Ruslan Gunko, Bachelor of Natural Resources, Sustainable Coastal Management

I’m originally from Ukraine, from the, for Finland and Sweden, famous city Poltava. However, I lived and worked in Kyiv for many years.

My background is quite wide and sudden different. I received my first university degree in engineering from one of the universities in Ukraine. But, I always looked for new challenges for myself. That’s why I started my career in TV, where I was a journalist, editor and presenter.

It was an interesting and exciting period of my life, where I learned a lot of new things. One of it was that I should always follow my dreams. This is how I met a new challenge.

For many years I was interested in environmental problems and climate change. I knew that Finland is famous for coping with these global problems. Thus, I had no doubt where I would study a new field for me.

Why did you choose Novia UAS and DP in Sustainable Coastal Management?

There are not so many programs that give students not only theoretical knowledge, but also practical skills. The last one was an important criterion for my choice of study place. After a small research about program curriculum, university, and Raseborg I hadn’t any doubts that Sustainable Coastal Management Programme was the right choice.

Moreover, Novia UAS has a lot of international connections, which fit perfect with my plan to get experience of exchange studies.

Finally, I was impressed by the place where the campus was located. Raseborg is a city with a unique atmosphere, picturesque nature and convenient location. This is an ideal place to study environmental science.

What are you working with today?

During my study at the Sustainable Coastal Management Programme, I worked with researchers from the Bioeconomy Research Team at Novia UAS. Furthermore, my thesis project was a part of a big research at Novia.

Thus, I got a pleasant experience in science and decided to build my career in this field. Fortunately, I’m continuing to be part of Novia’s research and student community.

Nowadays, I’m working with my multidisciplinary Ph.D. project in environmental and social science in the Bioeconomy Research Team at Novia UAS.

How do you feel that the studies prepared you for working life?

The Sustainable Coastal Management Programme is a practically oriented degree program. Obviously, two years is a quite short time period, but this programme is built in a way to give student huge fundament in environmental science, management, consulting, science, etc.

Hence, I had only one assignment: how to correctly allocate my efforts and choose what interests me the most. This is an important part of independent work, but at the same time, I had guidance from Novia’s teachers, who helped me make the right choice.

Therefore, I was prepared to work immediately after graduation with projects that I like.

Why would you recommend the degree programme to others?

The Sustainable Coastal Management Programme is a good starting point of the career in environmental science. In a relatively short time student get wide knowledge and, what is more important, understanding how to use this knowledge in practice.

After my study experience at SCM, I came to the conclusion that the Sustainable Coastal Management programme is unique in its essence.

Finally, at SCM teachers built study program in a way that all students, teachers and alumnus have the feeling of being part of a big family.