TRAINING WORKSHOP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA, RIGA

On August 22-25, 2023, the University of Latvia hosted a workshop “National regulation and
implementation of the third mission in higher education institutions – experience and cooperation with
social partners”. The team of Sumy NAU was represented at this event by Olena MELNYK, Head of the
International Projects Sector of the Research Department, Associate Professor, Viktoriia Makarova,
Professor of the Department of Marketing and Logistics, and Tetiana KRIUCHKO, Accountant of the
Accounting and Reporting Department.

The program of the training seminar was extremely active and informative. Thus, on the first day of the
seminar, the UNICOM Project Coordinator, Professor B. ŠAVRIŅA, the UNICOM project coordinator,
welcomed the participants and familiarized them with the program of planned activities. The former
Rector of the University of Latvia, Prof. M. AUZIŅŠ, spoke about the experience and strategy of the
University of Latvia in developing the Third Mission and long-term prospects of cooperation. The Dean
of the Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, Professor G. BERZINŠ and other distinguished
speakers familiarized the participants with the peculiarities of training public administration specialists
for the needs of local governments.

The next day, the seminar participants met with the Rector of the University of Latvia I. MUIŽNIEKS and
the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Latvia Anatoliy KUTSEVOl. They discussed with the
speakers the issues of further cooperation with social partners and communities in wartime, outlined
the prospects and directions of cooperation between higher education institutions of Ukraine and
Latvia. In addition, the participants of the seminar had a unique opportunity to visit the Parliament of
Latvia, where they talked to the Deputy Speaker and Member of the Latvian Parliament Dr. Z. KALNIŅA-
LUKAŠEVICA.

The trainings by Professors B. ŠAVRIŅA, S. BONDARE, I. STURMANE, G. KALVANE and U. KONDRATOVICS
were very informative from the practical point of view, as they demonstrated the success of the
University of Latvia’s Third Mission, the best practices in cooperation with local communities, business,
alumni and other target audiences.

Thanks to the high level of organization of the workshop and active interaction with the speakers, the
participants gained invaluable knowledge, practical advice and experience, which will allow them to
form their own vision of the Third Mission for Ukrainian higher education institutions.