Universities can play an important role in responding to humanitarian crises and the response to the invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated what is possible when policy, funding and political interests align with the goodwill, creativity, and commitment of colleagues in the UK’s higher education community.
The broad spectrum of responses – which has drawn together funders, regulators, government agencies, universities, and both private sector and charitable organisations – has meant the UK’s response to supporting the higher education community in Ukraine has been significant. However, the scale and impact of this response has posed questions over how the UK sector can respond to, and support, other higher education systems experiencing humanitarian and other forms of crises.
This report aims to reflect on the work undertaken in the sector to support universities in Ukraine, through the twinning initiative and beyond, and draw lessons for the future.
Drawing on the experiences of those closely involved, the report highlights how the UK sector was mobilised to support universities in Ukraine and sets out ways in which we might better respond to future crises, while recognising that there is no ‘one size fits all’ model. It reflects on the policy, funding and political levers which have enabled a broad-based response and how these need to be considered when formulating a response to emerging crises at individual, institutional and sector levels. The report sets out a framework that institutions might employ to help develop and tailor such responses, providing a practical tool that can help maximise the effectiveness and impact of university action.
This report was funded as part of a £5m grant from Research England. More information on this grant and other grant outputs can be found on our website.
The aim of this project was to reflect on the work undertaken to support universities in Ukraine, through the twinning initiative and beyond, and draw lessons for the future. Drawing on the experiences of those involved with the scheme, the report highlights how the UK sector has mobilised to support universities in Ukraine - and sets out the policy, funding and political levers which enabled such a comprehensive and broad-based response. Drawing on these experiences, it provides insights that may be used to inform and shape responses to emerging crises at individual, institutional and sector levels. We hope that this report stimulates debate – and action – that ultimately ensures the UK sector is better placed to respond to humanitarian crises in the future.
Jamie Arrowsmith
Director of Universities UK International
As we look to the future, we hope that the lessons learned from the sector's response to the war in Ukraine will ensure that the UK’s higher education sector is best placed to respond to other crises in other contexts. The research demonstrates that the sector’s responses are most fruitful when they are coordinated, sustainable, and locally situated. We hope that this report stimulates a new conversation on how we build such factors into our future responses across the UK.
Susie Hills
Joint CEO and co-founder of Halpin
Humanitarian response should be driven by local context and by the capacity and capability needs of those requiring humanitarian support. It is imperative that responses to humanitarian crises are led by those who are impacted.
Universities UK International (UUKi) can play an important convening role in bringing stakeholders together to understand the scale and scope of challenges and help establish the parameters of possible action.
The sector and its partners – including bodies such as UUK – should ensure a coordinated and connected response. It is in this response that resources are maximised and any duplication of effort mitigated. Cross-sector coordination is critical to an effective response.
The partnership approach also enables connection with those who bring local knowledge and broader charitable purpose, enabling a comprehensive structure of support.
The partnership response should be coordinated through a central body such as UUK, with appropriate, adaptive and relevant measurement and monitoring of performance being embedded at key stages of the response.
Government bodies should work collaboratively with UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and sector bodies to enable the most effective policy and regulatory environment for delivery.
Establishing a mechanism for ongoing dialogue with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and others directly in support of humanitarianism would ensure preparedness for future response, as well as providing a clear understanding of the policy and regulatory parameters of any intervention. A direct call to action from relevant ministers would no doubt also energise the sector to respond.
Identifying policy, regulatory and funding issues at an early stage would facilitate a high-impact response. A standing committee could be established of key government departments and sector stakeholders that could be mobilised as required. An early assessment of the potential barriers and the scope for addressing these can save considerable time and resources, and direct activity towards appropriate channels.
Sector-wide funding to support the continuation of higher education internationally through humanitarian response should be discussed with government bodies and other funding agencies. That discussion should include an upfront agreement of suitable performance measures of funding at each stage of humanitarian support: from preparedness to emergency response, through recovery and rehabilitation, to reconstruction and development.
Longer term, options for sustained financing should be explored as a priority by government bodies including FCDO and DSIT, and public bodies including UKRI and others in discussion with representatives of the sector and its partners. These discussions should include an upfront exploration of the deliverables, expected outcomes and restrictions of particular funding streams.
Ownership at the institutional level is key to an effective response. There needs to be senior buy-in to ensure that advocates and champions have the support to develop an appropriate institutional response.
Individual institutional responses should be overseen by an appropriate committee with accountability to the senior team for ongoing resource allocation and monitoring. Governance mechanisms should be embedded into ongoing governance frameworks and stood up or down as needed. Responses should be supported by a business case, business plan and risk assessment within the institutions’ existing risk management processes.
A specific recommendation of the report is the need for UK HEIs to ensure, through their Board of Governors/Council, that any response is within the charitable objects of their university.
Analysis should be undertaken at institutional and sector level in order to understand the unique situations and complexities of each humanitarian situation. This analysis should include an understanding of the political, social, and cultural context as well as an understanding of the higher education sector of the host country.
A transparent and open discussion of the conflicts and potential constraints of working within, or in support of, a specific population, geography or region should be included and should address challenges relating to, for example, differing perspectives on equalities and other human rights concerns, or the relative autonomy of the higher education sector in that country.
UUK should hold a comprehensive record which maps sector knowledge and expertise in relation to humanitarian response and which can provide a frame of reference to be used in future humanitarian crises. That mapping exercise should include key research groups, education providers and other partners that are able to contribute to the full range of humanitarian situations. A key element of preparedness for future humanitarian need, UUK should coordinate an initial review of expertise and experience which should be maintained for use when the need arises.
Responses must be pragmatic and deliverable. Responses must be tailored to the capacity, capability, and resources of all parties. For the UK institution, this means a realistic assessment of the art of the possible – including an objective assessment of the operational, funding, and regulatory conditions that will shape any response.
The sector, coordinated by UUK, should adopt a framework approach to future crisis responses.
Section 7 of the report includes a descriptive framework to support universities, their partners and the sector in implementing these recommendations and in responding to future humanitarian events.
The framework poses a series of questions which collectively seek to respond to the emerging themes within the research, including capacity and capability assessment, environmental analysis, and effective planning for long term support. It supports a deliberate and considered response to humanitarian need through greater preparedness and greater coordination.
The Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) was the first Catholic university to be established in Ukraine and is a modern, innovative institution educating future professionals for Ukraine and the world. For UCU, fostering global solidarity with academic partners was a priority when the country was invaded, and it has since established fruitful partnerships with UK HEIs including the University of Nottingham (UoN) and the University of Warwick.
Work with partners included the decolonisation of Russian studies and a new prominence for Ukrainian humanities, the United in Solidarity: UoN – UCU Faculty Collaboration Research Programme, and the allocation of 20 scholarships for Warwick’s summer school.
The research programme is currently supporting projects in post-conflict memory, reconciliation, and culture wars.
Vasyl Stefanyk PNU ranked 11th in the Top 200 universities in Ukraine in 2023. It was twinned with the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the early months of the invasion and was awarded a £131,000 grant for a collaborative research project, 'Preparing the Ground for Reconstruction'. This funding will be used to purchase a spectrophotometer, a DSLR camera, and to provide seed funding for startups.
Both universities continue to collaborate on researching soil and water restoration, Ukrainian eco-startups, and the global impact of war via journalism. Differing administrative systems and legal frameworks between Ukraine and the UK have been a challenge but extensive planning and adaptation has mitigated this.
A “Hackathon” for staff and students of both universities is being planned for September
The Open University’s unique remote and digital model led to innovative responses to the invasion, including digital connectivity, financial packages, and bespoke online courses. Courses included 'English in the World Today', 'Understanding Your Sector' and 'Making Sense of Mental Health Problems', all hosted for Ukrainian refugees via the OpenLearn platform.
The launch of the Open Futures Sanctuary Scholarships scheme will see 12 scholarships funded every year for the next 3 years and will include a £20,000 fee waiver. 8 refugees from Ukraine were in receipt of these in its debut year.
The ongoing nature of the crisis has presented resourcing challenges, but the OU’s impact has been clear. A webinar on delivering online learning was attended by over 800 colleagues from Ukrainian HEIs and 2 Ukrainian academics are also being hosted via Cara fellowships.
Bath Spa has been building partnerships with Ukrainian universities for over a decade, mostly enabled by EU funding. Its largest projects have included Academic Quality Assurance, governance, and the teaching of journalism within higher education.
When the invasion took place, the university was leading three separate projects with Ukrainian HEIs and provided support and guidance to colleagues in the early months of the crisis.
Bath Spa formally twinned with the International University of Economics and Humanities, one of its existing partners, in May 2022 and in the following month established the new Bath Spa Sanctuary Scholarship.
The DESTIN project, which began in 2018 with 13 Ukrainian partners, completed in November 2022 with a final project meeting hosted in Poland, rather than Lyiv. Representatives from the majority of partner universities were able to attend.
Newcastle’s Language Resource Centre developed an English language facilitation programme which sought to support over 70 Ukrainian students over two six-week periods. Bringing together both Newcastle students and those from the National University of Water and Environmental Engineering, the programme provided direct English language support and allowed Newcastle students to give practical and purposeful assistance to their peers.
Using the PPP formula of Presentation, Practice and Production, participants undertook task-based learning exercises with Microsoft Teams channels set up for discussion and collaboration.
Power cuts and intermittent WiFi did mean students could not always be in attendance, but the programme was still able to deliver 1.5 hour sessions each week for 6 groups of students. Friendships were also made throughout.
The University of Leicester was founded by public donation as a memorial of those who served in the First World War and it continues its heritage of kindness today as a University of Sanctuary. It has formally twinned with two Ukrainian universities and has worked to develop knowledge and understanding of the Ukrainian education sector.
An audit of academic links identified many opportunities for collaboration and the university was awarded £220,000 of UKRI funding for two projects – in food supply chain management and the use of drone technology in agriculture.
The university faced initial challenge in shipping resources and materials to the universities affected due to a lack of systems and networks that may be more readily available within humanitarian organisations. However, its impacts have been great, providing full scholarships, online English language classes, and sending winter clothing to Ukrainian peers, to name a few.
The University Sponsorship Model provides a safe route to the UK, access to universities, and related support to students and academics who have been forcibly displaced. It is hoped that this can be developed into a wider model to support forced migrants across the world.
The invasion of Ukraine created urgency in expanding the sponsorship model and a consortium was created with the Open University, Newcastle, and Leicester by April 2022. The University Gateway, an online matching portal, was also created to partner Ukrainian guests with community hosts.
Though language barriers, recruiting hosts and the limitation of safe and legal pathways to the UK posed some barriers, over 60 individuals impacted by the invasion have been supported so far and there is a strong ambition to scale and replicate the model beyond its current capacity.
The STAR network was mobilised to support Ukrainian refugees from the beginning of the invasion and called for refugees to be a priority in the UK government’s response. Guidance and resources for individuals looking to access higher education were adapted from those already developed in the response to the crisis in Afghanistan.
STAR was able to connect with university leaders via regular meetings chaired by UUKi and advocated for access to student finance and domestic tuition fees for those displaced. Working with partners at Refugee Education UK and Universities of Sanctuary, the Displaced Student Opportunities UK portal was also created – providing a database of higher education opportunities open to people from refugee backgrounds.
STAR continues to build the platform, which they aim to be a comprehensive source of information for applicants and providers.
Notes:
The report can be found on the UUKi website.
The authors will present their findings at a UUKi webinar on the 14 September, 12:00-13:00. You can sign up to attend.
Halpin Partnership (Halpin) is a specialist management consultancy founded to meet the needs of the UK higher education sector. Halpin places high-quality research at the heart of all projects and draws on the experience of a team of Consulting Fellows, each with their own unique areas of expertise, at senior and cross-sector levels. The full team deployed on this project can be found on the Halpin website. Halpin was appointed by Universities UK in February 2023 to conduct a review into the UK higher education sector’s response to the invasion of Ukraine following a public and open tendering process. If you have any questions, comments, or contributions regarding this report, please contact [email protected].
The ‘Responding to international humanitarian crises’ report and individual contributions are the independent views and work of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the project funders: Universities UK, Universities UK International, Research England and UK Research and Innovation.
