Partnership as a synergy that gives birth to a new quality of cooperation. This is how can be described the interaction of Lviv Polytechnic, the International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations and the Ukrainian World Congress. And this is not only a well-written common history, but also the present and, we believe, the future.
On July 14, UWC President Paul Grod and UWC First Vice President Stefan Romaniw – visited Lviv Polytechnic and the International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations. During the visit, UWC leaders met with Professor Yurii Bobalo, the University Rector, and the employees of IECDR in the Zachariewicz Hall, and discussed the details of further cooperation.
At the meeting, the guests expressed their gratitude to the Polytechnic Rector for his many years of support, and highly appreciated the activity of IECDR, which works for the Ukrainian diaspora, successfully implementing numerous projects.
Iryna Kliuchkovska, director of IECDR, presented the educational direction of the Institute’s work, the implementation of which becomes especially important in the conditions of war and mass emigration.
During the conversation, they also discussed the organization of the Ukrainian World Congress, which is planned to be held in Lviv this year in October (in particular, traditionally, at Lviv Polytechnic).
In his speech, Paul Grod emphasized that the biggest threats in Ukraine now are the Russian enemy and the assimilation of our people in other countries. Therefore, according to the UWC President, the Ukrainian diaspora should conduct active work with Ukrainian youth, in particular through the creation of appropriate institutions for the promotion of the Ukrainian language and nurturing of identity. «From the cradle to the grave» – we need to be able to educate conscious Ukrainians in the diaspora for many generations», said Paul Grod at a meeting with the IECDR employees.
The UWC President also spoke favorably of the concept of the IECDR communication platform «Ukrainian Forced Migrants: Integration, Identity, Return» and urged to join efforts with like-minded people.
Finally, the meeting participants exchanged valuable gifts. In particular, the IECDR employees had the honour of receiving from Paul Grod a unique award designed to unite Ukrainians: «In every hryvnia there is a share of victory», these are the words inscribed on the Kyiv hexagonal hryvnia, which was a bullion coin in the period of the 11th-13th centuries. This symbolic hryvnia was cast from brass artillery shells as a gratitude for the assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.
Photos by Nataliia Pavlyshyn, Director of the Lviv Polytechnic Center for Communication
