ADVANCED VOCATIONAL TRAINING OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROFESSIONALS FOR PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF RAILWAYS OF UKRAINE ON THE WAY TO EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

Abstract

The subject of the research is to study the state of issue of advanced training of environmental professionals and specialists on six railways of Ukrzaliznytsia PJSC: Donetsk, Lviv, Odesa, Pivdenna (Southern), Pivdenno-Zakhidna (Southwestern) and Pridniprovska Railways. The purpose of the article is to study the issue of providing the necessary qualification level of postgraduate education (advanced training) of environmental professionals and specialists at six Ukrainian railways. The methodology of the research: In order to achieve the goal, the following methods are used in the article: 1) statistical methods and methods of comparative analysis; 2) questionnaires and expert surveys of environmental professionals and specialists; 3) taxonomic methods. The novelty of the research. The state of the issue of ensuring the necessary level of professional development of environmental professionals and specialists at six railways of Ukrzaliznytsia PJSC is investigated. Namely: 1. the state of the level of professional development of environmental professionals and specialists of 6 railways of Ukrzaliznytsia PJSC for the period from 2012 to 2016 is researched and evaluated; its structural and dynamic analysis is carried out; 2. calculations of taxonomic indicators of the level of development of career development system for environmental professionals and specialists as distribution of expenses for advanced training for 6 railways for 2012–2016 are made; 3. carried out a questionnaire of environmental professionals and specialists, whose list of functional responsibilities, in accordance with the job description (both staffed and part-time workers), includes issues of the use of natural resources and environmental protection – in order to clarify the availability of environmental education, the length of work in the railway, the length of work in positions associated with environmental activities, the level of satisfaction with the content of their work. Conclusions. To ensure the sustainable development of Ukrainian railways on the way to European integration, it is necessary to take into account the requirements and standards of the EU both in the reform of rail transport in general and in the management of its impact on the natural environment. The training of modern skilled personnel is an important part of the strategy of sustainable economic and ecological development of rail transport; therefore, a special attention should be paid to the training of environmental professionals and specialists working in positions related to the use of natural resources and environmental protection. The European direction of the railways of Ukraine requires new approaches to the education and professional development of such specialists. Summing up the results of the conducted researches, the authors of the article substantiated that both the structure of the number of environmental professionals and specialists who have increased the qualification, as well as the structure of costs for the advanced training of environmental professionals and specialists of six studied railways, which are parts of Ukrzaliznytsia PJSC, for the period from 2012 to 2016 are very volatile. Thus, they concluded that, during the period under review, such significant structural shifts do not comply with the principles and provisions of the sustainable development of railway transport enterprises.