Project aims to create new capacities for graduate students from partner-countries to integrate in international research-business collaboration in the sphere of sustainable urban development. The project will build a network of universities and research institutes, public and private companies and political bodies in Russia, China and EU to strengthen international collaboration in green technologies for sustainable development of megacities, including management and design of urban forests and green infrastructure, landscaping, urban farming and waste management. The main activities planned by the project include 1) internships of graduate students; 2) short-term introduction and adaptation courses for students, coming for internship abroad; 3) training international experts on environmental issues of urban sustainable development; 4) professional training courses for companies and policy-makers on environmental issues of urban sustainable development.

"The main project objective was enhancement of the role of Higher Education Institutions in ensuring sustainable development of industry and society, support of national “green policies” in Partner Countries and promotion of ""green culture"" by means of Lifelong Learning. Three specific objectives were: 1.Development of modules to foster green skills for different target groups and qualifications levels, 2.Enhancement of access of target groups to open education resources, promotion of LLL,3.Enhancement of green culture and continuing education through training of teaching staff, external stakeholders and public administration.The project promoted green skills among different target groups and for three different subject areas closely related to quality of life at large (ecology, food science and land management). Project used the analysis of sectoral qualification frameworks worked out in previous TEMPUS projects and parallel desk research on green skills related materials. A set of ""Green training modules"", concerning food science, ecology and land management, was designed, tested and implemented. The modules concerned sector-specific issues as well as more general ones A large collection of sustainability-related documents was gathered and made available to the consortium members in Dropbox and One Drive platforms. The main SUSDEV web page was designed and launched; its sustainability is guaranteed by the host (Jagiellonian University in Krakow). Partner Countries institutions have also created their own SUSDEV-related web pages.""SUSIMPACT"" Network was proposed together with the consortium of ECOIMPACT project.Structural character of the project was ensured bya) development of Policy Recommendations which have been forwarded to national authoritiesb) development of a set of transferable good practices concerning various aspects of sustainability and green skills c) fostering cooperation with local authorities and stakeholders, resulting - inter alia - in development of two applications for Regional Centers of Expertise under the auspices of the United Nations University, Tokyo.From the very beginning of the project the synergy with other European initiatives was sought, due to participation of consortium members in various European networks and organizations. Outputs and outcomes of SUSDEV are currently used in new projects, such as MODEST (Modernization of doctoral studies); and SUSDEV partners are getting involved in new initiatives."

Most agricultural rural areas in the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan are characterized by drastic changes in the agriculture and nutrition sector, due to privatization, modernization and increasing differences between large-scale agro-holdings and small holder farms. The importance of rural development and the need to develop perspectives for agricultural land use is both recognized by politics and education. With regard to this a lack of sustainable development strategies and integrated approaches for the regional or local level exists as well as for up-to-date methods and skilled people to assess and further develop agro-ecosystems services, which are not only agricultural products but also environmental and social services. Professionals need to be educated and trained to adopt theoretical development concepts for specific local conditions, access (international) experiences and apply up-to date methods for the assessment of agro-ecosystems and for natural resource and agriculture land use planning and management.Objective of the proposed project SARUD is therefore (1) to develop a professional master programme on sustainable agriculture and rural development tailored to the demand for professionals of public services, local and regional governments, private service providers and enterprises. Together with partners in local working groups three Russian universities representing different regions and three universities in Northern Kazakhstan develop and implement praxis oriented curricula. (2) Situation analysis and experiences on the local and regional level are enriched and exploited through the build-up of a knowledge platform on sustainable agriculture and integrative rural development by involving national network partners. (3) Through the project activities the training competences for the agricultural sector and further education faculties and their inter-regional network will be strengthened.