Citizen engagement as a crisis response at higher education institutions in the Baltic states and Ukraine

Inese Abolina; Anna Beitane; Kateryna Boichenko; Rasa Dovidonytė; Catherine Gibson; Yurii Kondratyk; Stefania Oikonomou; Aistė Pranckutė; Gintarė Tautkevičienė; Lianne Teder; Nataliia Vovk; Anna Shilinh; Katerina Zourou

doi:10.7557/11.7508

Authors

Inese Abolina University of Latvia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0511-9476
Anna Beitane University of Tartu
Kateryna Boichenko Web2Learn https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4636-067X
Rasa Dovidonytė Kaunas University of Technology https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1530-5275
Catherine Gibson University of Tartu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8564-1223
Yurii Kondratyk University of Tartu
Stefania Oikonomou Web2Learn https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7711-2033
Aistė Pranckutė Kaunas University of Technology https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4588-3683
Gintarė Tautkevičienė Kaunas University of Technology https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5002-8824
Lianne Teder Tallinn University
Nataliia Vovk Lviv Polytechnic National University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2470-7188
Anna Shilinh Lviv Polytechnic National University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1063-3437
Katerina Zourou Web2Learn https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3679-3503

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7557/11.7508

Keywords:

citizen engagement, social actions, quadruple helix actors, humanitarian crisis, resilience

Abstract

This publication presents social actions organised in Baltic universities in collaboration with policy, industry, and society, aiming to support Ukrainian populations in humanitarian crises. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many Ukrainians had to leave the war zone and emigrate to other countries in order to find a safe place to live. This humanitarian crisis imposed new challenges for Ukrainian people who became refugees in the Baltic states, as well as to the host societies. There was a lack of resilience mechanisms to cope with this new reality and provide support for Ukrainian refugees. To address these challenges, six partners (four Baltic universities, a Ukranian university and an organization in Greece) collaborated in the project ''Supporting Ukraine through citizen engagement at Baltic Universities'' (Baltics4UA) under the Erasmus+ Programme. The main goal of Baltics4UA project is to enhance Baltic universities’ social responsibility through civic engagement actions to address the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis in the Baltic states. A methodological approach that focuses on citizen engagement and emphasises social innovation and participation has been developed in the framework of this project prior to organising 23 university-driven social actions in every partner institution. Overall, 488 participants took part in social actions. Participants were asked to fill in a post-event evaluation form; this feedback was used to identify whether the social actions met the aims and objectives of the project. Moreover, the organisers of the social actions described the impact of each action by evaluating the aim and goal of the social action, as well as the level of citizen engagement. While planning, organising and implementing these social actions, project partners encountered a variety of challenges and learned lessons, which can serve as useful guidelines for those seeking to foster effective business, academia and society collaboration while providing support and engaging societies in the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis.

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Author Biographies

Inese Abolina, University of Latvia

Inese Abolina, PhD, is associate professor at the University of Latvia and lead researcher.

Anna Beitane, University of Tartu

Anna Beitane is a Manager of Online Learning and Continuing Education Projects at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu.

Kateryna Boichenko, Web2Learn

Kateryna Boichenko is a distinguished expert in Economic Science, with a rich background in entrepreneurial consulting and international economic research (PhD in Economics). Kateryna's research work at Web2Learn encompasses various areas, including innovations, business economics, social responsibility and academia-business collaboration for Ukraine.

Rasa Dovidonytė, Kaunas University of Technology

Rasa Dovidonytė is the head of Reader Services Group at Kaunas University of Technology.

Catherine Gibson, University of Tartu

Catherine Gibson is a Lecturer in East European and Eurasian Studies at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu.

Yurii Kondratyk, University of Tartu

Yurii Kondratyk is a Project Manager at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu.

Stefania Oikonomou, Web2Learn

Stefania Oikonomou is a research collaborator at Web2Learn. She specialises in community engagement in citizen science projects. Stefania develops and carries out educational and training activities with underrepresented communities (e.g. Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people, refugees) as a way to make citizen science more participatory and inclusive.

Aistė Pranckutė, Kaunas University of Technology

Aistė Pranckutė is the head of Research Information Services at Kaunas University of Technology.

Gintarė Tautkevičienė, Kaunas University of Technology

Gintarė Tautkevičienė is the Library Director at Kaunas University of Technology and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Sciences, Arts and Humanities at Kaunas University of Technology.

Lianne Teder, Tallinn University

Lianne Teder is a junior lecturer of youth work at the School of Educational Sciences at Tallinn University.

Nataliia Vovk, Lviv Polytechnic National University

Nataliia Vovk, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Social Communications and Information Activity at Lviv Polytechnic National University. Her research interests include: documentary component of social communications; archival and library resources on the Internet; organization of office work processes in an institution. She is actively involved in various Erasmus+ projects, in particular those aimed at refugees and displaced persons, and in projects within the Jean Monnet program.

Anna Shilinh, Lviv Polytechnic National University

Anna Shilinh, PhD, is associate professor of the Department of Social Communications and Information Activities at Lviv Polytechnic University. Her research interests lie in the field of Internet linguistics, virtual communities and processing of their information content, information activities in the web space, as well as Open Science. She is active in various Erasmus+ project, particularly targeting refugees and displaced persons.

Katerina Zourou, Web2Learn

Katerina Zourou, Ph.D, is a recognized researcher in the area of digital (language) education, having produced a research book, journal special issues, and several peer reviewed papers. She is regularly invited to give talks or join expert panels. Katerina is the Director of Web2Learn and gives lectures at the Master's level (University of Grenoble Alpes, France, and Hellenic Open University, Greece).

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