At the moment all three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – use Baltic Normal Height System 1977 as a national height system. But the European Union regulations declared the European Vertical Reference System as a national height system. For height transformation there is a transformation formula for each European country. After calculations it is seen that height difference between Baltic Normal Height System 1977 and the European Vertical Reference System depends on point location in the territory (coordinates). This unequal height difference between both height systems will cause unequal height values on border connection points between the Baltic countries.

The process of reforming higher education in Russian Federation continues. One of the main areas of these reforms is an introduction of principles of Bologna process into Russian higher education system. It was launched after Russia ratified the Bologna Declaration in 2003. Since the beginning of reforms and up to now there have not been lingering disputes about feasibility of introducing the principles of Bologna Agreement into higher education. The article deals with the history of reforms on the example of higher education in land management in Russia. Dynamics of indicators of higher education institutions which carry out training under programs in the field of land management and cadastre have been studied. Introduction of federal state educational standards associated with introduction and/ or updating of current education within Bologna process in 2020 has been considered. Updating (introduction of FGOS 3++ standard) will be implemented in all directions of bachelor degree. First of all it is guided to consideration of requirements of professional standards. The process of development of the Institute of State Accreditation of higher education institutions of Russia, its current status and problems faced by higher education institutions during accreditation process have been studied.

In 2015−2016 the State University of Land Use Planning and land management faculties of higher educational institutions released the final mass enrolment of graduates who studied “engineer” qualification for five years. Starting from 2016−2017, bachelors and masters of land management began to leave the walls of the State University of Land Use Planning and land management departments of universities. Has the division into two parts - bachelor's and master's been justified? Basically, we can say that this is an international practice and we would not want to live separately from the international community, since we study foreigners from many countries of the world who want to receive education in a Western way; in addition, our students also study abroad. But, unlike the Western baccalaureate, we remain specializations. There are profiles in the undergraduate program: land administration, land management, real estate cadastre, urban cadastre, land valuation, real estate valuation, and so on, that is students receive professional knowledge. Mastership is designed to deepen them. But it is absolutely not necessary to choose undergraduate and graduate programs in the same direction, it can be changed. If a student is not satisfied with the direction or specialization chosen before, he can correct it by studying another mastership program. One undoubted positive consequence of Russia's accession to the Bologna process is the simultaneous assumption of international obligations to maintain the wide accessibility of higher education regardless of financial situation of young people. Europe seeks to provide broad social protection in this area, where Russia has been catastrophically losing ground in recent years. The United States, with all its wealth, has never tried to positively solve this problem and is not going to accept the Bologna rules, and they have enough compelling arguments for this. First of all, do we need a bachelor degree? How will a master match with a candidate of science? Today, the heads of land surveying firms and companies, sociologists, professors of universities as well as educational and scientific institutions are discussing this problem.

With growing importance of the global economy, one of the basic natural resources − intensity of land use − is also increasing, which often is the cause of land degradation processes. The causes and manifestations of brownfields are diverse, and their elimination is the first prerequisite for the sustainable use of land resources and development of each region. Improvement, maximal and efficient engagement in economic activity of brownfields is one of the key challenges for sustainable resource use that makes significant contribution to regional development. The reuse of brownfields has significant impact on sustainable development as it meets all three of its objectives: improving the economy, improving social cohesion and the environment. The aim of the article is on the basis of special literature examples to examine issues of sustainable development, evaluation and restoration of brownfields, transformation of brownfields into recreational areas, as well as further use of brownfields in cities and rural areas.