The Global Governance Institute has been awarded a new education project on ‘EU-Ukrainian Cooperation for Academic Resilience’ (EU-CARE). Funded by the European Union under the “Cooperation Partnerships in Higher Education” programme, the project brings together three universities (Dublin City University, University of Coimbra and the University of Lviv), the Ukrainian European Studies Association and the Global Governance Institute and as Associate Partner the University of Warwick and its Leadership for Educational Transformation Programme for Ukrainian Higher Education leaders.
The National Academy of Sciences in Ukraine has described Russia's actions since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 as "scienticide," aiming to dismantle Ukrainian science and Higher Education system with devastating consequences. Yet, faced with large-scale loss of life, devastation and unprecedented destruction of infrastructure, the environment and ordinary daily life, Ukrainian society and particularly the Ukrainian Higher Education system have displayed remarkable resilience. In addition, EU partners and their HE institutions have also launched various initiatives to support their counterparts in Ukraine - be it financially, through scholarships for ‘scholars at risk’, hosting researchers fleeing the war and deepening cooperation between the HE system of the European Education Area (EEA) and Ukraine with the aim of reinforcing resilience. EU-CARE not only advances core collective mapping exercises for identifying and further reinforcing ‘best practices’ of effective support measures in the HE field, but also advances mutual learning, peer-mentoring, in-depth training and policy advances on how to build even stronger and long-lasting cooperation between EU and Ukrainian higher education system with the aim of boosting cooperative academic resilience.
The core aim of EU-CARE is to map, analyze and offer best practices on ‘cooperative academic resilience’ in times of war and major crises. ‘Academic Resilience’ refers in this project to students, faculty, staff, leaders and institutional set-ups to cope with and fully recover from major disruptions and shocks. EU-CARE will also draw on the wide neurobiological literature on student resilience (achieving academic excellence despite major shocks and trauma) and the resilience of the policy and higher education system context. Crucially, EU-CARE is interested in exploring and concretely advancing ‘cooperative academic resilience’, i.e. building partnerships between EU and Ukrainian Higher Education Institutions for learning from and reinforcing resilient responses and thereby supporting partners in responding to the War against Ukraine and the wider threats to the EU. A core component of EU-CARE consists of dedicated work packages for developing comprehensive training courses, including initial and continuous training for HE staff and advances digital content and pedagogical practices.
Get involved!
The two-year project will not only develop evidence-based training curricula, comprehensive mapping exercises and surveys, but will also set up a Network of European and International Resilient Universities (NEIRU), inviting Ukrainian, European and global higher education institutions to join a community of practice on cooperative academic resilience. If you or your university colleagues are interested in getting involved in this initiative and hear more about EU-CARE, please contact us at info@globalgovernance.eu
