UKRAINETT+ Conference at Nord University Addressed Societal Crises and Higher Education Challenges

Nord University hosted the UKRAINETT+ Conference titled "Managing Societal Crises: Challenges and Coping Strategies" on September 16-17, 2024.

The event brought together experts from Norway, Poland, Ukraine, and other countries to discuss innovative approaches to addressing major societal challenges.

Professor Anatoli Bourmistrov from Nord University's High North Center emphasizes the broader implications of the conference themes.

– Looking ahead, we can see that crises and rapid changes are not just today's reality, but will continue to be part of our future. It's quite important that all actors in society are prepared for handling these crises.

Professor Anatoli Bourmistrov from Nord University's High North Center emphasizes the importance of preparedness for future crises. *Photo: Markus Thonhaugen*.

Associate professor Olga Iermolenko, one of the key organizers who participated digitally from Harvard University, expresses satisfaction with the conference's turnout:

– We set a clear target for the conference—to have one hundred participants—and I am thrilled to announce that we have successfully achieved this goal. We had 50 physical participants and 50 who joined us online. If we count will all participants of TURBO project and a roundtable, the total participants were around 130.

I look forward to hearing about new initiatives and collaborations due to this conference.

Associate professor Olga Iermolenko, a key organizer of the UKRAINETT+ Conference, participated digitally from Harvard University. *Photo: Markus Thonhaugen (archive).*

The conference covered a range of themes across five parallel sessions:

Business, economy and governance during crises
Sociology and migration in the time of war
Linguistics and humanities – impact of the war
Eurointegration and the influence of war on politics and law
Universities' reaction to societal crises (part of the TURBO project)

TURBO Project: An Important Part of the Conference

As part of the conference, attention was given to the TURBO project (The Universities' Reaction to Big Obstructions), an EU-funded initiative led by Nord University.

– The main aim is to build resilient higher educational institutions that can manage and survive during big crises, shares Veronika Vakulenko, associate professor at Nord University Business School and TURBO project coordinator.

Veronika Vakulenko, associate professor at Nord University Business School and TURBO project coordinator. *Photo: Markus Thonhaugen*.

Iermolenko highlights the significance of the conference for the TURBO project:

– We have signaled our shared willingness and readiness to help Ukraine via research, education, and capacity-building projects. Specifically for Ukrainians, it was also very important for us to feel support from the leadership of our business school—Ukraine needs us and the knowledge we generated to survive the war and grow after the victory.

The TURBO project aims to build capacities of representatives from partnering Ukrainian universities for increasing their resilience and developing new educational programs using a micro-credentials approach.

Participants of the TURBO project gathered in Bodø. *Photo: Markus Thonhaugen*.

Valeriia Melnyk, a researcher at Nord University's High North Centre, sees potential for the project to address broader issues:

– Based on this project, we can develop something similar for refugees in the future. There are millions of refugees from Ukraine in Europe now, many doing low-income jobs despite having university diplomas. If we expand this model to help refugees like we're doing with internally displaced persons, it could have a significant impact.

As the TURBO project progresses, Ukrainian partner universities will run micro-credential courses designed to support internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine.

These programs will aim at enhancing employability and social integration, with the first programs expected to launch during winter 2025.