Fourth-year student of the Faculty of Architecture, future landscape architect Bogdan Lobanov began his next academic year with a significant professional success: he won the All-Russian competition for the scholarship of Ilya Mochalov, the founder of the architectural and landscape company "Ilya Mochalov and Partners". This company, together with the company TM "ALTRAIN" and the Moscow Association of Landscape Architects (ROO MALA), established scholarships for final-year bachelor's students. Scholarships are awarded based on the results of the competition for projects in the field of landscape architecture that reflect concern for nature, emphasize its natural beauty and are distinct in an innovative creative approach.

"To the competition I submitted a project for the development of the territory in the cities of Murino and Bugry in the Leningrad Region. This is a significant, large area with a number of pressing issues. Working with real problems is always more interesting and useful. After studying many applied disciplines in the third year, solving design problems has become much easier. In addition, I am working on this topic as part of my final qualifying work," Bogdan said.

Ilya Mochalov noted that he was pleasantly surprised by the works of young architects, especially Bogdan's landscape study. "Bogdan Lobanov turned an abandoned field of 175 hectares into a huge park - a kind of green dystopia, reimagined as a future garden city. His other concept - a post-industrial park on the ruins of factories, where flowering herbs coexist with massive metal structures - is reminiscent of the best examples of the transformation of industrial areas in Germany. It is important that Bogdan thinks big: in his motivation letter, he said that in ten years he sees himself as a person who will influence the quality of the urban environment at the legislative level. This energy and desire to change people's lives for the better make his work especially valuable and inspiring," he believes.

Bogdan is gradually moving towards his large-scale goals and admits that his main task now is to finish this semester and prepare a “strong diploma” by the summer. Then he plans to enroll in a master's program, most likely choosing “something at the intersection of landscape and urban planning.” The student is confident that everything will work out, since the SPbGASU Department of Landscape Architecture is taught by both practicing architects and biologists, dendrologists, and specialists in urban landscaping. That is why the department trains specialists who will be well versed in natural and environmental processes and take them into account when designing an urban environment. Bogdan's words are confirmed in practice: students Alina Ziben and Aurika Andreeva became finalists in the competition and received the opportunity to do an internship at the company “Ilya Mochalov and Partners”.

"Last year, our students also won this competition, and this gave me confidence in my own abilities. The jury of the competition emphasized that our Department of Landscape Architecture is the strongest in the country. This is very nice to hear, and I agree with this," noted Bogdan Lobanov.

The head of the educational program in landscape architecture, Nadezhda Kerimova, noted that a large volume of biological disciplines, such as botany, soil science, dendrology, and, at the same time, a practice-oriented approach allow us to train unique specialists who combine knowledge and skills in both architectural design and plant and environmental design.

"Thanks to our highly qualified teachers-architects, students gain experience in designing real urban facilities and sites, thanks to knowledge of biological disciplines they understand how to organically "return nature to the city". I can confidently say that our university has formed a unique program for training specialists in the direction of 35.03.10 Landscape architecture, where in four years they train landscape architects who in the future will be able to make a great contribution not only to the aesthetics and comfort of the environment, but also to the health of our cities," noted Nadezhda Aliyevna.