On 11 and 12 December 2025, an International Forum titled Education, Science, Innovations: Human Capital in Ukraine’s Post-War Recovery took place in Kyiv.
The event was jointly organized by the Ukrainian Peace Council, Mykhailo Drahomanov Ukrainian State University, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University, Yurii Buhai International Scientific and Technical University, Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Ukrainian Foreign Policy Association, Progresstech Ukraine, and Ukrainian Alliance.
The event’s co-organizers included the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine, Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, Union of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions of Ukraine, International Association of Rectors of Pedagogical Universities in Europe, Universal Peace Federation, Building Chamber of Ukraine, National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, Association of Women of Ukraine, Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions, as well as UNESCO and other international organizations.
The goal of the forum was to promote the development of a coherent strategy for advancing science, education, and innovation as fundamental factors in ensuring sustainable peace, state modernization, and enhancing Ukraine’s global competitiveness.
The event was conducted in a hybrid online/offline format and featured participants from national and local authorities, scholars, science and education professionals, and representatives of the public from all regions of Ukraine and other countries worldwide.
On Thursday, 11 December, the assembly hall of the Mykhailo Drahomanov Ukrainian State University hosted the official opening of the forum.
The opening included welcoming speeches by Viktor Andrushchenko — rector of the Mykhailo Drahomanov Ukrainian State University, corresponding member of the NAS of Ukraine, academician of the NAES of Ukraine, praesidium member of the Ukrainian Peace Council, Mykhailo Zghurovskyi — chairman of the Ukrainian Peace Council, academician of the NAS and NAES of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko — chair of the Supervisory Board of the Mykhailo Drahomanov Ukrainian State University, third President of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk (via a letter) — chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Mykola Trofymenko — deputy minister for education and science of Ukraine, Oleh Rafalskyi — vice president of the NAS of Ukraine, director of the Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the NAS of Ukraine, academician of the NAS and NAES of Ukraine, and Sun Moon Jeong Jin Wan (online) — professor at the Department of Humanities, Sun Moon University.
The programme of the event included two plenary sessions and eight panel discussions, providing participants with opportunities to engage in dialogue.
On Friday, 12 December, as part of the forum, the Media Center Directorate of the GDIP hosted two panel discussions: European Vector of the Development of Ukrainian Science and Education and International Cooperation: Education, Science, and Innovations in Ukraine.
The panel discussion titled European Vector of the Development of Ukrainian Science and Education, organized by the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, was moderated by the university’s rector, Volodymyr Buhrov, and the chairman of the Council of Vice-Rectors for International Cooperation of the Union of Rectors of Ukraine, Kseniia Smyrnova.
The panel featured reports by the following experts: Manuela Ripa — Member of the European Parliament, Kseniia Smyrnova — chairman of the Council of Vice-Rectors for International Cooperation of the Union of Rectors of Ukraine, Zhanna Talanova — deputy head of the National Erasmus+ Office in Ukraine, Oleksandra Husak — director general of the Directorate for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and Nataliia Rylach — associate professor at the Department of International Relations and Diplomatic Service of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
During the panel discussion, the participants talked about the main areas of the development of higher education in the European Union (contemporary trends and priorities), joint EU policies on education and science (current opportunities for Ukraine), harmonization of Ukrainian education and science with European standards, transformations in Ukrainian universities in the context of their adaptation to European practices of training staff for a new economy.
Panel discussion titled International Cooperation: Education, Science, and Innovations in Ukraine, co-organized by the Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions and the Ukrainian Foreign Policy Association of Ukraine, was moderated by GDIP Director-General Pavlo Kryvonos, who is also a second-class Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
‘Education diplomacy plays an important role in the work of the Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions. We believe that education shapes the worldview of future specialists, who are able to represent Ukraine with dignity and professionalism in the international arena. We are proud of having signed cooperation memoranda with 15 Ukrainian universities, including the Mykhailo Drahomanov Ukrainian State University. They are our constant, faithful partners, with whom we share many years of cooperation,’ Pavlo Kryvonos said.
During his report, he also stressed the importance of the latest issue of the Diplomatic Ukraine scientific yearbook, highlighted the involvement of the university’s scholars, spoke about the GDIP’s educational initiatives aimed at students, named examples of successful alumni, and emphasized that continuing the cooperation with the university is important to the development of educational diplomacy.
The panel featured reports by the following experts: Andrii Kudriachenko — director of the Institute of World History of the NAS of Ukraine, Oleksandr Balanutsa — Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Arab Emirates, Stepan Vidnianskyi — corresponding member of the NAS of Ukraine, head of the Department of History of International Relations and Foreign Policy of Ukraine of the Institute of History of Ukraine of the NAS of Ukraine, Yurii Voloshyn — head of the Office of the European Public Law Organization in Ukraine, Choi Sang Kwon — education supervisor at Gyeonggi Provincial Education Office (vocational education), member of the textbook certification committee at the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Assessment, Jeong Jin Wan — professor at the Department of Humanities of the Sun Moon University, Herman Makarenko — conductor of the National Opera of Ukraine, people’s artist of Ukraine, Ambassador of Ukrainian Culture, UNESCO Artist for Peace, Iryna Ivashchuk — Honorary Consul of the Republic of Senegal in Ukraine, Markiian Malskyi — Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, full professor, dean of the Department of International Relations of the Ivan Franko Lviv National University, and Tetiana Meleshchenko — dean of the Department of History of the Mykhailo Drahomanov Ukrainian State University. The speakers discussed the professional progress and prospects in the context of the panel’s topic.
The forum concluded with its final plenary session, during which the moderators of the plenary and panel discussions presented their final reports, discussed and adopted the forum’s declaration, and reviewed and approved its recommendations.
