Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design participates in the project UKRAINE TWINNING INITIATIVE from 2022. Collaboration and long-term impact in inter-university Partnerships are the main pillars of the Twinning initiative.
Twinning team summed up the three-year activity based on the partnership reports of the participating institutions with a detailed description of the Twinning- related activities carried out since the start of the initiative in 2022.
The analysis showed that Twinning activities brought tangible results: over 4,500 Ukrainian students and over 2,500 teaching and administrative staff directly participated in mobility programs, professional development initiatives, and joint academic projects.
Partner of KNUTD by project Twinning is Sheffield Hallam University (United Kingdom). During 2022-2025, fruitful international cooperation between partner institutions took place: joint participation in scientific conferences, exchange of experience, lectures by invited professors, etc.
In 2024, a series of lectures by visiting professors for design students from the Institute of Creative Industries at Sheffield Hallam University took place.
Within the framework of the “Generators4Ukraine” initiative, the Twinning team, with the support of British universities and private donors, provided generators to higher educational institutions in Kyiv, Poltava, Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv, Uzhgorod and other cities of Ukraine. In 2024, a generator was also transferred to KNUTD as part of the fundraising campaign " Generators4Ukraine " within the framework of the "Twinning" initiative from the British company Cormack Consultancy Group.
Mariupol State University in partnership with Cormack Consultancy Group and Reallyenglish launched the English4Ukraine platform to improve English language proficiency in Ukrainian higher education. In just eight months, the project has attracted 452 educational institutions and over 48,000 users, including university employees and students, military personnel, veterans, internally displaced persons, and civil society representatives. Students and teachers of KNUTD have actively participated in the English learning project on the English4Ukraine platform.
Twinning team noted the active participation of the Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design in the initiative's activities and thanked the KNUTD team, Ivan Gryshchenko, Rector of KNUTD, Doctor of Science in Economics, Professor, Academician of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, Liudmyla Hanushchak-Yefimenko, Vice-Rector for Research and International Cooperation, Doctor of Science in Economics, Professor, Kalyna Pashkevych, Dean of the Faculty of Design, Doctor Engineering, Professor for their leadership and hard work to strengthen international relations between educational institutions in Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
Among the key success factors of the Twinning initiative, the organizers highlight:
Effective partnership and coordination. A coordinated approach made it possible to make the most effective use of available resources, avoid duplication of efforts, and create a sustainable network of mutual support between Ukrainian and British universities.
A supportive political and regulatory environment. Timely changes in government policy and support at the state level allowed for rapid resource mobilization.
Sufficient and accessible funding. Significant resources were mobilized directly from UK universities, government agencies and donor organizations. This provided operational support to Ukrainian partners in the initial stages of the project.
Over the past three years, partnerships between Ukrainian and international universities, including those from the UK, have expanded significantly, providing nearly 800 different activities in key areas such as research collaboration, student and faculty mobility, professional development, and infrastructure support. The active participation of nearly 7,000 students and faculty underscores the broad reach and critical importance of the initiative Twinning. A total of 58 partnerships between Ukrainian and UK institutions under the Twinning initiative reported 798 individual activities over a three-year period. The analysis found that:
research activities accounted for the largest share, accounting for 188 activities (24%),
student-oriented events: 151 events (19%),
professional development of teachers and staff: 125 events (16%),
provision of resources and equipment: 97 events (12%),
mobility of teachers and staff: 90 events (11%),
student mobility: 68 events (9%),
capacity development: 40 activities (5%),
technical and human resources support: 39 activities (5%).
After the official final of the three-year Twinning initiative, the project team calls for maintaining sustainable long-term cooperation between twin universities, invites British partners to further invest in the internationalization of higher education in Ukraine, and to increase the potential of the Ukrainian higher education sector in accordance with the priorities of Ukraine's reconstruction.
The staff and management of the Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design, represented by Rector Ivan Gryshchenko, Doctor of Science in Economics, Professor, Academician of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine sincerely thank the team of the project “Twinning” for its assistance in shaping international cooperation between universities, strategic support for Ukrainian educational institutions, and commitment to strengthening Ukrainian higher education in an extremely difficult time. Special thanks to Charles Cormack, founder and chairman of Cormack Consultancy Group; Olexandr Smyrnov, Director of the Ukraine Twinning Project at CCG; Oksana Vavrenchuk, Assistant Director of the Twinning Project at CCG; Yana Sydorenko, Twinning Assistant Manager at CCG.
Charles Cormack and the project team «Twinning»
Many thanks to the management and partners from Sheffield Hallam University: Roger Bateman, Dean of the Faculty of Art and Design; James Richardson, Director of Global Development and Partnerships; Gil Baverstock, Deputy Director of Global Development and Partnerships; Pam Bowman, lecturer of the Visual Communications program for international academic cooperation, joint projects, and support for students and teachers of KNUTD!
13.07.2025
