Digital and Green Solutions for Rebuilding Ukraine’s Water Sector – A New International Project at the SEI USUCT
At the beginning of 2026, lecturers of the Department of Inorganic Substances Technology and Ecology of the SEI “Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology” of USUST, together with colleagues from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (Ås, Norway), as well as three Ukrainian universities — the National University of Water and Environmental Engineering (Rivne), the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (Kyiv), and the Lviv Polytechnic National University (Lviv) — and the NGO All-Ukrainian Water Society WaterNet, submitted a proposal for funding the project Digital and Green Solutions for Rebuilding Ukraine’s Water Sector (DigiGreen4Water) under the Nansen EDU – Norwegian-Ukrainian Cooperation in Higher Education programme, funded by the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills.
On 22 May 2026, the results of the competitive selection were announced. Congratulations! The project ranked third among 74 submitted applications and was selected for funding together with 15 other projects.
The main objective of the project is to strengthen Ukraine’s water sector and enhance university water-related programmes under wartime conditions. The project will apply Norway’s experience in water resource management to address challenges facing Ukraine’s water sector related to the war, the protection of critical infrastructure, and the safeguarding of the human right to water.
The project’s diverse activities will contribute to the development of educational, digital, and entrepreneurial capacities for needs assessment, knowledge dissemination, and post-war recovery support. The project objectives will be achieved through the training of academic staff and students, the modernization of educational programme content and laboratory equipment, and the strengthening of cooperation with water sector enterprises and local communities.
The project will involve both the department’s academic staff participating in its implementation and students enrolled in the educational programmes “Ecology and Environmental Protection” (specialty E2 (101) Ecology) and “Chemical Technologies and Engineering” with the professional focus “Drinking Water Technologies and Industrial Water Treatment in the Production of Inorganic Substances” (specialty G1 (161) Chemical Technologies and Engineering). Students of these programmes will also have the opportunity to participate in a summer school at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
An important component of the project is the development of new micro-credential courses in the field of water management:
- Digital Transformation of Water Supply and Wastewater Management;
- Innovative Solutions for Water Supply and Sanitation in Technological and Natural Disaster Emergencies;
- Innovative Solutions for Resource Recovery and Utilization;
- Green Technologies in the Water Sector.
The development of micro-credential courses as part of the lifelong learning educational paradigm is a relatively new direction both for our university and for Ukraine as a whole. Therefore, the successful implementation of such courses at the SEI USUCT may provide momentum for their broader adoption and integration across the entire university.
The project will officially commence on 1 July 2026 and will continue until 30 June 2029.
The SEI USUCT team expresses its gratitude to colleagues from partner institutions for their joint efforts in preparing the proposal and congratulates all partners on securing the grant for the implementation of the DigiGreen4Water project.