Commentary on the Summary Conference of the ECIU4Ukraine Vol. 2 project

The main goal of the ECIU4Ukraine vol. 2 project was to foster international integration at Ukrainian universities by bringing partner institutions closer to the European Universities Initiative. The Summary Conference was a unique opportunity for our Ukrainian partners to share their reflections on the activities delivered during the project.

The event consisted of three sessions: rector's panel discussion, education block and research block. The first session was moderated by Professor Paweł Strumiłło, TUL's Vice-Rector for Development and was related to the strategic aspects of higher education in Ukraine. The second session, education block, was focused on innovative teaching & learning methods in Ukrainian universities whilst the research block was centred around new research strategies in Ukraine. The last two sessions were moderated by our Ukrainian partners and consisted of short presentations delivered by each panellist which were followed by Q&A sessions.

The conference was attended by national and international guests, including professor Krzysztof Jóźwik, TUL's rector and Katrin Dircksen, ECIU's Secretary General who opened the event with short welcome speeches. Dr inż. Dorota Piotrowska, ICC's Director and ECIU's Institutional Coordinator at TUL was also present and took on a role of the conference moderator.

Although the Summary Conference was the main point of their visit, 20 representatives of Ukrainian partner universities had arrived at TUL the day before. On 14th November, conference participants took part in a workshop related to opportunities offered by the Erasmus+ programme which are available to Ukrainian HEIs. The session was delivered by Jakub Zieliński from the Foundation for the Development of the Education System (FRSE).

ECIU4Ukraine Vol. 2 was brought to life thanks to the funding received from the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange.