Higher education and research in war and peace

On Saturday September 10, the FREE Network together with the Centre for Economic Analysis (CenEA) and the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) will host a conference to discuss the importance of higher education and research in war and peace and how EU countries can support the transformation of societies on the road to EU accession.

The value of knowledge and how it is spread and used in any society cannot be overestimated. This is obvious to most in peace times when there is ample focus on modernization, innovation, and transformation of societies in a sustainable manner, where research and education are key inputs to these processes. But also in times of war and conflicts, education and research are important factors in the immediate war efforts as well as providing the foundation for a successful post-war transformation. In Ukraine today, despite Russia’s senseless war and atrocities in the country, the Kyiv School of Economics and other educational and research institutions are making important contributions to its governments efforts to defend the country and provide hope for the future.

Conference

This event will provide an introduction to how the Forum for Research on Eastern Europe and Emerging Economies (FREE) Network unite institutions in EU countries and Eastern Partnership countries to provide higher education, research, and policy analysis to the benefit of current and future generations of Europeans. It will also provide up-to-date accounts of how the Kyiv School of Economics and the academic community is fighting for Ukraine and the future of Europe.

Registration

The conference will take place at the Royal Castle (Concert Hall), Warsaw, Poland, and will be streamed online. For online access please register via the Trippus platform (here). A confirmation email will be sent to you within a few minutes. If you have not received the confirmation email within 10 minutes, please check your SPAM folder.

If you wish to participate in person please send an e-mail to site@hhs.se. Since capacity is limited, you will be able to register for in-person participation conditional on availability.

Please contact site@hhs.se if you have any questions regarding the event.

 

Preliminary program

(some speakers TBC)

11.30-12.00 – Registration and coffee

12.00-13.30: Session I

  • Welcome, Michal Myck, Director of CenEA
  • FREE Network: Supporting Economics Education and Research in Central and Eastern Europe, Torbjörn Becker, Director of SITE
  • Education and Research for Regional Development: International School of Economics in Tbilisi, Tamara Sulukhia, Director of ISET
  • Times of Peace and Times of War: Development of the Kyiv School of Economics and its Response to the Russian Invasion, Nataliia Shapoval, Vice President for Policy Research at KSE

13.30-14.30 – Lunch

14.30-15.30: Session II

  • EU Support for Education and Research – the case of the Warsaw School of Economics Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak, Professor at WSE
  • Education and Research Support from Individual Member States: the Swedish Case Stefan Gullgren, Swedish Ambassador to Poland
  • Higher Education in the Baltics, Anders Paalzow, Rector SSE Riga
  • EU Education and Research Support on the Path to Accession, Tomasz Rzymkowski, Ministry of Education and Science in Poland [TBC]

15.30-16.00 – Coffee break

16.00-17.30: Panel Discussion—The role of Economics Education and Research in transforming societies

  • Dzmitry Kruk, Deputy Academic Director, BEROC
  • Nataliia Shapoval, Vice President for Policy Research at KSE
  • Vlad Mykhnenko, Fellow, St. Peter’s College, University of Oxford
  • Tomasz Rzymkowski, Ministry of Education and Science in Poland [TBC]
  • Moderated by Tamara Sulukhia, Director of ISET

17.30 – Summary & closing

17.30-18.30 – Reception