The article is devoted to the analysis of historical, cultural, and architectural importance of Miklouho-Maclay park, a monument of landscape art. It examines the archive data about the family of the famous traveler, ethnographer, anthropologist Mykola Mykolayovych Miklouho-Maclay who lived in Malyn (Zhitomir district Ukraine) at the end of XIX and the beginning of XX century, his contribution to the development of landscape art. It is shown that the park contains 57 species of arboreal-shrub plants including 34 species of trees, 22 shrubs, and one shrubbу liana. 23 of them (40%) are introduced species. The author offers the direction of parkland reconstruction and points out recommendations on territory zoning.

The Annual 24th International Scientific Conference ‘Research for Rural Development 2018’ was special and dedicated to the Latvia a 100 years since became an independent state, 155th Anniversary of Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LLU) and 280th Anniversary of Jelgava palace, where is located the main building of university. In the retrospect of four months later, we can count the Conference as a great success as interdisciplinary studies. The theme – Research for Rural Development - attracted participation more than 167 researchers with very different backgrounds. There were 139 presentations from different universities of Estonia, Poland, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Ukraine, Sweden, South Africa, Indonesia, Russia and Latvia. The interdisciplinary proceedings of the Annual 24th International Scientific Conference ‘Research for Rural Development 2018’ (two volumes since 2010) are intended for academics, students and professionals. The subjects covered by those issues are crop production, animal breeding, agricultural engineering, agrarian and regional economics, food sciences, veterinary medicine, forestry, wood processing, water management, environmental engineering, landscape architecture, information and communication technologies.

This article deals with the use of the service learning method in the study courses of landscape architecture bachelor studies outcomes from a student’s perspective. This kind of research is unique with combining service learning method research and involvement of student’s perspective. The service learning method, which includes both theoretical studies and practical work in the planning of actual territories and communication with the customer, is important for the development of professional competences in the field of landscape architecture. The aim of the research was to state the benefits of students’ professional growth from using this method in the study process. The article summarises the evaluation of the experience of Latvia University of Agriculture landscape architecture studies in cooperation with 3 non-governmental organisations, 8 municipalities and governmental organisations and 4 associations from 2013 to 2016. The research was based on the students’ survey. The students had to answer close-ended questions about the knowledge they had acquired from the projects of different scales. As a result of the survey, it was concluded that the students’ main benefits of professional knowledge are mainly associated with a better understanding of specific features of particular places, which is not always possible within the framework of theoretical studies. The possibility of presenting projects to a real customer, thus improving one’s presentation skills was also positively evaluated.

The four independent reviewers estimated each paper and recommended 81 articles for publishing at the proceedings consisted of 2 volumes, which started life as presentations at the Annual 23rd International Scientific Conference “Research for Rural Development 2017” held at the Latvia University of Agriculture, in Jelgava, on 17 to 19 May 2017. In the retrospect of four months later, we can count the Conference as a great success. The theme – Research for Rural Development - attracted participation more than 155 researchers with very different backgrounds. There were 124 presentations from different universities of Poland, Kazakhstan, France, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Estonia, India, Russia and Latvia. Thank you for your participation! We are sure that you have learned from the presentations and discussions during the conference and you can use the outcomes in the future. The cross disciplinary proceedings of the Annual 23rd International Scientific Conference “Research for Rural Development 2017” (two volumes since 2010) are intended for academics, students and professionals. The subjects covered by those issues are crop production, animal breeding, agricultural engineering, agrarian and regional economics, food sciences, veterinary medicine, forestry, wood processing, water management, environmental engineering, landscape architecture, information and communication technologies. The papers are grouped according to the sessions in which they have been presented.