From September 13 to 16, 2022, the annual conference of the European Association for International Education (EAIE) was held in the city of Barcelona (Kingdom of Spain). During the event, the sphere of higher education of Ukraine was awarded the "EAIE-2022" award in the "Vision and Leadership" category from the European Association of International Education (EAIE).

For the first time in 32 years, the winner of the prize for vision and leadership was not a separate organization, but the sphere of higher education of Ukraine as a whole for its reaction and resilience during Russia's brutal war against Ukraine.

"The future in full color is the future of freedom and opportunity, choice and democracy, security and peace. In this future, there is no place for aggressors and terrorists, invasions of sovereign states, and the elimination of the principles of humanity and humanism. Education and science continue to hold their front with dignity and work for the main victory of our country. I am grateful to my international colleagues for recognizing the sphere of higher education of Ukraine and I am sure that the efforts of Ukrainian educators will become the foundation of a new vision of the world in the future," said Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Serhiy Shkarlet.

The award was received by the Ministry of Education and Culture on behalf of higher education institutions of Ukraine.

At the "EAIE" conference, Ukraine was presented by the Ministry of Education and Culture together with the state enterprise "Ukrainian State Center for International Education", the Professional Network of Managers of Education and Science of Ukraine, the National Erasmus+ Office - Ukraine project, higher education institutions and the International Office of the Leibniz University in Hanover within the framework of the program " Support for the internationalization of Ukrainian higher education institutions - continuing education programs for administrators of Ukrainian higher education institutions and academic management (2019-2023)".

A total of 213 stands were presented at the conference, which was visited by 6,000 people. More than 500 representatives of universities, research institutions and companies providing educational services visited the Ukrainian stand.

Also, within the framework of the conference, the session "What's new in Ukraine" was held, devoted to an overview of the current situation, news in the field of higher education, science and innovation in Ukraine, stability in the conditions of the brutal war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, challenges of displaced universities, the impact of war on scientists and innovators , opportunities and development of international cooperation.

At the invitation of the Ukrainian delegation, the Consul General of Ukraine in Barcelona, ​​Artem Vorobyov, visited the stand of Ukraine. During the meeting, the members of the Ukrainian delegation were introduced, the current situation in the field of higher education and science was outlined, and attention was focused on the main challenges.

At the end, the Ukrainian delegation met with the International Department of Research and Universities of the Ministry of Research and Universities of Catalonia and representatives of 11 universities of Catalonia. Based on the results of the meeting, a road map for further cooperation was formed and the next steps regarding the interaction of ministries and universities were outlined.

The conference was also attended by representatives of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Poltava State Agrarian University, Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University, Yuriy Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic National University.