On June 30, 2022, the webinar "Ukrainian Higher Education Under Bombs: Voices from #ErasmusGeneration" took place on the Zoom online platform, organized by the National Erasmus+ Office in Ukraine together with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Erasmus Student Network in Ukraine, Erasmus Mundus Association in Ukraine, Ukrainian State Center for International Education in cooperation with the Delegation of the European Union in Ukraine.
The webinar was attended by more than 80 representatives from 17 countries of the world – Ukraine, Austria, Albania, Belgium, Great Britain, Armenia, Georgia, Italy, Latvia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Turkey, Finland, France and the Czech Republic. Current issues of higher education were discussed by representatives of the European Commission, the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), the EU Delegation, the Mission of Ukraine to the EU, ministries and other international organizations, universities – employees and students, young people and youth organizations.
The National University "Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic" was represented at the event by Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Germanic Philology and Translation Anna Pavelieva, who became an active participant in the webinar and shared her own vision of the topical issues of higher education in the conditions of hostilities.
The purpose of the event was to raise awareness of the world community about the current situation in the field of higher education during the war, to tell real stories of students and university employees, to present cases of support for the EU Erasmus+ Programme and EU networks in Ukraine during a full-scale invasion, and to present directions for mutual assistance and cooperation with Europeans.
The event consisted of 3 parts:
- a panel discussion on the state of higher education in Ukraine during the war;
- a living library with real stories and cases from the Erasmus+ community: students, graduates, employees of Ukrainian universities;
- a panel discussion on institutional support and assistance to the European Erasmus+ network in Ukraine.
The participants were greeted by sectoral manager of the EU Delegation in Ukraine Vira Rybak and director general of the Directorate of European Integration, Budgeting and Policy Coordination, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine Oleksandr Pyzhov.
During the first panel session, the coordinator of the National Erasmus+ office in Ukraine Svitlana Shytikova, presented a brief overview of the state of higher education institutions in Ukraine during the war, the results and losses, highlighted the key challenges and ways of helping the European Erasmus+ community to Ukrainian colleagues and partners. The experience of foreign students in Ukraine during the full-scale invasion of russia was presented to the audience by Olena Shapovalova – director of the Ukrainian Center for International Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, who shared stories of evacuation.
The participants of the event had the opportunity to personally learn about real cases and talk with "books" during the living library session, to hear stories from students, graduates, and employees of Ukrainian universities from the attacked and occupied territories. In particular, in the Zoom-room about students, we got acquainted with the stories of a student from Kharkiv (the city that was first attacked), learned about his experience working with journalists and students from Turkey who, as part of the Erasmus+ exchange, were in Ukraine at the beginning of hostilities and listened to the story of their evacuation, heard the student's personal story about the change of values and her parents in the occupation, learned about a graduate of the Erasmus Mundus programme who came under fire, joined the ranks of the territorial defense and began collecting evidence of crimes against humanity.
In another Zoom room, participants had the opportunity to talk with representatives of higher education institutions in Mariupol, Berdiansk and Kharkiv regarding the evacuation of students, teachers and universities, learned about the new realities of the educational process and the support of foreign partners and Erasmus+ colleagues. The case of the university from Uzhhorod was also presented, which expanded the boundaries and, with the support of European colleagues, became a center of humanitarian aid for internally displaced persons and all victims.
In the next plenary session, representative of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Erasmus Mundus Alumni Association Kateryna Suprun; Erasmus Student Network Ukraine Artem Tselikov; and Erasmus Mundus Alumni Association Oleksandr Ivanov presented the institutional support and assistance of the European Erasmus+ network in Ukraine, paying attention to the challenges, ways to overcome them and key priorities.
Speakers' presentations can be found at the following links:
- Svitlana SHYTIKOVA, coordinator of the National Erasmus+ office in Ukraine – download (updated);
- Kateryna SUPRUN, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Erasmus Mundus Alumni Association – download;
- Artem TSELIKOV, Erasmus Student Network Ukraine – download (updated);
- Report of Survey 2022: Ukrainian Students Abroad", Erasmus Student Network Ukraine – download;
- Kateryna POLUPANOVA, Pryazovskyi State Technical University – download (updated).
At the end of the event, the participants had the opportunity to share their impressions and expressed their position regarding support and assistance to the Ukrainian Erasmus+ community and higher education institutions in the reconstruction as a result of the russian invasion.
Previously, the philologist-scientist became a certified coach of the course "Psychological preparation and actions of the civilian population in wartime conditions", the Polytechnic teacher underwent training course under the "Active Citizens" program from the British Council in Ukraine, the associate professor of the Department of Germanic Philology and Translation was elected as a coordinator of external communications at the European Council of post-graduate students, doctoral students and young scientists, she became a participant in the Erasmus+ event dedicated to the art of dialogue, she was a member of the jury of the competition of scientific projects on academic integrity, and the scientists of the Polytechnic took part in a webinar dedicated to mobility projects during the war.
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National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”
