A week ago I was in Kyiv and visited SFS's sister organization in Ukraine, UAS – Ukrainian Association of Students. I am especially grateful to my Ukrainian colleagues who proudly showcased the Ukrainian university system and spoke with incredible faith in the future.
I especially take with me the stories I heard from students about life during the war, and all the efforts being made at universities around Ukraine to contribute to the defense capability and will to defend.
At the National Quality Assurance Agency NAQA, the equivalent of the Swedish UKÄ, I heard about how Ukraine has been preparing for a future EU membership for a long time, and that they are now living up to the requirements set for the education sector. At the same time, I heard how just a few months ago they had -3 degrees in their office, and how employees had to sleep in the room that had a portable gas heater after Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure knocked out heat and electricity in large parts of Kyiv. NAQA's headquarters is located in one of the buildings next to Maidan Square that was largely burned down during the demonstrations in 2014.
At Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, a technical university in Kyiv with about 25,000 students, I met the local student body. They proudly showed off the university's museum, where they depict and preserve the university's and Ukraine's contributions to technological progress over the past 100 years.
We also visited the AM+SP Science Park of Additive Technologies, where students and researchers have worked together to develop faster processes for manufacturing prosthetics. Hospitals are equipped with scanning equipment, and technicians can then model prosthetics that are 3D printed in hard plastic. The time from the first doctor's visit to the finished prosthesis can be reduced from months to a week.
Russia's indiscriminate attack on Kyiv has forced students to seek shelter in bomb shelters. The university has now permanently set up bomb shelters that are used as study spaces. It was much sought after by students – it was warm and there was electricity.
The war is ever-present. The days I was there were relatively calm, there was only one attack and one air raid during the 40 hours I was in Kyiv. At the restaurant where we had dinner, sandbags covered the windows. In every building you are met with pictures of those who died in the war. At several of the universities the lists seemed endless, and under each picture there was a story about a student: What they studied, and how old they became.
The Kyiv Aviation Institute National University has over 11,000 students. The university's museum, which also served as a lab where students could repair aircraft, featured an exhibition of several of the drones that Ukraine is now using in its defensive war. One exhibition displayed the 'registration plates' of the strategic bombers that Ukraine scrapped in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, Britain and the United States in connection with the signing of the Budapest Agreement in 1994. Ukraine was forced to donate some of the bombers to Russia. The same aircraft are now being used to attack cities in Ukraine.
The university museum also had an exhibition of downed Russian equipment. In the picture I am standing next to a kamikaze drone that Ukraine managed to fight off. The drone is just over a meter short, as the 90kg warhead is missing.
Our last visit was to the Kyiv School of Economics. It is about the same size as my old university, with 1600 students. KSE is one of the very few universities in Ukraine where students can study mostly on-site. Most universities simply don’t have enough space in their shelters to be able to conduct classes on campus. KSE’s basement has been converted to allow lectures when the air raid alarms are active. Now there are chairs with built-in tables, and the whiteboard walls are covered with mathematical calculations.
I am particularly pleased to conclude my trip by deepening our cooperation with our Ukrainian sister organization. I am convinced that this cooperation makes us stronger at all levels, between our organizations at the national level, and our members at the universities.
I am convinced of the importance of strong higher education in Ukraine. There will come a day when the war is over, a day when Russia loses. It must be a shared responsibility for everyone to contribute in the way we can. I am also convinced that we do not need to wait until the war is over – quite the opposite. It became violently clear to me: Ukraine wants to cooperate, that is not where the link is broken. More universities and colleges must ask themselves: What can we do now? For me it became obvious: Swedish higher education can do more.
I would especially like to thank UAS President Polina Hombalevska, Volodymyr Sydiaha, member of the UAS Executive Committee responsible for international affairs, and everyone else who took the time to meet with me during my visit.