Participation in this program is an extremely valuable experience for future professionals, as it allows them to go beyond classroom learning and participate in solving real social and spatial challenges. By working in conditions of limited resources, students master modern methods of sustainable development and learn to integrate architectural solutions into the specific context of border territories, which is an extremely relevant skill in the conditions of modern globalized architecture. In addition to acquiring professional competencies, such international mobility promotes intercultural dialogue and strengthens a professional network of contacts, which is an invaluable asset for a successful career in the European space.
Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, which acts as the organizer of the event, is a leading Latvian higher education institution known for its focus on practice-integrated learning and innovative approaches to solving regional problems. The university actively develops the fields of architecture and urbanism, creating a favorable environment for creative experiments and research that closely interact with local communities. Cooperation with such an academic institution allows students of Poltava Polytechnic to familiarize themselves with advanced European design standards and feel the atmosphere of academic freedom and practical involvement in socially important projects.
General information about the program
Program name: Erasmus+ BIP “Commons Under Constraint. Adaptive Reuse and Community Co-production in Borderland Territories”.
Organizer: Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences (Latvia).
Target audience: students of architecture and urban planning.
Format: design-build workshop.
Program ID: 2024-1-LV01-KA131-HED-000206527-2.
Number of grants: 3 Erasmus+ scholarships available for Poltava Polytechnic students.
Grant amount: 965 EUR.
Payment procedure: 75% of the amount is paid upon arrival, 25% – after receiving the Transcript of Records and submitting the reporting documentation.
Deadline for document submission: April 15, 2026.
English language testing: April 16, 2026, 10:00, room 323-C.
Virtual component: May 5–9, 2026 (MS Teams).
Physical program in Latvia: May 11–15, 2026 (arrival May 10, departure May 16).
Credits: 3 ECTS.
The mobility will take place in the city of Indra, located on the eastern border of Latvia (the edge of the European Union). The Latgale region is known for its multi-layered identity, cultural influences, and rich wooden architecture. Currently, the territory is facing depopulation, the presence of abandoned buildings, and new geopolitical realities (increased state presence, defense systems).
The goal of the mobility program is to explore how architecture can be useful in conditions of limitations, and how, through small interventions, it is possible to “revitalize” the space and support local life.
Working process
Method: site analysis, development of ideas, and practical construction from available materials.
Materials: use of secondary resources: elements collected from abandoned premises (wooden parts, frames, tools, etc.).
Approach: teamwork, cooperation with local residents, use of low-impact construction methods.
Event program (main stages)
May 10: arrival in Kraslava.
May 11: introduction to the territory, meetings with local residents, definition of team tasks, first sketches.
May 12: space and material analysis, discussion with the community, preparation of workstations, start of material processing.
May 13–14: intensive construction phase, adaptation of projects according to the situation on site.
May 15: final work, preparation for the official opening.
May 16: morning hike, shared meal with the community, presentation of results, discussion of conclusions, departure to Riga (approximately at 16:00).
Practical information
Transport: participants are recommended to arrive in Riga, from where a direct connection to Kraslava is organized, and then to Indra.
Accommodation: Local Cultural Centre (Indra Local Cultural Centre). Sleeping places are organized in the sports hall on mattresses and folding beds. There are showers, sanitary facilities, and a fully equipped kitchen.
Meals: lunch and dinner are prepared together with a local farm. Breakfast is individual (there is full access to the kitchen).
Important: participants must have their own sleeping bags.
Team (curators)
Marta Ventere and Marija Katrīna Dambe (NOMAD architects) – specialists in adaptive reuse, spatial design, and architecture in resource-limited conditions.
Documents required for participation
• 2 official notes from the graduating department;
• certificate of academic performance from the dean’s office;
• scan copy of the international passport (first spread, PDF format);
• CV in English (in PDF format with a photo, no more than 2 pages);
• motivation letter in English (up to 1 page, PDF format);
• passport-sized photo (.jpeg);
• scan copy of the secondary education certificate with supplements;
• certificate of foreign language proficiency (if available).
Motivation letters are checked for plagiarism and the use of artificial intelligence.
It is forbidden to submit the same motivation letter for multiple mobilities.
Documents not prepared in accordance with the requirements will not be accepted.
Procedure for participating in the Erasmus+ credit academic mobility program competition (for students)
Step 1. Contacting the graduating department
The student contacts the graduating department with a request to consider the possibility of participating in the program.
The department conducts a comparison of the academic disciplines of the Ukrainian educational program, which the student is studying, and the Erasmus+ BIP mobility program at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences.
If the disciplines are agreed upon, the department prepares two official notes (according to the list of documents for mobility) and notifies the dean's office about the need to issue a certificate with grades (transcript of academic performance).
Students for whom the department has not prepared two official notes, and the dean's office has not issued a certificate of academic performance, i.e., those students who do not have supporting documents about the possibility of re-crediting the results of study, are not allowed to take the English language test.
Step 2. Preparation of personal documents
The student prepares the following documents:
• CV in English (in PDF format with a photo, no more than 2 pages);
• motivation letter in English (up to 1 page, PDF);
• scan copy of the international passport (1st spread, PDF);
• Transcript of records;
• scan copy of the school certificate with supplement (for bachelors) or bachelor's diploma with supplements (for masters);
• passport-sized photo (.jpg);
Motivation letters are checked for plagiarism and the use of AI. It is forbidden to submit the same letter for several mobility programs.
Documents not prepared in accordance with the requirements will not be accepted.
Step 3. Submission of documents
The package of documents is submitted simultaneously in electronic and printed form through the graduating department to the International Relations Office (213-C).
Email address for submission: interoffice@nupp.edu.ua.
National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” actively develops international cooperation with Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences (Latvia), which has already laid the groundwork for several successful academic mobilities. Specifically, within the framework of the Erasmus+ KA171 program, Poltava Polytechnic associate professors Lyudmyla Svystun and Yuliia Khudolii participated in the E3UDRES2 science festival, researchers Olha Harkava and Lyudmyla Shevchenko presented their scientific work on frame structural systems of buildings and the landscape and spatial organisation of the city of Poltava at the event “ViA's Research Evening 2024”. In addition, university lecturers and students participated in the “WOOD TECHNOLOGY HACKATHON”, where, together with international teams, they developed innovative projects, gaining valuable experience and new contacts. In the autumn semester of the 2025/2026 academic year, students Tetiana Holub and Maryna Kostenko studied under the Erasmus+ credit academic mobility program at this HEI. Such fruitful interaction contributes to strengthening institutional partnerships, exchanging advanced experience in higher education, and integrating Poltava Polytechnic into the European scientific and educational space.
Poltava Polytechnic lecturers can participate in academic mobility programs and internships, and students can study abroad under Erasmus+ credit academic mobility grant programs for a semester or the entire academic year at leading universities in Austria, Greenland, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Finland, the Czech Republic.
For more detailed information regarding current internship, teaching, and academic mobility programs abroad, please contact the International Relations Office (room 213-C, interoffice@nupp.edu.ua).
