Representatives of VNMU took an active part in the summer school at the University of Genoa under the UNICOM project

"The third mission of the university must become a conscious part of its existence": representatives of VNMU took an active part in the summer school at the University of Genoa under the UNICOM project

The participation of the representatives of the VNMU brought a considerable revival to the work of the summer school within the framework of the UNICOM project, which was held on July 24-28 together with an educational visit to the University of Genoa (Italy). This is exactly how two other participants, from Kharkiv and Kyiv, evaluated this participation, independently of each other.

Professor of the Department of Pharmacy Victoria Rodinkova, a member of the UNICOM working group created at VNMU, and one of the coordinators of the project at our university, the inspector of the international links department Nataliia Horbenko, asked sharp questions to the speakers and other participants, initiating a discussion on the conversed issues. And despite the fact that the main topic of the summer school was cultural studies, cultural dialogue and intercultural environment, there were many more topics for discussion.

They also talked about the evaluation of the quality of educational programs of universities in Italy, the interaction of universities with the community and the need to provide education to people in the so-called third age - what humanity has received thanks to the extension of life expectancy.

Based on the discussion that arose after the lecture of Professor of the University of Genoa Guido Amoretti about the third age and the need for universities to work with older people as potential students, Professor Victoria Rodinkova prepared for the project participants her own presentation on the vision of the problem of aging in the world.

But the key topic of several project days was the actual intercultural dialogue, the difference between inclusion (the creation of conditions by other participants, when a person with needs different from the needs of others is included in the environment without undue effort on his part) and integration (when a person makes certain efforts to become part of the environment).

As well as discussions about the cultural code of Ukraine and what our country lacks and will lack in order to establish a normal life in an environment that will require different approaches to citizens with different needs after the war.

However, all these topics in one way or another related to the third mission of universities - the function that institutions of higher education perform in the community outside the boundaries of educational and scientific work.

And for the university to really become part of the community, it should not forget about useful things for those who live there.

Therefore, VNMU will continue to study at the best universities in Europe on how to implement the third mission. One of its continuations at VNMU may be the creation of an education center for the elderly within the framework of UNICOM in the future. After all, in addition to problems with maintaining an appropriate level of health, elderly people usually experience a lack of communication, and such a center could solve, at least partially, this problem as well.

The implementation of the third mission can become one of the components of the work of the VNMU media center, the concept of which is being developed at the university. The media center can perform such tasks as informing the population about the work of individual departments and university employees to improve the health of the community.

— Creating a positive image of the university through communication with the community is one of the results of the third mission. After all, universities generally lack quality communication with society. Therefore, high-quality communication with society in order to promote a positive image of the university and its socially active actions in the community should become one of the priorities of the VNMU as part of the implementation of its third mission, says Viktoriya Rodinkova.

The site "All About Allergy", which is created by the employees of VNMU, also received favorable reviews in terms of the implementation of the third mission. In particular, Maria Nesterova, project coordinator and head of the center of excellence of the Erasmus+ program in Ukraine, positively assessed the work of the site team. She expressed the opinion that in medicine, similar sites that broadcast to the masses scientific issues of certain diseases can, in principle, be organized on any topic.

Also, the information on the assessment of the quality of education and educational and professional programs in Italian universities, which was shared by Italian colleagues, can be helpful to the department of quality control of education at VNMU.

Based on the results of the participation of VNMU representatives in the work of the summer school, an agreement was reached on conducting communication training on the basis of our university. And, most importantly: current participants of the training were invited to participate in the following ones. Therefore, intercultural dialogue and implementation of the third mission will continue at VNMU and at the international level.

Oksana Vityuk