Bath Spa University partners with Ukrainian university to support post-war recovery

Bath Spa University has twinned with the higher education establishment, Academician Stepan Demianchuk International University of Economics and Humanities (IUEH), as part of a scheme to help the western Ukrainian University continue to survive, and thrive, beyond the current conflict the country is facing.

This initiative is part of a wider UK-Ukraine university twinning scheme, launched by the Cormack Consultancy Group (CCG) and Universities UK International (UUKi), which sees UK universities signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with their Ukrainian counterparts for a minimum of five years.

Proposed support from Bath Spa University includes sharing learning resources, developing a mentoring scheme and collaborating across disciplines that are studied or researched in both institutions. When possible, the two Universities look forward to facilitating staff and student exchanges.

David Newman, University Secretary, said: “Bath Spa University stands in solidarity with Ukraine and we are delighted to partner with IUEH in this way, to provide support, and to strengthen ties of friendship and cooperation through the development of academic, cultural and personal exchange.

“This partnership builds on our existing connection with IUEH which began in 2018 as part of our Erasmus+ funded DESTIN project to improve journalism education in Ukraine. Colleagues from IUEH visited Bath as part of that project and we look forward to a brighter future where we hope to welcome them to the city once again.”

Vitalii Demianchuk, Rector of IUEH added: “It is a great honour for us to work with such a highly-regarded institution as Bath Spa; a University we have had a strong relationship with for many years.

“We would like to express our gratitude to the people of the United Kingdom and the leadership team at Bath Spa University for choosing to partner with our institution. We will do all we can to ensure the longevity of our collaboration in order to positively impact our future generations.”

Bath Spa University took part in the official signing ceremony that was held for all of the twinned institutions on 28 June 2022. On the same day, the UK government also announced £190,000 of financial assistance to reflect its commitment to establishing and supporting the scheme.

To find out more, and to view a growing list of the twinned universities you can visit the Universities UK website.