On February 25, a strategic session of the international project “TURBO “The Universities’ Reaction to Big Obstructions: Building resilient higher education to respond and manage societal crises” took place. Representatives of the NGO Chernihiv European joined the meeting. The working session was aimed at rethinking achieved results and existing challenges, as well as developing practical mechanisms for the continuation and scaling of the initiative.

Participants conducted an analysis of the implemented activities and identified priority areas for further development. Through a facilitated discussion, the team elaborated concrete steps to ensure the institutional and financial sustainability of the program, including the expansion of partnerships, engagement of new stakeholders, and integration of the program into broader educational and social frameworks.

A separate block of the session was devoted to generating ideas for preparing project proposals in the field of social initiatives. The team outlined thematic priorities for future applications, defined target groups, expected outcomes, and potential donor support instruments. The developed concepts focus on strengthening social adaptation, professional integration, and psychological resilience of internally displaced persons.

The discussion also addressed mechanisms for further support of IDPs through the integration of the project’s outcomes into existing university and partner organization programs. Particular attention was paid to the transfer of best practices into new educational and community-based initiatives.

The strategic session enabled the consolidation of the team’s vision, the development of a coordinated roadmap for future actions, and the establishment of a foundation for advancing the program as a sustainable platform for the support and social integration of internally displaced persons.

The main aim of TURBO project “The Universities’ Reaction to Big Obstructions: Building resilient higher education to respond and manage societal crises” is to increase the resilience, preparedness and responsiveness of Ukrainian higher education institutions (HEIs) by building their capacities, improving competencies and sharing experiences.

This project has received funding from the European Union (ERASMUS-EDU-2023-CBHE) under grant agreement No 101129315.

This material reflects only the views of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official position of the European Union.