Geisenheim Scientists receive Certificate of Participation as Visiting Professors in Ukraine

10/28/2022

Dr. Martin Reiss (on the right) and Dr. Jörn Schultheiß (on the left) took part in the "Visiting Professors' Program in Lviv and received the Certificate of Participation.

Countless cultural property has been damaged or destroyed during the war in Ukraine. Before the Russian invasion, there were about 400 museum, 3,000 cultural sites and seven world heritage sites in Ukraine, e.g. the historic town center of Lviv close to the Polytechnic National University.

As of October 24, UNESCO has verified damage to 207 cultural sites in Ukraine (88 religious sites, 15 museums, 76 buildings of historic and/or artistic interest, 18 monuments, 10 libraries)². The war is a threat to the country’s cultural heritage and, as a consequence, to Ukraine’s cultural identity.

For two years, the Polytechnic National University of Ukraine in Lviv has been cooperating with Hochschule Geisenheim University. In collaboration with the Viacheslav Chornovil Institute of Sustainable Development, the Center of Excellence Cultivated Landscapes (KULT) of Hochschule Geisenheim University has been working on topics related to landscape development in Ukraine. As part of the cooperation, Dr. Martin Reiss and Dr. Jörn Schultheiß from Hochschule Geisenheim University took part in the “Visiting Professors’ Program” in Lviv and were now awarded with a certificate. The two scientists offer a course in collaboration with their Ukrainian colleague Dr. Maryana Senkiv on the digitization of cultivated landscapes in Ukraine. This course can have a significant impact on the preservation of the country’s cultural heritage because, once the war is over, such documentation can help to properly reconstruct cultural and historic assets. The project is consistent with the priorities of KULT that organizes a nationwide working group for the KuLaDig (Kulturlandschaft Digital) system and is involved in several projects on the digitization of cultivated landscapes in Germany.

Link to the content created as part of the course: https://www.kuladig.de/Objektansicht/SWB-334742

The participation in the Visiting Professors‘ Program is a step towards the internationalization of teaching in landscape architecture and landscape planning. In the future, joint courses with Ukrainian and German students are planned. In addition, Hochschule Geisenheim University aims to involve Dr. Maryana Senkiv in teaching activities in Geisenheim.

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1. www.srf.ch/kultur/gesellschaft-religion/ukraine-zerstoerte-kulturgueter-kunsthistoriker-das-loescht-die-kulturelle-identitaet-aus}
_{2. www.unesco.org/en/articles/damaged-cultural-sites-ukraine-verified-unesco}