Closing Conference of the project ‘Regional Integration: European Benchmark under the Challenges of Global Fragmentation (REFRAG)’
West Ukrainian National University hosted the closing conference of the project ‘Regional Integration: European Benchmark under the Challenges of Global Fragmentation Challenges’ (101048216 - REFRAG - ERASMUS-JMO-2021-HEI-TCH-RSCH).
This project was implemented at WUNU from 2022 to 2025. Its main goal was to establish an institutional framework for the promotion of the EU's didactic, research and practical experience in the field of regional integration at West Ukrainian National University.
The Rector of WUNU Oksana Desyatnyuk welcomed the participants of the conference, while the Chairman of the Academic Council of WUNU Andriy Krysovatyy stressed the importance of interdisciplinary cooperation in conducting research on the global economy.
The REFRAG project coordinator, Professor Mariia Lysun, noted that the main objectives of the project were as follows:
Introducing a new course ‘European and Global Regional Integration’ (REFRAG-course) (5 ECTS) into the master's degree curriculum at West Ukrainian National University to develop students' competencies in regional integration using the EU experience.
Launching a set of training courses ‘European Regionalism: Practical Implementation’ (REFRAG-training) to raise awareness of local economic and political actors about the risks and opportunities of the modern regional world with a focus on EU issues.
Setting up an e-platform (REFRAG-online) for distance learning of the REFRAG course and intensive training sessions of the REFRAG-training.
By implementing the main objectives, the project participants achieved the following results:
197 master's students took the REFRAG course;
134 learners completed REFRAG training;
7 articles and 2 textbooks were published;
3 roundtables and a closing conference were organised.
The conference became a platform for inter-project discussion and knowledge dissemination. The outcomes of the projects of other institutions involved were also presented during the event by Professor E. Schoop (Department of Information Management, Technical University of Dresden, Germany) and Professor A. Boyar (Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University).
Other reports included:
Collaborative online international learning for promoting resilience, empowerment and restoration of energy networks and digitalisation of higher education, COIL-SERENADE (N. Ukhova, Technical University of Dresden, Germany; V. Kuryliak, WUNU);
Innovative approaches to education management and adaptation in times of social challenges: the case of the TURBO project implementation (Assoc. Prof. U. Koruts, Yu. Voityshyn);
Implementation of the principles of inclusiveness and SDGs in the educational programmes of Ukrainian universities: examples of AFID and SUSTED Erasmus+ projects (Prof. O. Dluhopolskyi);
European Inclusive Circular Economy: Post-War and Post-Pandemic Module for Ukraine, EICEPPMU (Prof. R. Zvarych, Prof. I. Zvarych);
Youth and democracy: experience and results of the project ‘Empowering Youth: Democracy in Action’ (L. Krysovata);
Smart specialisation: European experience of the regional development strategy, SSEPRDS (Prof. P. Putsenteilo);
Environmental migration and displacement in the EU, EUROPE (Prof. T. Drakokhrust)
Systematic projects under the Erasmus+ programme: experience in implementing CLIMAN and EEACCCES projects (Assoc. Prof. O. Borysiak);
Practice of implementing international projects by the Research Institute of Intelligent Computer Systems (Prof. A. Sachenko);
Multifunctional farming / MY FARM (Prof. M. Komar, Assoc. Prof. H. Lipianina-Honcharenko).
Petro Krainik, Jean Monnet expert of the National Erasmus+ Office in Ukraine, summed up the conference, focusing on the new opportunities of the Erasmus+ programme and emphasising the importance of a systematic approach to project development.
