During the week in the Italian city of Genoa, the meeting of the participants of the international project on the development of the third mission of universities is taking place. The coordinator of the project and the host party is the University of Genoa – one of the oldest educational institutions in the world. On behalf of Sumy National Agrarian University, the Vice-Rector for Research and International Activities Yurii Danko, the Head of the International Sector of the Research Department Olena Melnyk and the Director of the Promotion Office Kseniia Bliumska-Danko are participating in the project.
The international project “Universities-Communities: Strengthening Cooperation” / “Universities-Communities: Strengthening Cooperation” (UNICOM) is the only structural project in Ukraine that was financed by the European Union in 2022 and is aimed at building the potential for the introduction and monitoring of reforms and the promotion of regional cooperation.
The goal of the project is to strengthen the social role of higher education institutions through the activation of the interaction of educational institutions with communities, society by developing a state policy to support the third (social) mission of universities to ensure social cohesion, stability, sustainability and prosperity in Ukraine.
Given that one of the participants is the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine at the state level, the project is aimed at developing a policy to strengthen the social mission of Ukrainian universities and intensify cooperation between domestic universities and communities based on borrowing the best practices of such cooperation in EU member states (Italy, Latvia, Germany, Sweden, Czech Republic).
In general, 19 participants are involved in the implementation of the project, including the University of Genoa and the Security and Freedom Foundation (Italy); University of Latvia (Latvia); Mittelstand University of Applied Sciences and Accreditation Council for Entrepreneurial and Socially Involved Universities (Germany); Czech University of Applied Sciences in Prague (Czech Republic); Lund University (Sweden); Ministry of Education and Science and Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, Ukrainian State University named after Mykhailo Drahomanov, Lviv National University named after Ivan Franko, Melitopol State Pedagogical University named after Bohdan Khmelnytskii, Vinnytsia National Medical University named after Pirohov, Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics, Donetsk State University of Internal Affairs of affairs, Sumy National Agrarian University, Institute of Higher Education of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, Ukrainian Association of Teachers and Researchers of European Integration (Ukraine).
