PRACTICES IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION IN SOUTH EAST EUROPE AND RUSSIA

The REBUS project emerged in countries where the younger generations are reluctant to engage in private business and entrepreneurship, preferring "safe" employment at the public (state owned) enterprises. Their awareness of own entrepreneurship potentials is very low, while the capacity of talented and skilled students often stays unutilized once being employed. Thus the REBUS project supports embedding entrepreneurship to the South East Europe and Russian universities, at the same time creating network for cooperation between EU and partner countries. One of the first activities was identification, analysis and description of common practices in entrepreneurship education. For this purpose, a comprehensive desk research was combined with expert interviews to inquire about approaches of learning and teaching, connections to lessons, courses and extracurricular activities and approaches to validate entrepreneurial competences. The stocktaking related to the knowledge and differentiation on entrepreneurial competences, leading questions of the surveys related to gaps between formalised (HE) and informal (personal oriented, e.g. in internships) learning and assessment, potentials for enhancements of acquisition of those competences, validation of entrepreneurial competences and selection of key sub-competences. This paper presents results of research and needs analysis (stocktaking) and project objectives and first results

THE LAWS OF GROWTH, ACCUMULATION OF THE CROWN PHYTOMASS AND THE AGES OF RIPENESS IN THE PINE FORESTS OF THE MARIISKY FOREST ZAVOLZHJE

The object of investigation: the pine plantings of the Marirsky forest Zavolzhje. The purpose of the work: the study of the character of the crown phytomass accumulation in the pine plantings, establishment of the ripeness age. The pine forest of the region, the dependences between the taxation indicators and the trees crown phytomass components have been established. The regional peculiarities of the forests structure have been specified. The Tables of the trees crown phytomass dynamics have been compiled, the new sort and trade Tables have been offered. The results of the investigations in the form of the normatives have been introduced in production. The efficiency: the more justified count of the whole phytomass of the pine forestsAvailable from VNTIC / VNTIC - Scientific & Technical Information Centre of RussiaSIGLERURussian Federatio

THE EXPERIENCE OF QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK ELABORATION IN THE RUSSIAN FORESTRY SECTOR AS A PART OF THE TEMPUS SUFAREL PROJECT

The paper deals with qualifications framework development for the Russian forestry sector, carried out in accordance with the Tempus SUFAREL project of the consortium of Russian and EU universities and organizations. The authors emphasize the need for effective estimation and regulation methods based on the competence-oriented qualifications descriptors reflecting the employers’ demands. The publication analyzes professional competences formation in European universities, descriptor contents of national qualifications frameworks, education specificity and requirements for the forestry sector in different countries. The research outcomes provide a basis for qualifications framework development in the Russian forestry sector including the main descriptors of responsibility and authority, skills and competences.The authors believe that the above qualifications framework can reinforce qualifications system developments and advanced vocational training, as well as the labor market strategy elaborations

Climate-Smart Forestry in Russia and potential climate change mitigation benefits

In response to climate change, Climate-Smart Forestry (CSF) has been introduced as a holistic approach to guide forest management (Nabuurs et al., 2017; Bowditch et al., 2020), with the aim to connect mitigation with adaptation measures, enhance the resilience of forest resources and ecosystem services, and meet the needs of a growing population. CSF builds on the concepts of sustainable forest management, with a strong focus on climate and ecosystem services, and has three mutually reinforcing components (Verkerk et al., 2020) that are employed in a mix of spatially diverse forest management strategies:• Increasing carbon storage in forests and wood products, in conjunction with other ecosystem services;• Enhancing the health and resilience through adaptive forest management; and • Using wood resources sustainably to substitute non-renewable, carbon-intensivematerials.In this chapter, we applied the CSF approach to provide insights in the climate change mitigation potential (and other impacts) of alternative CSF implementation strategiesacross Russia. Due to the significantly varying regional circumstances we aimed to illustrate this through three case studies

Remote Sensing of Forest Burnt Area, Burn Severity, and Post-Fire Recovery: A Review

Wildland fires dramatically affect forest ecosystems, altering the loss of their biodiversity and their sustainability. In addition, they have a strong impact on the global carbon balance and, ultimately, on climate change. This review attempts to provide a comprehensive meta-analysis of studies on remotely sensed methods and data used for estimation of forest burnt area, burn severity, post-fire effects, and forest recovery patterns at the global level by using the PRISMA framework. In the study, we discuss the results of the analysis based on 329 selected papers on the main aspects of the study area published in 48 journals within the past two decades (2000–2020). In the first part of this review, we analyse characteristics of the papers, including journals, spatial extent, geographic distribution, types of remote sensing sensors, ecological zoning, tree species, spectral indices, and accuracy metrics used in the studies. The second part of this review discusses the main tendencies, challenges, and increasing added value of different remote sensing techniques in forest burnt area, burn severity, and post-fire recovery assessments. Finally, it identifies potential opportunities for future research with the use of the new generation of remote sensing systems, classification and cloud performing techniques, and emerging processes platforms for regional and large-scale applications in the field of study

Rapid assessments of wildlife in Turkmenistan 2018

Kaczensky, P, Rustamov, E., Karryeva, S., Iankov, P., Hudaykuliev, N., Saparmyadov, J., Veyisov, A., Shestopal, A. A., Mengliev, S., Hojamyradov, H., Potaeva, A., Kurbanov, A., Amanov, A., Kekimov, G., Tagiyev, C., Rosen, T. & Linnell, J. D. C. 2019. Rapid assessments of wildlife in Turkmenistan 2018. NINA Report 1696. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research. Although Turkmenistan supports many wildlife species there is very little up-to-date and accessible information on its status. Since 2014 we have been conducting a series of expeditions to protected areas throughout the country. The primary objective has been to clarify the status of Turkmen kulan (Equus hemionus), however, we have also had a secondary focus on other large mammals, especially the Persian leopard (Panthera pardus) and its potential prey species, urial (Ovis orientalis), goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa), markhor (Capra falconeri), bezoar (Capra aegagrus), and wild boar (Sus scrofa). In addition, several expeditions have been accompanied by ornithologists and herpetologists availing of the platform to obtain up-to-date records of these species. Finally, the expeditions have been used to assist networking and experience exchange between the staff of the different protected areas. The purpose of this report is to provide a record of our activities from 2018, with details of large mammals, birds and reptiles seen in the different ecosystems. An appendix provides a short summary of large mammals seen during similar expeditions in 2015. Furthermore, we provide a brief summary of the situation of kulan and leopard based on the combined survey effort from 2014-2018 (and 2019). Our methods were based on collecting all possible information; including direct observations of animals and their tracks / signs, interviewing protected area staff and shepherds about wildlife observations, and collecting the data from camera traps that had been distributed in previous years. In 2018 we conducted a series of expeditions in April, May, June and December which covered most of the ecosystems and major protected areas in Turkmenistan where kulan, leopard, urial, goitered gazelles, bezoar and markhor have occurred in recent years. In total, we visited 5 Nature Reserves, 5 Wildlife Sanctuaries and 18 Important Bird Areas using 39 days of activity. During the expeditions we recorded observations of all target large mammals (kulan, leopard, urial, goitered gazelle, markhor, bezoar, wild boar) along with records of other large and medium sized mammals, particular wolf (Canis lupus), striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena), Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), smaller cats (caracal (Caracal caracal), wild cat (Felis lybica), jungle cat (Felis chaus), Pallas’ cat (Otocolobus manul)) and honey badger (Mellivora capensis). We opportunistically also recorded golden jackal (Canis aureus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), corsac fox (Vulpes corsac), Eurasian badger (Meles meles), steppe polecat (Mustela eversmanii), and porcupine (Hystrix indica). In addition, we observed a total of 191 species of birds and 38 species / sub-species of reptiles. The status of kulan is serious. They have become functionally extinct in Badhyz Nature Reserve, with no confirmed observations since 2015. Some few individuals (<15) persist in the Tersakan valley west of Sunt Hasardag Nature Reserve and the Gury Howdan Wildlife Sanctuary, and a group of 15-25 individuals occupy the border security zone and adjacent areas of Uzbekistan to the north and west of Sarygamysh Lake. There may be a handful of other individuals ranging around Meana Chacha Wildlife Sanctuary and Gaplangyr Nature Reserve. It is highly likely that the species will become totally extinct in Turkmenistan in the near future because none of these isolated remnants is likely to be viable. The situation for leopard and their prey is better. Leopards are widespread in the mountains along the Iranian border (from Badhyz in south to Sunt Hasardag in west), and through the Balkan range. Urial were found in all mountain protected areas visited, and markhor were present in Koytendag Nature Reserve. Gazelles were also present in many protected areas, and occasionally outside. However, the scarcity of urial outside protected areas, and the general low density of gazelles point to targeted poaching as being the main driver of decline of all the large herbivores (kulan, urial, gazelles). The expeditions have provided a broad impression of the current state of Turkmenistan’s wildlife, using rapid assessments and camera trapping. The country is home to an amazing diversity of species and ecosystems which are clearly deserving of more study and better protection. There is a need for more detailed and targeted follow-up studies of all the species that we have documented in this report to better understand their ecology and the required actions needed for their long-term survival. However, unless serious action is taken to address poaching and improve the investment in protected area and rangeland management many other species could soon follow the kulan into decline and extinction.Kaczensky, P, Rustamov, E., Karryeva, S., Iankov, P., Hudaykuliev, N., Saparmyadov, J., Veyisov, A., Shestopal, A. A., Mengliev, S., Hojamyradov, H., Potaeva, A., Kurbanov, A., Amanov, A., Kekimov, G., Tagiyev, C., Rosen, T. & Linnell, J. D. C. 2019. Rapid assessments of wildlife in Turkmenistan 2018. NINA Raport 1696. Norsk institutt for naturforskning (NINA). Selv om Turkmenistan har mange viltarter, foreligger det svært lite oppdatert og tilgjengelig informasjon om deres status. Vi har siden 2014 foretatt en rekke ekspedisjoner til verneområder i landet. Hovedformålet har vært å klargjøre statusen til turkmensk kulan (asiatisk villesel) (Equus hemionus), men vi har også hatt fokus på andre store pattedyr, særlig persisk leopard (Panthera pardus) og dens potensielle byttedyrarter , urial (steppesau) (Ovis orientalis), svarthalegazelle (Gazella subgutturosa), markhor (skruegeit) (Capra falconeri), besoargeit (villgeit) (Capra aegagrus) og villsvin (Sus scrofa). I tillegg har flere ekspedisjoner hatt med ornitologer og herpetologer som har bidratt til å fremskaffe oppdaterte funn av disse artene. Og ikke minst, har ekspedisjonene blitt brukt til å hjelpe med nettverksbygging og erfaringsutveksling mellom tilsatte i de ulike verneområdene. Formålet med denne rapporten er å presentere data fra vår aktivitet i 2018, med detaljer på store pattedyr, fugler og reptiler sett i de ulike økosystemene. Et appendiks gir en kort oppsummering av store pattedyr sett på lignende ekspedisjoner i 2015. Vi gir videre en enkel oppsummering av situasjonen for kulan og leopard basert på en samlet undersøkelsesinnsats fra 2014-2018 (og 2019). Våre metoder var basert på å samle all mulig informasjon; inkludert direkte observasjoner av dyr og deres sportegn, intervjue ansatte i verneområdene og gjetere om viltobservasjoner, og innsamling av data fra viltkameraer som var satt ut i tidligere år. I 2018 foretok vi en rekke ekspedisjoner i april, mai, juni og desember som dekket det meste av økosystemer og de viktigste verneområdene i Turkmenistan hvor kulan, leopard, urial, svarthalegazelle, besoargeit og markhor har forekommet i de siste årene. Totalt har vi besøkt 5 naturreservater, 5 viltreservater og 18 viktige fugleområder (IBA) i løpet av 39 dager med aktiv feltinnsats. Vi har i løpet av ekspedisjonene registrert observasjoner av alle fokusartene av store pattedyr (kulan, leopard, urial, svarthalegazelle, markhor, besoargeit, villsvin) sammen med registreringer av andre store og mellomstore pattedyr som ulv (Canis lupus), stripehyene (Hyaena hyaena), gaupe (Lynx lynx), , mindre katter (caracal (Caracal caracal) afrikansk villkatt (Felis lybica), jungelkatt (Felis chaus), pallaskatt (Otocolobus manul)) og honninggrevling (Mellivora capensis). Vi observerte tilfeldigvis også gullsjakal (Canis aureus), rødrev (Vulpes vulpes), stepperev (Vulpes corsac), grevling (Meles meles), steppeilder (Mustela eversmanii) og indisk hule-piggsvin (Hystrix indica). Vi har i tillegg observert i alt 191 fuglearter og 38 arter/underarter av reptiler. Situasjonen for kulan er alvorlig. Den er funksjonelt utryddet i Badhyz naturreservat, med ingen bekrefta observasjoner siden 2015. Noen få individer (<15) er tilstede i Tersakan-dalen vest for Sunt Hasardag naturreservat og Gury Howdan viltreservat, og en gruppe på 15-25 individer holder til i sikkerhetssonen på grensen og tilstøtende områder i Uzbekistan til nord og vest for innsjøen Sarygamysh. Det kan være en håndfull andre individer i området rundt Meana Chacha viltreservat og Gaplangyr naturreservat. Det er høyst sannsynlig at arten vil bli totalt utryddet i Turkmenistan i nær fremtid da ingen av disse isolerte restbestandene er levedyktige. Situasjonen for leoparden og dens byttedyr er bedre. Leoparder er vidt utbredt i fjellene langs den iranske grensen (fra Badhyz i sør til Sunt Hasardag i vest), og gjennom Balkan-fjellkjeden. Urial ble funnet i alle fjellverneområder som ble besøkt, og markhor var tilstede i Koytendag naturreservat. Gazeller var også tilstede i mange verneområder, og av og til utenfor. Imidlertid peker knappheten på urial utenfor verneområder og den generelt lave tettheten av gazeller på målrettet krypskyting som viktigste driver for nedgangen av alle store herbivorer (kulan, urial, gazeller). Ekspedisjoner har fremskaffet det første brede inntrykk av staten Turkmenistan’s viltfauna. Landet er hjem for en fantastisk diversitet av arter og økosystemer som klart fortjener flere studier og bedre vern. Det er behov for mer detaljerte og målretta oppfølgingsstudier av alle arter som vi har dokumentert i denne rapporten for bedre å forstå deres økologi og de tiltak som kreves for deres langsiktige overlevelse. Dersom ikke alvorlige tiltak settes inn mot krypskyting, og at det bevilges mer penger til verneområder og forvaltning av beiteland, så vil andre arter snart følge etter kulanen med bestandsnedgang og utryddelse