By: Communications
A new project, funded by £131,000 from Universities UK International (UUK), will see academics from University of East Anglia (UEA) and Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University (PNU) in Ukraine join forces to research, amongst other things, the effects of warfare on water and soil – a legacy of warfare which is often overlooked.
Often referred to as the ‘breadbasket of Europe’, damage to Ukraine’s agricultural landscape, either short-term or long-term, will continue to have a massive effect across the globe. According to the United Nations World Food Programme, Ukraine grows enough food to feed an estimated 400 million people.
The project, entitled ‘Preparing the Ground for Reconstruction – Decontaminating Ukraine’s Soil, Eco-Entrepreneurs,and Environmental Journalism’ will see the institutions work together to jointly research soil and water remediation, stimulate the development of eco start-ups in Ukraine, and raise the awareness of the global impact of the war through journalism and filmmaking.
The project will be overseen by Project Co-Directors Iryna Hryhoruk, Associate Professor and PNU’s Head of Research and Development, and Matthias Neumann, Professor of Modern History and Head of the UEA School of History.
Professor Neumann, who is also President of the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies, said:
“This is an exciting development, especially in terms of studying the effects of conflict on water and soil, which is an area that requires collaborative working across a range of knowledge areas and can draw on considerable research strength from both universities.
We look forward to welcoming our Ukrainian counterparts to Norwich and showing them everything that the University and city has to offer.
“I would like to express my thanks to Universities UK International for their support, which allows us to put UEA’s values of collaboration, empowerment, respect, and ambition into action to support colleagues in Ukraine and help the country to prepare for the challenges of post-war reconstruction. Together I believe we can make a real difference.”
Part of the core purpose of universities is to transform lives and change the world for the better, addressing the global challenges of today. Wednesday 29 March 2023 marks the one-year anniversary of the UK–Ukraine twinning initiative, and in that time, 106 university twinning partnerships have been developed, with 92 UK universities involved. The twinning relationship between UEA and PNU began in the summer of 2022, leading to a formal memorandum of understanding to cement the partnership being agreed in October of the same year.
The twinning scheme enables Ukrainian campuses to stay open, academics to continue their teaching and research, and students to continue studying. September 2023 saw the launch of the #TwinForHope campaign, with twinning partners encouraged to share their stories across social media. UEA and PNU will be participating again on 29 March to mark the anniversary of UK-Ukraine twinning initiative as it continues to go from strength-to-strength.
Valentyna Yakubiv, First vice-rector of PNU, said:
“It is extremely important for our university to build new powerful partnerships, to study the best experience, in particular of UEA, to create joint research groups, as this is the key to rebuilding the system of education and science in Ukraine at the stage of post-war recovery. Thank you to UEA for supporting us in such a difficult time for our country.”
After initial meetings between representatives of the two universities, a selection of shared research clusters were identified that provided a framework for a major collaborative research symposium in December 2022, which was attended by 137 scholars. At the symposium, the group discussed collaborative areas under mutually identified research themes and priorities:
1. Human Health and Natural Environments
2. Rethinking Society
3. Culture, Creativity and Belief
Iryna Hryhoruk, Co-Director at PNU, said:
“Collaborating with UEA can provide PNU researchers and innovators with access to world-class expertise and knowledge, in particular enabling them to develop their startups more effectively. This grant will aid in establishing connections between our researchers, fostering a stronger network. It is very important for PNU during wartime and postwar recovery.”
A critical pillar of the twinning relationship is in capacity building, preparing the next generation of Ukrainians to rebuild their country through knowledge exchange and scientific collaborations. The project aims to achieve this through three distinct but interlinked activities.
1.‘New Materials for Pollution Risk Abatement: From Scientific Innovation to Implementation’
An often-overlooked legacy of warfare is the contamination of soil that can have long-term effects, even when conflict has ceased. This strand will develop and improve water and soil remediation methods through the use of carbon-based and magnetic catalyst materials. Faculty staff, early-career Researchers (ECRs) and post-graduate researchers (PGRs) from both institutions will work collaboratively through online and in-person workshops (Ecology and Economics) and joint research projects (Physics, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology). At one planned in-person workshop at UEA, there will be demonstrations of the real-world technologies available from key remediation companies.
2.‘Mentoring/funding Eco-Innovative Start-ups by PNU PGRs and ECRs
Building upon UEA’s British Council funded enterprise scheme in Georgia, this strand aims to build entrepreneurial capacity to support the growth of eco-innovative Ukrainian businesses. The initial phase revolves around knowledge exchange, with PNU technology transfer experts visiting Norwich Research Park (Food and Agritech) and UEA’s Enterprise Centre, a thriving hub for start-ups, with the aim to replicate UEA’s kick-start funding scheme in Ukraine. Mentoring will help to develop business plans regarding the commercial use of their research activity. UEA will also provide seed funding for 20 PNU start-up initiatives.
3.‘Digital Storytelling/Journalism Newsroom’:
This strand brings together Journalism-focused faculty members and student researchers from UEA and PNU to explore the global environmental and societal impact of war on agricultural productivity, as well as food and water security. Three PNU academics will spend ten days at UEA's Broadcast House to run joint-online newsroom/broadcast sessions for ECRs and PGRs from both institutions, developing their journalistic, research and production skills.UEA is accredited by the Broadcast Journalism Training Council. An online Digital Storytelling Festival (Summer 2023) will showcase this collaborative work.
Valentyna Yakubiv, said:
“We appreciate our collaboration with the Cormack Consultancy Group company, which within the framework of the Twinning initiative contributed to the start of our cooperation with UEA. Throughout our collaboration, we have already carried out various endeavours. However, the potential to execute a collaborative grant project presents novel prospects for enlarging our partnership.”
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