The main attention of the meeting between representatives of industry and Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute specialists was given to a new green economy and participation of the University experts in it.
The European Green Deal, presented last summer in Brussels, regards Ukraine as a key partner of the European Union. Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba called the initiative a historic event, ‘Europe's hydrogen strategy is launching a new technological revolution in Europe. The European Union hopes for Ukraine as one of its priority partners in supplying hydrogen to Europe. We have worked for this result, because it corresponds to the potential and ambitions of Ukraine in Europe.’
The European hydrogen strategy under the Green Deal project aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. In order to attain this objective, the EU is going to reduce carbon emissions each year and eventually abandon fossil fuels.
An effective cooperation with international partners demanded a new form of work in Ukraine - the Partnership - arrangement of business, government, science and education representatives. According to the strategy, Ukraine is going to build at least three dozen new hydrogen plants. Therefore, the strategic task of the relevant universities is to train experts - one of the initiators of the Partnership, “TMM” C.E.O Mykola Tolmachov is convinced, ‘Much remains to be done for Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute: personnel training, participation in programs, scientific cooperation. A new industry can be established for years, but staff training is of great importance now. By 2030, Ukraine is going to build 35 new plants, while one plant needs at least half a hundred multisectoral staff.’
Rector of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Mykhailo Zgurovsky noted that most of the faculties and departments of the University staff still live and think as citizens of an industrial society and train specialists for large enterprises that do not care of environmental pollution. It is high time to change the key values: ‘We’re having this conversation at the moment when Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute is transiting from an industrial society to a new, the so-called green society. Therefore, we believe that our today's meeting is a kind of invitation of our University to the Partnership - and we gladly accept it. After all, working in such a strategic direction as hydrogen production is very important for us.’
As a result of the meeting, the parties agreed to prepare necessary legal documents for signing a general cooperation agreement. In addition, the relevant departments of the University begin work on a new educational program aimed at studying hydrogen production and green economy in general. In addition, they planned to allocate the theme of hydrogen in a separate competition of the Festival of Innovative Projects - Sikorsky Challenge and hold it in January next year.