Target area:	Higher Education & Human Rights
Sub-target area:	Higher Education & Human Rights
Target countries:	Ukraine
Duration:	1.12.2023 – 30.11.2026
Partners:	University of Graz International Humanitarian University Odessa Sumy State University Taras Shevchenko National university of Kyiv Adam Mickiewicz University Poznan CESIE KMOP Education and Innovation Hub World University Service WUS Austria
Budget line:	Erasmus+

Project description

The FreeAc project addresses the critical need of supporting Ukrainian academia amidst the challenges posed by the ongoing international armed conflict. With a focus on mitigating talent loss and brain drain, it aims to develop both short-term relief and long-term strategies for Higher Education. Drawing from successful interventions in prior European conflicts such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, FreeAc harnesses valuable experiences in assisting Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) during and after periods of conflict. The current situation in Ukraine mirrors these past crises, with a considerable number of academics departing the country, thereby endangering the operational capabilities of HEIs.

Emphasizing academic freedom and providing pathways for sustained research, learning, and teaching, FreeAc aims to strengthen Ukrainian academia through collaborative educational initiatives and strategic alliances with EU counterparts. Its overarching goal is to integrate Ukrainian HEIs into the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), thereby ensuring their long-term resilience and fostering a post-war strategic vision for the country's Higher Education system.

Objectives

• To enable HEIs in Ukraine and the EU to maintain and improve links and collaboration with members of Ukrainian academia, students and academic staff, displaced or homebound, and understand patterns of displacement and its implications for rebuilding the Ukrainian higher education system.
• To equip EU HEIs to develop structural approaches to provide quick and effective responses to forced displacement of members of academia.
• To uphold and improve the freedom of the Ukrainian academia to teach and learn.
• To uphold academic freedom through supporting Ukrainian researcher, their research and the dissemination of research outcomes.
• To understand the impacts of the war on the higher education system in Ukraine.
• To develop a post-war strategic outlook on the loss of talent and brain drain for the rebuilding and further development of the Ukrainian Higher Education sector in line with academic values.

Activities

• Mapping the displacement of members of academia of participating Ukrainian HEIs
• Identification of war-induced teaching capacity gaps at participating Ukrainian HEIs;
• Creation of mutually beneficial academic opportunities;
• Summer school on academic freedom in conflict;
• Access of Ukrainian researchers to the European academic landscape for dissemination of individual research;
• Joint research on the effects of the armed conflict on the academic sector in Ukraine