"People in Norway do not know much about Ukraine, about the EU, or about European integration. With this project, we wish to contribute to increasing this knowledge."
This is what Anne Pintsch says. She is an Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and Management at the University of Agder. She has recently received 1.79 million kroner from the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills to provide us with more knowledge about Ukraine.
The allocation is part of the Directorate's programme for Ukraine expertise. The programme aims to better enable Norwegian actors to contribute to Ukrainian resilience and reconstruction. It will also help Norwegian society learn from Ukrainian experiences.
Three-part programme
"Norway has long experience of cooperating with the EU. This is relevant for Ukraine, which on the path to membership must engage in similar forms of integration that Norway has already established with the union2, says Pintsch.
The project has three parts.
In the first part, UiA will develop two continuing and further education courses on Ukraine worth 2.5 credits. These will be aimed at leaders and employees in the Norwegian public sector. There will also be additional lectures on the country for those taking a master's degree in management.
In the second part, there will be guest lectures on Ukraine in several other UiA study programmes. In addition, digital exchanges will be arranged between UiA students and young people from Kristiansand’s twin city Mykolaiv in Ukraine.
In a third part, a youth delegation from Mykolaiv will come to Kristiansand in May. They will then meet UiA students and other young people during the Democracy Week event, the KRS European Youth Forum, and the European Conference. There will be several other events with Ukraine as the theme.
Can learn from Ukraine
"We hope that this will help more people in this country gain more knowledge about Ukraine, the democratic development in the country, and the process of EU membership for Ukraine", says Pintsch.
She also looks forward to young people from Kristiansand working together with peers from Ukraine.
"Today's young generation will be leaders in 15 - 20 years, and we hope they can build networks and strengthen their contacts with Ukraine", says the researcher.
Pintsch says there is much Norway can learn from Ukraine.
"Particularly when it comes to the conditions of democracy in times of crisis, and how Ukrainians have worked to create democratic processes in a difficult situation."
The project started on 1 December this year and runs until December 2027.