Discussing opportunities and directions for expanding cooperation and launching joint educational projects, as well as, of course, getting acquainted with the university and its potential - this was the purpose of the visit of Benjamin Bobbe, Head of the Central and Eastern Europe Department of the Hans Seidel Foundation, and Oleg Vatamaniuk, the Foundation's project coordinator in Ukraine, to Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute on October 2.
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However, the discussion was preceded by a short excursion conducted by Rector Anatoliy Melnychenko. They visited the historic hall of the Academic Council of the University's building #1, got acquainted with the Alley of prominent scientists whose lives and activities were closely connected with Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, saw the expositions of the State Polytechnic Museum at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and its Department of Aviation and Astronautics History, and traditionally took a picture near the monument to Igor Sikorsky.
During the negotiations, which were attended by Benjamin Bobbe and Anatoliy Melnychenko, as well as the Dean of the Faculty of Sociology and Law Olena Akimova and Oleh Vatamaniuk, a number of not only general problems of the development of democratic institutions in Ukraine, taking into account the specifics of wartime and new challenges arising, in particular, due to the rapid spread of digital technologies and the growth of artificial intelligence, but also quite specific issues of introducing new disciplines in the educational practice of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in areas that correspond to the scope of the Foundation's activities.
According to Anatoliy Melnychenko, cooperation with the Seidel Foundation in the educational sphere is very important for Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, especially since the Foundation is a longtime partner of the university. “It is in the context of our country's European integration that the projects implemented by the Hans Seidel Foundation in Europe and, in particular, in Ukraine will bring our values closer to those of Europe. “We are talking about the development of democratic values, approaches to legal consciousness, development of governance methods, etc.” explained the rector, ”It is important that the Foundation is ready to support both research and educational projects. For example, in cooperation with it, we have launched one of the disciplines and have been teaching it for two years - it is chosen by many engineering students.”
Olena Akimova spoke in more detail about cooperation with the Hans Seidel Foundation in the educational sphere: “Together with the Seidel Foundation, we are thinking about future projects to train our students and shape them into responsible citizens and leaders who can make socially responsible decisions in terms of developing democracy in Ukraine and implementing our European integration plans. At the moment, our cooperation is mainly organized within the framework of training civil servants in the specialty of Public Management and Administration, but it has already been expanded to the development and implementation of an educational component that students of all specialties can choose from the university-wide catalog of elective courses and which forms competencies in social responsibility and civic engagement. And this is very important in terms of building a democratic society.” According to her, it was the Hans Seidel Foundation that came up with this idea for Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, and it has been implemented for two years now. And during the current meeting, they discussed how Kyiv polytechnics can join the work on the implementation of democratic values, the fundamental principles of the free world, and human rights within the framework of the European Studies program, which is also being implemented at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. In addition, Olena Akimova announced plans to develop the scientific component of cooperation with the Seidel Foundation, including joint research, including sociological studies on the civic responsibility of civil servants, the launch of university and national projects to help veterans, etc. It should be added that the Foundation's staff has already helped the university with methodological support for teaching the aforementioned discipline on political participation and civic responsibility in the university catalog and facilitate the search for speakers for open lectures, etc.
For reference: The Hanns Seidel Foundation is a German organization that supports the development of democracy, the rule of law and civil society around the world, including Ukraine. Founded in 1967, the Foundation implements educational, research, and social projects aimed at improving public administration and security. It has been operating in Ukraine since the early 1990s.
The Hans Seidel Foundation, an organisation that is actively involved in the education of conscious and responsible citizens ready to contribute to the future of Ukraine, will provide significant assistance in shaping a new generation of democratic youth at the university.With the support of the Foundation, a number of successful educational projects have already been implemented at the Faculty of Sociology and Law of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
The parties intend to expand the scope of cooperation beyond the university to implement the standards of free education and influence the formation of an effective veteran policy in our country.
Kyiv Polytechnics continue to educate a new generation of leaders!