An extended meeting of project groups was held at the Department of Landscape Gardening and Ecology of the Faculty of Natural and Agrarian Sciences, dedicated to the final stage of the formation and updating of the educational and professional programs "Landscape Gardening and Park Management" of the first (bachelor's) and second (master's) levels of higher education. The event became an important element of the internal system of ensuring the quality of education and confirmed the department's systematic approach to the modernization of the educational process in accordance with the modern requirements of the labor market, academic standards and strategic priorities of the university's development.

The organization and conduct of the meeting were provided by the guarantors of educational programs - Iryna Kravets and Serhiy Sokolov, who initiated an active dialogue between all participants in the educational process. Members of the project groups, scientific and pedagogical staff of the department, and higher education applicants were involved in the discussion. The discussion was particularly valuable due to the participation of the reviewer of educational programs - Professor of the Department of Forestry of Uman National University, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Professor Volodymyr Petrovich Shlapak, whose expert experience allowed him to conduct a professional assessment of the content of the programs and provide constructive recommendations for their improvement.

During the meeting, the participants carried out a comprehensive analysis of the proposals received as a result of the public discussion of the draft educational programs, and also processed the results of the survey of students and graduates. Special attention was paid to taking into account the position of employers, which allows ensuring the practical orientation of the programs and increasing their relevance to modern professional challenges. The participants also examined in detail the program learning outcomes, their consistency with the competency model of the specialist, as well as the compliance of the educational components with the declared results.

An important aspect of the discussion was the comparison of the content of the educational programs with similar programs of leading higher education institutions in Ukraine and abroad. This made it possible to assess the level of competitiveness of the programs, identify their strengths and outline the directions of further development. In addition, the balance of the program structure, the appropriateness of the distribution of ECTS credits between mandatory and elective components, as well as the logic of building the educational process in the context of the phased formation of professional competencies, were analyzed.

The meeting was held in the format of a constructive professional dialogue, which contributed to the coordination of different positions and the formation of a common vision for the further development of educational programs. All comments and suggestions expressed during the discussion were systematized and will be taken into account when finalizing the draft programs with subsequent introduction of appropriate changes.

The department expresses sincere gratitude to all participants in the discussion - employers, representatives of the academic community, students and graduates - for their active participation, professional position and fruitful cooperation. We are convinced that the updated educational and professional programs will contribute to improving the quality of training of students, forming their competitiveness in the labor market and ensuring the sustainable development of the horticultural industry in Ukraine.

Department of Landscape Gardening and Ecology