Following the initiative of Wrocław University of Science and Technology, the Unite! alliance has invited seven universities from Ukraine to collaborate. The tertiary institutes will implement the “Green Transformation at Ukrainian Universities” project, funded by the National Academic Exchange Agency.

The main objective of the undertaking is to support the academic community of Ukraine by engaging partner institutions in regular activities under the UNITE! Erasmus+ programme, in the working area “Regional Innovation Ecosystem and Digital Campus” (WP8), led by our university. A second, equally important objective is to establish permanent cooperation between Ukrainian universities and the Unite! network, which will facilitate the country's post-war reconstruction process, as well as constituting an important step in the process of its integration into the European Union.

“Making this project a reality represents a milestone in the cooperation between the European University and universities in Ukraine”, says Professor Arkadiusz Wójs, Rector of Wrocław University of Science and Technology. “I’m happy that it’s Wrocław University of Science and Technology that can play an important role in facilitating our Ukrainian colleagues' cooperation with the consortium, and consequently with partners from all over Europe. We see this action as an expression of solidarity with the Ukrainian academic community at this particularly difficult time."

A meeting between representatives of all partner universities from Ukraine and representatives of Unite!, including the Secretary General of the alliance, Andreas Winkler, will be held in connection with the launch of the project at Wrocław University of Science and Technology between January 25 and 28, 2023. The meeting will also be attended by the authorities of Wrocław University of Science and Technology. The participants will focus on developing and approving the project work plan.

“Cooperation with the academic community of Ukraine has great potential for our alliance and is of particular political importance” says Andreas Winkler, Secretary General of Unite! “Today’s meeting is important because it allows us to discuss together a plan for cooperation and support in the key area of environmental protection and green transition within the reconstruction of Ukraine."

Green standards at Ukrainian universities

The project is based on four main tasks.

The first is the development of green standards for Ukrainian universities with respect to education and research activities in the field of engineering and technical sciences, as well as the development of a local version of these with the specificities of Ukrainian universities in mind.

The second task will involve the development of a green campus model and the implementation of standards in the area of research and teaching activities and campus operations.

Another task is a 2-week course on “Green technologies for the development of Ukrainian society”, which will be attended by students from Ukrainian universities and teachers from the universities that belong to the Unite! alliance. The course will focus on topics pertaining to disciplines that will be applicable to the reconstruction and modernisation of Ukraine's industry and infrastructure.

The final task is developing and implementing a micro-certification system for Ukrainian students in the area related to green transformation.

The following Ukrainian universities will participate in the project:

•       Sumy State University (Сумський державний університет)
•       Dnipro University of Technology (Національний ТУ "Дніпровська політехніка")
•       Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics (Харківський національний університет радіоелектроніки)
•       Lutsk National Technical University (Луцький національний технічний університет)
•       Odessa National Polytechnic University (Національний університет "Одеська політехніка")
•       Khmelnytskyi National University (Хмельницький національний університет )
•       Lviv Polytechnic National University (Національний університет "Львівська політехніка")

With 882.446 PLN (187.550 Euro) in funding from the National Academic Exchange Agency, the project will be implemented in the period up until December 31, 2023.