delivered by a teaching staff of 77 academic employees, including 18 Doctors of Sciences/Professors and 55 Candidates of Sciences/Associate Professors (95% of the faculty hold academic degrees and titles). The high professionalism of the faculty is confirmed by numerous awards from the President of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and other ministries and agencies, as well as distinctions from Lviv Polytechnic.
The institute offers programs in the following specialities:
- Bachelor’s level:
- D7 “Trade”: Educational and Professional Program (OPP) “Entrepreneurship and Trade”;
- E2 “Ecology”: OPP “Ecology”;
- G2 “Environmental Protection Technologies”: OPP “Environmental Protection Information Systems”;
- J2 “Hotel and Restaurant Business and Catering”: OPP “Hotel and Restaurant Business and Catering”;
- J3 “Tourism and Recreation”: OPP “Tourism and Recreation”;
- J4 “Occupational Safety”: OPP “Occupational Safety”.
- Master’s level:
- D7 “Trade”: OPP “Entrepreneurship and Trade”;
- E2 “Ecology”: OPP “Ecology and Environmental Protection”, OPP “Environmental Control and Audit”, Educational and Scientific Program (ONP) “Ecology”;
- G2 “Environmental Protection Technologies”: OPP “Applied Ecology and Balanced Nature Management”, ONP “Environmental Protection Technologies”;
- J3 “Tourism and Recreation”: OPP “Tourism and Recreation”;
- J4 “Occupational Safety”: OPP “Occupational Safety”.
- Doctoral (PhD) studies:
- D7 “Trade”: ONP “Entrepreneurship, Trade and Exchange Activities”;
- E2 “Ecology”: ONP “Ecology”;
- G2 “Environmental Protection Technologies”: ONP “Environmental Protection Technologies”.
Great attention at the institute is paid to research and to raising the scientific qualifications of staff. Faculty actively participate in international scientific and technical symposia and conferences and publish research results in international and domestic scholarly journals, including those indexed in international scientometric databases. According to internal rankings, our institute took first place among the university’s institutes for research, educational–methodical, and international activities.
The institute actively cooperates with foreign partners, including Lublin University of Technology (Poland), Pomeranian University in Słupsk (Poland), Netherlands Business Academy (Netherlands), University of Applied Sciences in Berlin (Germany), Turība University (Latvia), Rovira i Virgili University (Spain), Poznań University of Life Sciences (Poland), Częstochowa University of Technology (Poland), University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia (Spain), the Higher School of Occupational Safety Management in Katowice (Poland), Pennsylvania State University (USA), and the Estonian University of Life Sciences (Estonia).
Our students actively participate in international and nationwide contests of student research papers, theses, and academic olympiads. Over the past 6 years, institute students have earned 86 diplomas for prize-winning places.
Students and faculty are active participants not only in academic events but also in various contests, festivals, races, and competitions, where they win prizes. Our institute’s team has repeatedly become the winner of the “Autumn of Polytechnic” and “Spring of Polytechnic” festivals, the international competition “Taras Shevchenko Unites Nations”, the “Carpathian Rainbow” sport tourism competition, the “Indian Summer” Ukrainian tourist song festival, and the University Games among faculty.
The Department of Environmental Safety and Environmental Protection Activities (EBPD) trains specialists at the first (bachelor’s), second (master’s), and third (educational–scientific/doctoral) levels of higher education in speciality G2 Environmental Protection Technologies. At the bachelor’s level, students study within the Educational and Professional Program “Environmental Protection Information Systems.” During their studies, students acquire competencies in developing technologies to protect the environment from pollution, environmental monitoring systems, environmental risk assessment, and creating optimal forms of environmental safety management through the application of modern technologies for environmental protection and restoration. The demand for these specialists in the labor market is due to the fact that any technological project must be environmentally safe, as determined by the state expert review in the project section “Environmental Impact Assessment.” Instruction takes place in specialised laboratories with modern equipment and in computer classrooms. Students complete internships at industrial enterprises, research institutions, national parks, nature reserves, environmental inspectorates, and more. After completing the bachelor’s degree, students may continue their studies in the master’s Educational and Professional Program “Applied Ecology and Balanced Nature Management” (1.5 years) or in the master’s Educational and Scientific Program “Environmental Protection Technologies” (2 years).
The department conducts research in environmental protection technologies: “Environmental Safety of Technogenically Disturbed Territories in the Context of Sustainable Development” (BPD-6) — project leader Doctor of Technical Sciences, Prof. Volodymyr Ivanovych Mokryi; “Mathematical Models of the Body’s Thermoregulation System for Predicting Human Thermal Comfort in the Environment” (EBPD-7) — project leader Candidate of Technical Sciences, Assoc. Prof. Serhii Pavlovych Stasevych; “Ways to Restore Damaged Soil Cover as a Result of Military Actions on the Territory of Ukraine” (EBPD-8) and “Impact of Dust Pollution on the Environment within Urbanised Areas” (EBPD-9) — project leader, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Prof. Ihor Mykhailovych Petrushka.
Since 2019, Research Laboratory NDL-121 has operated at the department. The lab was formed to conduct scientific research and R&D and to provide scientific and consulting services. Research is performed using the EXPERT 3L X-ray fluorescence analyzer, which enables determination of the mass fraction of chemical elements in homogeneous monolithic and powder samples.
The Department of Ecology and Balanced Nature Management (EZP) successfully accredited the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) educational–scientific program in 2020 in speciality 101 “Ecology” (program guarantor: Doctor of Technical Sciences, Prof. V. V. Sabadash). PhD dissertations have been defended by department doctoral candidates V. Katysheva, O. Shkvirko, Kh. Solovii, and U. Z. Storoshchuk.
New research areas have emerged at the department—treatment of municipal wastewater, utilisation of sewage sludge, biological methods for cleaning polluted environments, optimal conditions for biological reclamation and remediation, and optimisation of biogas production.
In 2023, the EZP Department ranked 1st in the overall university ranking of departments at Lviv Polytechnic National University.
The department team has initiated and serves as the base organiser for the following events:
- International Congresses “Sustainable Development: Environmental Protection. Energy Saving. Balanced Nature Management.” The latest, the 8th International Congress “Sustainable Development: Environmental Protection. Energy Saving. Balanced Nature Management,” is held in September–October of even-numbered years (the most recent took place on September 16–18, 2024, at Lviv Polytechnic National University in a hybrid format). The congress had 131 participants: 4 from abroad and 127 from Ukraine, including 89 from outside Lviv.
- International Scientific and Technical Conference “Water Supply and Wastewater: Design, Construction, Operation, Monitoring,” held in September–October of odd-numbered years. The 5th conference took place online on October 11–13, 2023, with 93 participants: 21 from abroad and 72 from Ukraine, including 32 from outside the host city.
- International Youth Congresses “Sustainable Development: Environmental Protection. Energy Saving. Balanced Nature Management.” The latest, the 9th International Youth Congress, was held online on March 28–29, 2024, with 222 participants: 2 from abroad and 220 from Ukraine, including 93 from outside the host city.
The EZP Department actively cooperates with foreign partners, including Lublin University of Technology (Poland), Pomeranian University in Słupsk (Poland), Netherlands Business Academy (Netherlands), University of Applied Sciences in Berlin (Germany), Turība University (Latvia), Rovira i Virgili University (Spain), Poznań University of Life Sciences (Poland), and Częstochowa University of Technology (Poland), and the University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia (Spain).
The EZP Department is the base within the Institute for publishing the English-language journal “Environmental Problems” (founded in 2016; Editor-in-Chief: Doctor of Technical Sciences, Prof. Myroslav Malovanyi; Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Doctor of Technical Sciences, Prof. Oleksandr Moroz; Managing Editor: Candidate of Technical Sciences, Asst. Kateryna Petrushka). The journal is included in Ukraine’s list of scholarly professional publications (category “B”) and is indexed in the Scopus scientometric database. The founders of the journal are Lviv Polytechnic National University, Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University, Kremenchuk Mykhailo Ostrohradskyi National University, Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas, Vinnytsia National Technical University, and Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture.
In 2025, the EZP Department became the thirteenth in Ukraine to receive the distinguished title of a UNESCO Chair, confirming the department’s high academic and educational standing not only in Ukraine but also internationally.
At present, the department team is implementing one project under the Horizon Europe grant program, three Erasmus+ projects, one project funded by the Swedish Institute, and a state-budget R&D contract for 2024. All this gives the EZP Department grounds to look to the future with optimism and to plan new achievements in science and education.
The Department of Entrepreneurship and Environmental Expertise of Goods (PEET) is the graduating department for specialty D7 “Trade” at all levels of higher education: first (bachelor’s), second (master’s), and third (educational–scientific). A doctoral program also operates in the department.
The department practices engaging employers, industry professionals, and experts in entrepreneurship and trade in the educational process, and regularly hosts lectures by foreign scholars within the “Visiting Professor” and “Guest Lecturer” programs. Faculty and students have opportunities for international internships at foreign enterprises.
The department has confirmed the compliance of its educational programs with quality standards by successfully passing accreditation—at the first (bachelor’s) level by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and at the second (master’s) and third (educational–scientific) levels by the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance (in 2024 and 2020).
The department’s research focus is “Modelling Systems for Ensuring the Competitiveness of Trade Enterprises Based on Economic–Managerial and Communication–Information Innovations.” The department operates Research Laboratory NDL-124 for the examination of product quality and safety (scientific head of the laboratory: Doctor of Economics, Prof. Sviatoslav Kniaz). The lab was established to organise scientific research, carry out R&D, provide scientific and consulting services, and produce scientific deliverables commissioned by enterprises, organisations, and institutions, as well as to conduct innovation activities.
Department scholars actively publish research results in domestic and international professional journals, including periodicals indexed in Scopus and Web of Science. In addition, department researchers participate in international and national scientific–practical conferences, presenting their findings.
Students of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Environmental Expertise of Goods actively engage in research, take part in numerous international and nationwide student research competitions—where they win awards—and present their results at international conferences.
Since 2020, according to the overall university ranking of departments at Lviv Polytechnic National University, the Department of Entrepreneurship and Environmental Expertise of Goods has demonstrated a high level of performance. Of 16 academic staff members, 5 are Doctors of Sciences and 9 are Candidates of Sciences.
The Department of Tourism (TUR) is a graduating department that trains specialists at the first (bachelor’s) and second (master’s) levels in specialties J2 “Hotel and Restaurant Business and Catering” and J3 “Tourism and Recreation.” In 2024, the educational program for training specialists at the second (master’s) level in “Tourism and Recreation” successfully passed accreditation.
Department faculty actively work on educational–methodical support for the learning process. Students can visit hotel–restaurant industry establishments and tourism enterprises for educational purposes. Stakeholders are involved in delivering lectures. International cooperation is continuously expanding; students and department staff participate in dual-degree programs, Erasmus+ student academic exchange, and Visiting Professor initiatives. Students have opportunities for international training and internships abroad.
Students of the Department of Tourism complete academic, excursion, and industrial internships. The routes of excursion and local-history practicums pass through interesting and attractive tourist destinations in Western and Central Ukraine. During the practicums, students get acquainted with the natural and historical sites of their native land, learn professional skills from tour guides, try their hand at organizing tourist trips and excursions, and become familiar with the provision of hotel and restaurant services, enterprise structure, management, marketing, and equipment of restaurant establishments.
The department has established a “Restaurant Studies” laboratory, a “Hotel Studies” laboratory, and a Research Laboratory NDL No. 125 “Innovations in Tourism.”
The Department of Tourism conducts contract-based research projects: development of an ecological tourism product to enhance the competitiveness of a tourism enterprise (client: LLC “DANA K.”, Lviv) (2020 and 2021); development of the tourist route “Discover the History of Our Ancestors”; “Study of the Activities of Hotel Establishments in Western Ukraine under Wartime Conditions” (2022); “Study of the Need for Renovation of Glazed Structures in Leisure and Hotel Complexes of Western Ukraine via Questionnaire Surveys and Direct Interviews” (2023); “Study of Characteristics and Requirements for Buildings and Structures of Hotel Complexes” (2024). Over the past ten years, the department has carried out research on several scientific problems embodied in registered topics: No. 0112U006592 “Defining Principles for Assessing and Using the Recreational and Tourist Potential of Territories” (05/01/2012–11/23/2016), scientific supervisor—Doctor of Economics, Prof. A. A. Terebukh; No. 0117U007565 “Methodological Tools for Developing Tourism Infrastructure and Shaping Conditions for Prioritizing Domestic Tourism” (12/01/2017–12/01/2022), scientific supervisor—Doctor of Economics, Prof. A. A. Terebukh.
It should be noted that the results of department and contract research have been implemented in practice and in the educational process.
The Department of Tourism has launched the annual International Scientific–Practical Forum “Hospitality Industry: State, Development Trends, and Prospects.”
The Department of Civil Safety (CS) is both a graduating and a general-education department. For all university specialities, department faculty teach the courses “Fundamentals of Occupational Safety and Life Safety” at the bachelor’s level and “Professional and Civil Safety” at the master’s level. Following the development concept adopted when the department was established, in 2016, it received a license from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine to train bachelors in the speciality 263 “Civil Safety.” In 2017, the first cohort of students was admitted to this speciality. In 2021, the bachelor’s educational program successfully passed accreditation by the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance.
The educational program is oriented toward training specialists in the field of Occupational Safety (professional safety and health).
During their studies, students can independently shape an individual educational trajectory. This makes it possible to gain additional professional competencies in the following areas:
- Occupational safety in services and the IT industry—occupational safety in trade and food service establishments; organising occupational safety in the IT and telecommunications sector; organising occupational safety in transport and logistics enterprises; safety in the hotel–restaurant business and tourism activities; safety of staff in educational and healthcare institutions; occupational safety in public utilities.
- Occupational safety in the production sphere—occupational safety in construction and building materials; safety of manufacturing processes in mechanical engineering; labor safety at light industry enterprises; safety management systems for chemical industries and the fuel–energy complex; occupational safety in the production of agricultural raw materials and foods; industrial automation and automation of technological processes. Duration of study: 4 years based on complete secondary education, 3 years based on the “Junior Specialist” qualification.
Since 2020 the department has trained masters in the specialty “Civil Safety,” specialization “Industrial Safety and Occupational Safety.” Masters in “Industrial Safety and Occupational Safety” will possess skills in preventive and emergency planning, managing safety measures in professional activities, organizing and implementing modern management systems for technogenic and occupational risk at enterprises and in organizations of any field. In line with the acquired educational qualification, a master’s graduate is capable of performing professional work in the roles of “Occupational Safety Engineer,” “Preventive Work Engineer,” “Technogenic–Environmental Safety Engineer,” “Labour Conditions Expert,” and “Researcher (field of engineering).”
According to the new list of fields of knowledge and specialities adopted in 2024, beginning in 2025, the department will start training bachelors and masters in the speciality “Occupational Safety.”
Earning a master’s degree in “Occupational Safety” in combination with a bachelor’s education in other specialities will significantly broaden employment opportunities.
To train staff, academic employees, and students in the basics of first aid, to develop resuscitation skills, and to teach the application of acquired knowledge of general and personal hygiene in promoting a healthy lifestyle, the department operates a specialised classroom equipped with a computerised robotic mannequin for practising cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
In 2018, the department hosted the 16th International Scientific–Methodical Conference “Safety of Human Life and Activity—Education, Science, Practice,” which was attended by 65 representatives of 29 higher education institutions from all regions of Ukraine, as well as Poland. The conference was accredited as the 123rd conference of the European Association for Security. The event was held under the patronage of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the State Scientific Institution “Institute of Educational Content Modernization,” and the European Association for Security. Scientific reports, presentations, and discussions at the conference enabled a productive exchange of experience among leading scholars of Ukraine and Europe, young scientists, and practitioners in the field of life safety, strengthening ties among universities for further scientific cooperation and exchange of research results.
Since 2018, the Institute of Sustainable Development named after V. Chornovil has launched the International Scientific Symposium “Sustainable Development—State and Prospects,” held every two years at the “Polytechnic-2” Educational and Recreational Camp in the Carpathians (symposia in 2020, 2022, and 2024). Based on the symposia, a collective monograph “Sustainable development – state and prospects” and collections of symposium materials have been published.
On October 22–23, 2021, at the “Polytechnic-4” base in the village of Zozuli, the International Scientific–Practical Conference “Problems of Sustainable Development,” dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Institute’s founding, was held. The conference was attended by representatives of higher education institutions from various regions of Ukraine (Lviv, Kyiv, Rivne, Starobilsk, Chernivtsi, Bila Tserkva), as well as foreign guests from Poland