In June 2023, at the invitation of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA), with the support of the organization of the trip by the NGO “Partnerships for Nature”, Andriy Prokopiv, director of the Botanical Garden and associate professor of the Botany Department of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, attended the annual APGA conference, which took place in Fort Worth. During the visit, A. Prokopiv had the opportunity to talk with the participants of the conference, as well as to give the speech “Botanical Gardens of Ukraine: indomitable in the face of the enemy”.
It is worth emphasizing that during a working visit to the United States of America, Andriy Prokopiv visited the Botanical Gardens of Texas and Fort Worth in the state of Texas, San Diego and Los Angeles in the state of California, as well as Chicago in the state of Illinois. Having familiarized himself with the vegetation of these botanic gardens, Andriy Prokopiv spoke about the peculiarities of the botanical gardens of Ukraine and presented the Botanical Garden of Ivan Franko at the National University of Lviv in detail. “I had the opportunity to talk about the natural wealth of our Botanical Garden, about the conduct of scientific research and the development of educational programs at the Botanical Garden of Lviv University. And I am pleased that at the end of the speeches, I noticed how this presentation moved the employees and volunteers of the American botanical gardens”, – shares his impressions of the director of the LNU Botanical Garden. I. Franka Andriy Prokopiv.
We would like to add that during the business trip, Andriy Prokopiv got acquainted with the organization and functioning of educational and research visiting centres, as well as programs and projects aimed at different age groups. He gained valuable knowledge on the management and organization of the work of botanical gardens in the USA, experience in preserving biological diversity in collections and establishing contacts to discuss issues of cooperation between institutions on the implementation of joint projects.
In general, the working trip to the United States of America was special for the director of the Botanical Garden of Lviv University. After all, for his achievements and merits, Andriy Prokopiv was awarded the Jerry Donnelly “Future Leaders” award from the American Association of Botanical Gardens. This achievement testifies to the high professionalism of Mr Andrii.
The academic community of Lviv University sincerely congratulates Andrii Prokopiv on this achievement and wishes him to reach even higher heights in his favourite business in the future! In addition, this visit and the received award are a vivid confirmation of the importance of the work of the Botanical Garden of Lviv University in this difficult time!
