The kick-off meeting of the “DigiUni – Open Ukrainian Initiative” project implemented within the framework of the EU programme Erasmus+ was held at Taras Shevchenko KNU. The organisational issues of project launch are left behind. Currently the practical implementation of ideas and strategies is on the agenda.
The DigiUni (Digital University – Open Ukrainian Initiative) international project was presented in October 2023. Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv has been designated as its coordinator. The initiative united 22 educational and scientific institutions of Ukraine, Germany, Spain, France, the Czech Republic and Poland.
The meeting of the participants of the international consortium of universities on DigiUni which took place on March 25, 2024 in the Red Building of KNU was the legal start of the project implementation. Representatives of all domestic and foreign partners joined the discussion in an offline and online format.
“The DigiUni – Open Ukrainian Initiative project is a response to the large-scale challenges faced by the Ukrainian higher education system in connection with war and migration. In conditions when a significant part of the educational infrastructure of Ukraine is damaged or destroyed, the creation of a digital educational ecosystem of Ukraine will help ensure continuous, high-quality, inclusive education, regardless of the location of the participants of the process”, – said Rector of KNU Volodymyr Bugrovin his welcoming speech.
The discussion was interrupted by an air alarm signal and a sudden enemy attack on Kyiv with hypersonic Zircon anti-ship missiles. The explosions heard practically during the meeting and its continuation from the shelter shocked foreign partners. We will also record this fact as part of the chronology of Russian armed aggression.
Subsequently, Kseniia Smyrnova, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation and project coordinator from KNU, noted that “the meeting accompanied with explosions is a symbol of resilient work of the University despite external security challenges.”
The Vice-Rector focused on the transition to the practical stage of implementation of the DigiUni – Open Ukrainian Initiative project:
“The project which became the winner of the competition opened for Ukraine by the European Commission within the EU Erasmus+ Programme is planned for four years. As for today, seven work packages have already been formed, project management strategies, a system of inspection and quality control of work are being discussed and approved. We are also discussing in what form the DigiPlatform will work (DigiPlatform is an all-Ukrainian digital educational environment that will combine digital capabilities for creating relevant content, the possibility of hosting virtual and remote laboratories, courses and disciplines, educational games, etc.). Time frames for trainings for teachers of partner universities will be determined. During the trainings they will find out how to acquire new digital skills and create additional digital content for their disciplines. Another aspect is coordination of financial and legal issues. Thus, the Ministry of Education and Science, which today is also presented as one of the partners of the project, expresses proposals for the development of a new normative level of regulation of the quality of higher education in the context of the digital content of disciplines.”
The DigiUni – Open Ukrainian Initiative project is possible thanks to the establishment of close cooperation between Ukrainian universities which is extremely important for the development of higher education in Ukraine in the conditions of war, limited resources and constant changes. Oleksandra Husak, Director-General of the Directorate of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of the Ministry of Education and Science, emphasised this.
“Those partners who already have experience in implementing digital initiatives have gathered today,” said a representative of the Ministry. She continued: “I am sure that the digital environment that will be formed will further strengthen the ability of our institutions to provide high-quality digital educational services. At the same time, it will become an additional resource for students. On the one hand, this will allow us to implement the best European practices, and on the other hand, not to lose the national context in order to adapt the existing opportunities and resources to our needs.”
Oleksandra Husak noted the important contribution of the National Erasmus+ office in Ukraine which provided communication between Ukraine and the EU “for this story to sky-rocket.”
The coordinator of the National Erasmus+ Office in Ukraine Svitlana Shytikova, in her turn, assured that it is primarily about support, partnership, unity, innovation and opportunities.
Olha Budnyk, the advisor-commissioner of the President on issues of the President’s of Ukraine Fund for the support of Education, Science, and sports, is convinced that the project will have a huge impact on our education system and we will be able to share the lessons learned within it with the world.
For reference:
The “Digi-Uni” project team included National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”, Ukrainian Catholic University, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, Sumy State University, Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics, National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute”, Mariupol State University and Kherson State University.
The project was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Association of IT Professionals, and the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance.
Among the foreign partners are the Universities of Strasbourg, Alicante, Cologne, as well as the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University of Hannover, Masaryk University in Brno and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
Associated partners of the project are the European University Association, the Ukrainian Association of Students, the Technical and Information Library (Germany) and the Ukrainian Scientific and Educational IT Society.
Department of Communications
