On June 9, 2026, the international conference “Service-Learning for Ukraine’s Recovery: Education, Citizenship, and Community Resilience” was held in a hybrid format at the Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv, Ukraine). The event served as the final conference of the EU-funded international project “Service-Learning in Higher Education for Ukraine’s Recovery” (ServU), No. 101128922 – ServU – ERASMUS-EDU-2023-CBHE (URL: https://servu.ucu.edu.ua/en/), aimed at supporting Ukraine’s recovery through the implementation of the Service-Learning methodology in higher education institutions.
The conference was attended by representatives of our department, including Prof. Inna SHKOLNYK, D.Sc. in Economics, First Vice-Rector of Sumy State University (ServU Project Coordinator at SumDU); Anastasiia SAMOILIKOVA, PhD in Economics, Senior Lecturer (project team member and author of the Service-Learning course); Olha LIUTA, PhD in Economics, Associate Professor (project team member); and Tetiana KASIANENKO, PhD in Economics, Associate Professor. The conference brought together representatives of Ukrainian and European universities, local self-government authorities, civil society organizations, international partners, and researchers to discuss the role of higher education in Ukraine’s recovery and in strengthening community resilience.
Particular attention was paid to the results of the collaborative work carried out by the teaching tandem of Anastasiia SAMOILIKOVA and Kerstin IHLE, Lecturer at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (Germany). Their joint work demonstrated a successful example of international academic cooperation and experience sharing in the implementation of Service-Learning within higher education.
We sincerely thank our international partners for their positive evaluation of our collaborative efforts, valuable feedback, thoughtful reflection, and continued support for the development of innovative educational approaches.
The participation of the department’s academic staff in the ServU project and its final conference contributes to the dissemination of European best practices, the development of international partnerships, and the strengthening of the university’s role in the recovery and sustainable development of Ukrainian communities.
The conference proceedings and articles are available in open access:
Service-Learning for Ukraine’s Recovery: Education, Citizenship, and Community Resilience: Book of Abstracts of the International Research Conference, June 9, 2026 / Ukrainian Catholic University. Lviv–Toruń: Liha-Pres, 2026. 302 p. Available at: http://catalog.liha-pres.eu/index.php/liha-pres/catalog/book/472
Department of Financial Technologies and Entrepreneurship
