On October 16, 2024, within the framework of the project «European Studies for Technical Specialties at the National University «Lviv Polytechnic» (EUSTS) with the support of the EU Erasmus+ program, Jean Monnet’s direction, an interactive event «Dissemination of the best practices of teaching European studies and creation of interdisciplinary programs in institutions of higher education of Ukraine: exchange of experience». The event was organized by the team of the NSC «European Studies for Technical Universities» of the National University «Lviv Polytechnic» (Lviv) together with the teachers of the Zaporizhia National University (Zaporizhia).
Doctor of Political Science, Prof. Yaryna Turchyn (head of the EUSTS project, Head of the Jean Monnet Chair «European Studies for Students of Technical Specialties of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine», director of the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences) emphasized the peculiarities of the implementation of European studies in the National Academy of Sciences and Arts, mainly through the implementation of Jean Monnet programs, positive practices in the dissemination of knowledge about the EU in the environment of the academic community, as well as the challenges that require a response, familiarized the event participants with the results of the survey of the Center for National Research and Development «European Studies for Technical Universities», including the creation of interdisciplinary programs.
K. philol. Ph.D., Assoc., Iryna Bondarenko (coordinator of the project «European experience in the formation of a culture of tolerance in the Ukrainian perspective: education, media, art» (EUROTOLERCULTURE), dean of the Faculty of Philology of ZNU) described the key directions of the project: 1) education (training course «European Strategies formation of a tolerant society: media, education, art»); 2) forum-theatre for vulnerable population groups (DPs, victims of violence); 3) creative competition «See, feel, hear: on the way to understanding» for students and school youth; 4) training for teachers («Ethical education: the European philosophy of raising a tolerant personality»); 5) conference («European paradigms of culture formation, tolerance in education, media, art»); 6) debates («I am the Other in the perspective of the 21st century»). The speaker also shared the practices of attracting students through the use of the main message «We will help you», as well as strengthening cooperation with public and government institutions of the region in the implementation of the project.
Doctor of Science, Assoc. Nataliya Vovk (participant in the EUSTS project, associate professor of the Department of Social Communications and Information Activities of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences) shared her experience of teaching European studies to students of technical specialties through the prism of the main challenges, such as: encouraging students to choose disciplines; make classes interesting; diversify the educational process; update educational materials; to constantly popularize the news and results of the project, as well as ways to overcome them by the EUSTS team.
D. econ. n., prof. Anna Selishcheva (Professor of the Department of International Economy, Natural Resources and International Tourism Economics of ZNU, coordinator of the project «European Social Entrepreneurship Practices: Sustainability, Inclusion and Creativity» (EUROSECRET) focused on the content of the modules «Development of Social Entrepreneurship in EU Countries», «European Business Models youth entrepreneurship», etc., declared the expected results of the project and shared the experience of conducting various events during its implementation (round table «Social entrepreneurship and traditional forms of business in the EU», training seminar «School social business», webinar «European models of social business» and Svitlana Kushnir, Ph.D., prof. ZNU) during her speech first focused on the purpose of the project, its tasks and relevance, the importance of Ukraine for global food security, the content of the NEWAGRO training course, and teaching methods (business game, story-telling, express warm-up, etc.), the results of the round table «Restoration of rural areas in the conditions of post-war reconstruction», flash mob «Plant an oak tree», creative essay competition and other activities of project implementation.
K. Phil. of Sciences, associate professor, Yuliya Kurylova (associate professor of the Department of Ukrainian Literature of ZNU) introduced the event participants to the new project «Gender Inclusion in the Post-War Reconstruction of Ukraine: European Experience in Achieving Equal Opportunities», which aims to form a gender culture and gender inclusion in an interdisciplinary perspective. The speaker revealed the main components of the educational module: the concept of gender culture; the historical context of gender inclusion; the gender dimension of military conflicts; gender inclusion in the economy, etc., as well as teaching methods, ways of attracting knowledge from various scientific fields to achieve the project’s goals.
Assoc. Olena Lukachuk (mentor of INNOVATION HUB, participant of the EUSTS project, associate professor of the Department of Political Science and International Relations of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences) highlighted and the experience of the project activities of student youth in the NULP through involvement in INNOVATION HUB activities, friendly visits to various institutions, cooperation with Tech StartUp School, the STARTUP Breakthrough 2024 program, participation in the Rotary Business Forum, work on the Map of cultural heritage objects together with students of Toruń university, etc.
Despite the difficult security situation, participants’ speeches were followed by an active and interesting discussion on sharing best practices in teaching European studies and finding new opportunities for scientific cooperation.
The practical part of the event with the use of interactive learning methods for the formation of knowledge about the EU as a responsible global actor of the modern system of international relations for students of the Zaporizhia National University (Zaporizhia) was conducted by trainers on teaching methods, participants of the EUSTS project – Assoc. Olga Ivasechko (Department of PMV), Assoc. Oleg Tsebenko (PMV Department). Assoc. also participated in the preparation of the event. Oleksandr Markovets (SKID department), Assoc. Lidia Kasha (ECS department), Assoc. Iryna Sukhorolska (Caf. PMV).
In total, 52 people participated in the event – students, graduate students, teachers of the National University «Lviv Polytechnic» and the National Zaporizhzhia University. The EUSTS project team expresses its gratitude to all participants of the event for interesting discussions, professional presentations, exchange of best practices, and development of new ideas for the development of European studies in higher education institutions of Ukraine.
