On March 12, 2026, on the occasion of Land Surveyor’s Day, the Land Management Institute of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences (NAAS) of Ukraine organized and hosted a roundtable discussion on the topic “Land Management – An Independent Science, Not a Service Function of Law, Economics and Ecology.” The event was held in a hybrid format and brought together 41 participants, including researchers, academic staff, and graduate students working in the field of land management.
 
The roundtable was held with the support of the project «Substantiation and measures for implementation of a human rights-based integrated approach to rural development, food security and land policy in post-war rebuilding of Ukraine» (abbreviated “rUAr: Rebuild Rural Ukraine”), funded under the “Long-term program of support of the Ukrainian research teams at the Polish Academy of Sciences carried out in collaboration with the U.S. National Academy of Sciences with the financial support of external partners”.
 
The roundtable was moderated by Andrii Tarnopolskyi, Deputy Director of the Land Management Institute of NAAS.
 
An opening address was delivered by Maksym Kropyvko, Doctor of Economics, Professor, and Deputy Academic Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Economics and Food of NAAS.
 
The event aimed to discuss a vision for the development of land management as a science in the face of contemporary challenges, as well as to substantiate and update its theoretical and methodological framework. Yosyp Dorosh stressed that modern land management is a complex interdisciplinary science whose theoretical foundations must be adapted to new operational and strategic realities.
 

 
The keynote presentation, “Land Management as a Unique Science: Contemporary Challenges and a Vision for the Future,” was delivered by Yosyp Dorosh, Acting Director of the Land Management Institute of NAAS of Ukraine, Academician of NAAS, Doctor of Economics, and Professor.
 

 
The discussion brought together prominent scholars and experts in land management, environmental economics, and nature conservation, including Anton Tretiak, Oleksandra Kovalyshyn, Oleksandr Kovaliv, Vladyslav Peresolyak, Shamil Ibatullin, Oksana Sakal, and others. Special attention was given to the training of research personnel in the field of land management and the defense of relevant doctoral dissertations.
 

 
Participants came from leading universities, research institutions, and local government bodies across Ukraine, including the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Lviv Polytechnic National University, Stepan Gzhytskyi Lviv National University of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnologies, Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University, State Biotechnology University, Lutsk National Technical University, Uzhhorod National University, Uman National University, Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University, Yuriy Kondratyuk National University “Poltava Polytechnic,” Kyiv Aviation Institute National University, Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas, the Institute of Land Relations and Environmental Protection LLC, Chortkiv Art and Technical Vocational College, the Buchach Vocational College branch of Podillia State University, and Obukhiv City Territorial Community.
 
At the close of the roundtable, participants reached a shared conclusion on the need to continue such meetings in a more consolidated format, with the aim of establishing land management as a unique and independent science – through the development of its theoretical and methodological foundations, the training of research personnel, and the defense of relevant dissertations.