Within the framework of the international project UNICOM – Universities-Communities: Strengthening Cooperation, a new important stage of work has begun, focused on developing national approaches to evaluating the activities of higher education institutions in implementing their third mission. This stage directly corresponds to Work Package 4, which include cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and other stakeholders regarding the development of the third mission of universities, as well as the formalization of policy decisions and recommendations at the national level.
The basis for intensifying this work was the Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine dated February 4, 2026, No. 155, “On the Establishment of a Working Group for the Development of Recommendations on Evaluating the Mission of Higher Education Institutions Related to Solving Social Problems, Entrepreneurship Development, Technology Transfer, and Innovation for the Private and Public Sectors.” By this order, the Ministry officially established a working group that is expected to develop and submit recommendations for evaluating this mission of higher education institutions by June 2026, while by the end of August 2026 the prepared recommendations should be processed for further approval in accordance with the established procedure.
It is important that a significant part of the newly established working group consists of representatives of institutions already involved in the implementation of the UNICOM project or closely connected with its expert environment. In particular, the group includes representatives of the University of Genoa, Bohdan Khmelnytsky Melitopol State Pedagogical University, Mykhailo Drahomanov Ukrainian State University, the Institute of Higher Education of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, as well as Ukrainian and international expert organizations. Professor Olena Tupakhina, who represents the Ukrainian Association of Professors and Researchers of European Integration within the project, has been appointed Deputy Head of the working group.
This step is of particular importance not only for the project itself but also for the entire higher education system of Ukraine. From the very beginning, the UNICOM project has been aimed at strengthening cooperation between universities and communities, enhancing the social role of higher education institutions, supporting university participation in solving socially significant problems, and shaping policies that promote the institutionalization of the third mission of universities.
It is expected that the results of the working group’s activities will become an important step toward the development of national recommendations for evaluating the implementation of the third mission of higher education institutions and will also contribute to strengthening the social role of universities in Ukraine. For the UNICOM project, this means moving into a phase where the consortium’s outcomes increasingly influence policy-making at the national level.
Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine