Grant project Hub of the EU solutions, HEUS
At the end of 2023, the National University of Ostroh Academy won the educational grant project ‘Hub of the EU solutions’ within the Erasmus+ JeanMonnet programme, which provides for the opening of a Centre of Excellence in its activities.
The Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence ‘Hub of the European solutions’ (hereinafter referred to as the Centre) is a multifunctional centre that promotes modern education, expertise and leadership in European solutions, encourages interaction between education, business, government and civil society in Ukraine and brings European values closer to a wide audience, created under the grant agreement No. 101127578 – HEUS – ERASMUS-JMO-2023-HEI-TCH-RSCH.
Center of excellence
Name of the program: Jean Monnet Actions in the Field of Higher Education.
Type of project: Jean Monnet: Jean Monnet Centers of Excellence
Which agency coordinates: European Executive Agency for Education and Culture (EACEA – Brussels) – centrally.
The Centre of Excellence is a hub or center of competence and knowledge on the European Union with a project duration of three years. The Centre plays an important role in reaching out to students from faculties that do not usually deal with European Union issues, as well as politicians, civil servants, organized civil society, and the general public.
The project aims to:
- support teaching and research in the field of European Union studies worldwide;
- promoting active European citizenship and values and addressing the role of the EU in a globalised world, raising awareness of the EU and inclusion, and people-to-people dialogue;
- aiming to act as a vector of public diplomacy towards third countries, promoting EU values and improving the visibility of what the European Union stands for and what it intends to achieve.
The aims of the direction:
- to promote excellence in teaching and research in the field of European Union studies worldwide;
- to strengthen the dialogue between academia and society, including local and national policy makers, civil servants, civil society, representatives of different levels of education and the media;
- to generate knowledge and insights to support EU policy-making and to strengthen the EU’s role in Europe and in the globalised world;
- to reach out to the general public and disseminate knowledge about the EU in the widest circles of society (beyond the academic community and specialised audiences), bringing the EU closer to the public.
The mission of the center
is to create a multifunctional and transnational, interdisciplinary and innovative space. The Centre consists of 4 clusters.
Each cluster includes specific tasks and different types of project activities that can be analyzed by various indicators to determine the achievement of project goals and their impact.
The clusters create an innovative learning hub for teaching and raising legal awareness of the target audience in the EU field. The Centre will also serve as a marketplace for expertise, research and data analytics on the EU-Ukraine partnership with useful EU resources, advice, legal solutions, solutions and expertise (EU digests, EU policy documents, EU compliance reports, practical checklists, guides, etc.) on EU-related issues in Ukraine for both local and national stakeholders.
The regulatory component
The Centre is guided by the Constitution of Ukraine, the Laws of Ukraine “On Education” and “On Higher Education”, resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, orders of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Statute of the National University of Ostroh Academy, the Regulations on Advanced Training and Internships for Academic Staff of the National University of Ostroh Academy, the Regulations on the Organization of Scientific, Scientific and Technical Activities of the National University of Ostroh Academy, and this Regulation.
The Centre is aimed at 5 target groups:
Students, postgraduates, pupils and trainees
Stakeholders, lawyers, politicians
Scientists, scholars, teachers, experts and employees of interested institutions
Businessmens, managers, economists
Members of active civil society, Internet users
The Centre’s work is planned on the basis of students’ feedback on educational programmes, seminars, conferences, etc., analysis of the interest of students, researchers, lawyers, politicians, NGO activists, who claimed a lack of education and information on EU law, security, digital challenges and the rights of EU citizens in Ukraine, and also indicated a great interest in EU norms, sources of EU law, its origin, objectives and fundamental principles, as well as a correct understanding of the structure and interpretation of EU law and its application.
The Centre will also promote innovative approaches to teaching and research, integrating modern technologies and teaching methods. It will become a platform for international cooperation, attracting foreign experts and lecturers, which will ensure a high level of academic programmes and research.
In addition, the Centre will actively work to raise public awareness of European values, rights and opportunities provided by the EU. Special attention will be paid to human rights, rule of law, digital rights and civil liberties in the context of European law and standards.
An important part of the Centre’s activities will be educational events, such as seminars, workshops, masterclasses and conferences, aimed at developing practical skills and knowledge in the field of European solutions. This will help to improve the level of training of specialists in various fields, including lawyers, economists, businessmen and civil society activists.
Thanks to the activities of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence ‘Hub of European Solutions’, the National University of Ostroh Academy is becoming an important centre of European education and research in Ukraine, which will contribute to the further integration of Ukraine into the European space.