The Russian Timber Association and Voronezh State Forestry University signed a cooperation agreement

The National Association of Timber Industry “Russian Timber” and the Voronezh State Forestry University named after G. F. Morozov signed an agreement on cooperation in the development of specialized education, training and employment of graduates. The agreement provides for the formation and implementation of educational programs of higher and secondary vocational education, improvement of communications between VSFLTU named after. G. F. Morozov and the Association, development and implementation of effective forms of cooperation in the preparation and employment of graduates.

Olga Kalyuzhnaya, President of the Russian Timber Association: “The timber industry, like many other sectors of the economy, is experiencing a shortage of personnel. According to expert data, our field lacks over 34,000 specialists. Not only competitive salaries and improved working conditions, but also cooperation between universities and specialized businesses and their active interaction with the real sector of the economy can increase the attractiveness of the industry for young professionals. A lot has been done in this direction over the past few years.”.

So, within the framework of the federal educational project “Professionality”, educational and production clusters have already opened and continue to open in different parts of Russia, in which new educational programs are being introduced, including in the field of the forestry complex. Educational institutions being modernized on a turnkey basis are guided by an industry-specific training model to meet the needs of industry-specific labor markets and specific enterprises. Separate impact projects are aimed at training highly qualified personnel in the forest industry in forest regions.

Andrey Goncharov, First Vice-President of the Russian Timber Association: “One of the key trends in recent years is the rapid development of new technologies and digitalization in the timber industry. The number of enterprises using high-tech equipment and introducing more advanced production processes is growing. In this regard, the demand for highly qualified specialists who are well versed in these processes, equipment operators, and engineers is growing. The introduction of innovative technologies and digitalization are also forming a market for relatively new professions for the industry: these are operators of complex systems and UAVs, programmers, 3D engineers..

Mikhail Drapalyuk, rector of VSFLTU named after. G. F. Morozova: “New educational opportunities await our students. There is a lot of joint activity ahead, the result of which will be the implementation of activities and a completely new level of personnel training with the opportunity to test the professional competencies of future certified specialists in close cooperation with the Russian Timber Association.

As part of joint cooperation between the Russian Timber Association and VSFLTU named after. G. F. Morozov will organize on-site classes, meetings of students with managers and specialists of enterprises participating in the Association. The purpose of such events is to bring the learning process closer to the practice of professional activity. In addition, the Association and its members will help the university in organizing all types of student internships (educational, industrial, pre-diploma, etc.) with the aim of acquiring professional skills and abilities by students in areas of training and specialties.

The introductory event within the framework of the cooperation agreement will be an open lecture by Andrey Goncharov, first vice-president of the Russian Timber association, a former graduate of VSFLTU named after G. F. Morozov.