Environmental and legal public platform: democracy, rule of law, and green recovery

Round table

Round table
“Environmental and legal public platform: democracy, rule of law, and green recovery”

 

Working languages of the event: Ukrainian, English, Slovak
Venue: Uzhhorod, 3 Narodna Square
Format: hybrid (offline + online)

 

During the round table, the most pressing issues of national environmental policy and legislation will be discussed. The discussion will bring together representatives of civil society, the scientific community, state institutions, and international partners around the following key topics:

  • Current challenges and prospects for the development of environmental legislation in the context of European integration processes and the implementation of the EU acquis;
  • From reforms to effective decentralization mechanisms: environmental and legal aspects;
  • Optimization of the system of executive authorities in the field of environmental protection;
  • The coordinating role of the public in solving environmental problems (environmental democracy and transparency, the rule of law, ensuring transparency and control over compliance with environmental and legal norms);
  • Protection of environmental rights and interests;
  • Green recovery of Ukraine as a legal, social, and environmental basis for sustainable development.

 

Special attention will be paid to involving civil society organizations as full partners in the process of reforming the environmental sector and implementing educational and restoration projects, which will contribute to the establishment of environmental democracy and European standards of environmental governance. The round table launches an annual public platform for open dialogue between state institutions, civil society organizations, the scientific community, and international experts to discuss the formation of the fundamental principles of climate and environmental policy and the development of environmental legislation in Ukraine. Based on its results, proposals will be prepared and submitted to the executive authorities of Ukraine.

 

All those interested in the Europeanization of national legislation, advocacy of environmental issues, and the formation of Ukraine’s environmental policy are invited to participate in the round table, including:

  • representatives of public organizations and initiative groups that defend the environmental rights and interests of citizens;
  • government officials and representatives of authorities responsible for environmental reforms and the integration of European standards;
  • scientists, teachers, and practitioners in the field of law and environmental protection;
  • students, graduate students, and young researchers who want to contribute to the development of environmental law and policy in the future.

 

Event schedule:
09:30-10:00 – Registration of participants
10:00-10:30 – Opening of the round table
10:30-12:00 – Panel discussion I “Reforming national environmental policy and adapting environmental legislation to EU standards in environmental protection”
12:00-13:30 – Panel discussion II “Protecting environmental rights and interests: advocacy issues, public participation, European experience”
13:30-14:00 – Coffee break
14:00-15:30 – Panel discussion III “Green recovery of Ukraine: partnership for a sustainable future”
15:30-16:00 – Summing up, adoption of a resolution and recommendations

 

To participate in the round table, please fill out the registration form by September 15, 2025.

 

Partners:

  1. National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine Department of Environmental, Economic, and Agricultural Law
  2. Uzhhorod National University
  3. National Forestry University of Ukraine
  4. Carpathian Human Rights Agency “VESTED”
  5. Public Organization “Grassroots Institute” (Ukraine)
  6. Public Organization “LOCATOR – MEDIA”
  7. International Charitable Organization “SOS Children’s Villages” Ukraine
  8. National Bar Association of Ukraine
  9. Educational and Scientific Institute of Social Sciences, Administration and Law of the National Forestry University of Ukraine
  10. International Environmental Academy
  11. Association of Ukrainian Lawyers

 

REGISTRATION FOR THE EVENT

24 september 2025
10.00 - 16.00
Hybrid
Registration of participants for the event
Free

WELCOME SPEECH

Anatoliy Getman

Rector of Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, Doctor of Law, Professor, Academician of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine, Laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine, Honored Professor of Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University (2024).

Volodymyr Smolanka

Rector of Uzhhorod National University, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor. President of the Ukrainian Association of Neurosurgeons. Vice-President of the All-Ukrainian Public Organization “Ukrainian Association for the Fight Against Stroke”.

Natalia Antoniuk

Deputy Chair of the Cassation Criminal Court within the Supreme Court, Doctor of Law, Associate Professor.

Yulia Ovchinnikova

Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Chair of the Interfactional Deputy Association “For the Environment, Against Ecocide,” Chair of the Subcommittee on Forest Resources, Biodiversity, Natural Landscapes, Nature Reserve Objects, and Adaptation of Ukrainian Legislation to EU Law of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management, Ukrainian ecologist, candidate of biological sciences, member […]

Myroslav Biletsky

Head of the Transcarpathian Regional State (Military) Administration.

Roman Saray

Head of the Transcarpathian Regional Council, Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor.

Volodymyr Zagorskyi

Rector of the State Higher Educational Institution “National Forestry University of Ukraine”, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine, Academician of the Academy of Economic Sciences of Ukraine, Honorary Doctor of Ecology of the Institute of Agroecology and Nature Management […]

Volodymyr Nosik

Head of the Department of Land and Agricultural Law at the Educational and Scientific Institute of Law of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, professor, Doctor of Law, full member (academician) of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine. He is an expert on legal issues within the framework of international technical assistance projects […]

SPEAKERS

Natalia Antoniuk

Deputy Chair of the Cassation Criminal Court within the Supreme Court, Doctor of Law, Associate Professor.

Topic of speech: “The impact of war on the environment: an assessment from the perspective of criminal law”

Volodymyr Nosik

Head of the Department of Land and Agricultural Law at the Educational and Scientific Institute of Law of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, professor, Doctor of Law, full member (academician) of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine. He is an expert on legal issues within the framework of international technical assistance projects […]

Topic of speech: “Agroecological legislation of Ukraine: legal forecasting of development prospects in the context of European integration”

Viktor Checherskyi

Head of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office of the Prosecutor General’s Office, Doctor of Law, Associate Professor, Professor of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law at the National Academy of Management.

Topic of speech: “The Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office as a participant in European integration activities, its role in adapting national legislation to EU standards”

Tetyana Tymochko

Head of the All-Ukrainian Ecological League Public Organization.

Topic of speech: “Principles of Ukraine's green recovery: the public's position”

Natalia Andrusevich

Head of the Board, Resource and Analytical Center “Society and Environment”, coordinator of the Working Group of the Ukrainian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum.

Topic of speech: “The role of European integration in reforming environmental and climate policy and law in Ukraine”

Natalia Malysheva

Doctor of Law, Academician of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics, Honored Lawyer of Ukraine.

Topic of speech: “A paradigm shift in public participation in environmentally important decision-making in the context of contemporary challenges”

Yaroslav Teleshun

WWF-Ukraine Policy and Governance Program Manager, Associate Professor at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, and Political Analyst at the University of Alberta, is a political scientist and expert with over 10 years of experience specializing in the complex interrelationships between business and politics, particularly in the areas of interest groups and anti-corruption policy.

Topic of speech: “The role of civil society institutions in Ukraine's sustainable recovery”

Vasyl Krat

Judge of the Civil Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court.

Topic of speech: “Environmental disputes in the practice of the Civil Court of Cassation”

Serhii Burlakov

Supreme Court Judge, Member of the High Council of Justice, PhD in Law.  

Topic of speech: “Legal protection of the natural environment and environmental rights”

Vitaliy Zuev

Judge of the Supreme Court, Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor.

Topic of speech: “Current issues in the practice of the Supreme Court in resolving land disputes”

Vasyl Kostytskyi

Doctor of Law, Academician of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, Honored Lawyer of Ukraine, Professor at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, President of the International Ecological Academy.

Topic of speech: “Ensuring the right to a favorable environment as a component of sustainable development and a sign of modernity in a European state”

Ihor Soloviy

Doctor of Economics, Professor, Professor of the Department of Economics, Tourism, and Recreation, National Forestry University of Ukraine. Vice President of the Forestry Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Topic of speech: “Supporting the transformation of the forestry sector towards a green post-war recovery of Ukraine based on sustainable development”

Oleksiy Vasylyuk

Head of the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, an expert organization of biologists; Ukrainian conservationist specializing in protected areas and biodiversity conservation. Author of over 700 publications on environmental protection. Initiator of the creation of over 60 new nature conservation areas in Ukraine.

Topic of speech: “The destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant: from environmental disaster to a new paradigm for regional development”

Antonina Bobkova

Chief Researcher at the Public Safety Research Laboratory of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Law and Social Management at Donetsk State University of Internal Affairs.

Topic of speech: “New environmental challenges in the context of Ukraine's recovery”

Mykhailo Shulga

Doctor of Law, Professor, Professor of the Department of Land and Agricultural Law at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine.

Topic of speech: “Legal basis for the rational use of land and other natural resources”

Volodymyr Yermolenko

Doctor of Law, Professor, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, Head of the Department of Agrarian, Land, and Environmental Law named after Academician V.Z. Yanchuk, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine.

Topic of speech: “Legal aspects of Ukraine's post-war green recovery”

Pavlo Kulinych

Doctor of Law, Professor, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, Head of the Department of Agricultural, Land, Environmental, and Space Law at the V. M. Koretsky Institute of State and Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Topic of speech: “Climate-oriented agriculture as a means of ensuring green transition: current legal issues”

Ruslan Gavrilyuk

Head of the Board of the National Ecological Center of Ukraine. Professional interests: protection of groundwater from man-made pollution, formation and transformation of petrochemical pollution of the geological environment, methods of its elimination, environmental monitoring, renewable energy, environmental impact of hydropower facilities, waste management, military ecology, urban ecology, balanced development of the geological industry, environmental […]

Topic of speech: “NMMC project: lack of environmental assessments and adequate public participation”

Vladislav Balinsky

Expert on marine ecology, hydrobiology, and environmental journalism, member of the National Ecological Center of Ukraine. Professional interests: marine and coastal ecosystems, hydrobiology, biodiversity conservation, underwater and drone videography, participation in international environmental projects (in particular, Horizon Europe), investigative journalism in the environmental sphere, documentation of environmental crimes and the consequences of war on the […]

Topic of speech: “Recording oil pollution in the Black Sea caused by Russian aggression”

Maria Mendzul

Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law, Doctor of Law, Professor, Professor of the Department of Civil Law and Procedure at Uzhhorod National University, Head of the NGO “KAPL ”VESTED”.

Topic of speech: “Legal mechanism for environmental protection in Ukraine: compliance with international standards and risks in wartime”

Natalia Petretska

PhD in Law, Professor, Professor of the Department of Constitutional Law and Comparative Law, Uzhhorod National University.

Topic of speech: “Legal mechanism for environmental protection in Ukraine: compliance with international standards and risks in wartime”

Natalia Kryvoruchko

PhD in Economics, Social Manager at CHILDREN’S TOWNS UKRAINE, Head of the Council on Internally Displaced Persons at the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration.

Topic of speech: “Assessment of environmental damage in the temporarily occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia region: the role of the public sector”

Sofiya Shutiak

Lawyer, deputy chair of the Committee on Agricultural, Land, and Environmental Law of the National Bar Association of Ukraine, practicing lecturer at the Department of Information Law of the National Forestry University of Ukraine.

Topic of speech: “New program for developing the raw materials base – will Ukraine become a raw materials appendage?”

Lyubov Sheptytska

Head of the Department of Law and Information Activities at the National Forestry University of Ukraine, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor.

Topic of speech: “Education for sustainable development: lessons from Ukraine for peacetime and wartime, overview of trends”

Serhii Razmetaev

Head of the Kharkiv Regional Organization of the All-Ukrainian Ecological League, Candidate of Juridical Sciences, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Environmental Law at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, member of the Basin Council of the Siverskyi Donets and Lower Don, member of the Scientific and Technical Council of the Homilshanskiy and Slobozhanskyi […]

Topic of speech: “Legal issues of judicial protection of citizens' rights to a safe environment”

Natalia Zubor

Chair of the Board of the Maidan Monitoring Information Center Public Organization, specialist in information and communication security and cybersecurity. Since 2022, she has been documenting Russian war crimes in Kharkiv and the surrounding region.

Topic of speech: “Acoustic terror of the Russian Federation and acoustic ecology”

Olena Shafranova

Coordinator of the coalition of the public organization “Stop Poisoning Kryvyi Rih”, member of the NAU committee on agricultural, land, and environmental law.

Topic of speech: “Changes in environmental legislation during wartime”

Olena Rubanenko

Professor, Doctor of Technical Sciences, researcher at the Research and Innovation Center in Electrical Engineering (RICE) of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of West Bohemia (Pilsen, Czech Republic), professor at the Department of Power Plants and Systems at Vinnitsa National Technical University (Vinnitsa, Ukraine), leading researcher at the Institute of Renewable Energy […]

Topic of speech: “Renewable energy communities: EU experience and prospects for Ukraine”

Alla Maksimenko

Co-founder of the public organization “Okhtyrka Green City”.

Topic of speech: “Practical aspects of creating an eco-profile for a community”

Oksana Zalyubovska

Project Manager, Public Organization “Environmental Geoinformation Systems of Ukraine”, Candidate of Geographical Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Physical Geography and Cartography, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.

Topic of speech: “Geoinformation support for green community restoration as a tool for compliance with environmental and legal standards”

Yulia Frantsishkevich-Virsta

Legal advisor to the public organization Ecology-Law-Man, lawyer. She has extensive experience in consulting and protecting the economic and legal interests of businesses and public organizations.

Topic of speech: “Protecting valuable mountain areas in the Carpathians from wind farm development in the context of European integration processes and the implementation of Natura 2000”

Tetiana Kovalchuk

Acting Head of the Department of Environmental Law, Institute of Law, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, PhD in Law, Associate Professor, Distinguished Educator of Ukraine.

Topic of speech: “Environmental and legal education: current challenges and ways to address them”

Fedir Hamor

Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor, Honored Nature Conservationist of Ukraine, Deputy Director of the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve.

Topic of speech: “Some aspects of improving environmental legislation in terms of preserving Ukraine's nature reserve fund”

Yuriy Yefimov

Doctor of Philosophy in Public Management and Administration, First Deputy Head of the State Environmental Inspection in Kharkiv Region, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Public Policy, Institute of Public Administration, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.

Topic of speech: “Formulation and implementation of environmental policy at the local level”

Hanna Vronska

Judge of the Commercial Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court, Candidate of Legal Sciences.

Topic of speech: “Protection of environmental rights: current practice of the Supreme Court”

Tetyana Seleznyova

Prosecutor of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Office (with the rights of a department) of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

Topic of speech: “Legal protection of state interests in the field of environmental protection”

MODERATORS

Hanna Anisimova

Doctor of Law, Professor, Professor of the Department of Environmental Law at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University.

Yaroslav Lazur

Doctor of Law, Professor, corresponding member of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Uzhhorod National University.

Olga Donets

Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Environmental Law at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, Chair of the Grassroots Institute Public Organization.

Thank you for registration!!

Dear Colleague,

Thank you for registering to attend the VIII-th Kharkiv International Legal Forum.

We look forward to your participation. An official invitation would soon be sent to your email. Any queries, please email to forum@nlu.edu.ua.

See you at VIII-th Kharkiv International Legal Forum on September 23-27, 2024!

Co-Chairman of Organizing Committee
Rector of Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University
Anatoly Hetman