The PAGOSTE project's final conference took place on November 6-8 at Vienna University of Economics and Business (Austria). Titled «Vocational Teacher Education: Between Aspirations and Challenges», the international conference reviewed the outcomes of the Erasmus+ KA2 project «New mechanisms of partnership-based governance and standardization of vocational teacher education in Ukraine» (PAGOSTE). Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogics Academy has been participating in this project from 2020 to 2024. The conference featured 23 presentations from scientists and teaching professionals across 5 countries.
Originally planned for three years, the PAGOSTE project was extended by a year due to unforeseen challenges like the coronavirus pandemic and the russian federation's invasion of Ukraine. Despite these difficulties, the project successfully introduced new partnership-based mechanisms connecting universities, which specialize in training future VET teachers, vocational education institutions, and other stakeholders.
At the conference, UEPA was represented by the Rector, Prof. Denys Kovalenko; Adviser to the Rector, Prof. Olena Kovalenko; Vice-Rector for Scientific Work, Prof. Oleksandr Kupriyanov; Head of the Department of Pedagogy, Methodology and Education Management, Prof. Nataliia Briukhanova; Professor of the Department of Information Computer Technologies and Mathematics Tetiana Bondarenko; and Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign Language Training, International Cooperation and European Integration Hanna Korniush.
Denys Kovalenko, Nataliia Briukhanova and Hanna Korniush presented the report «Ways to address contemporary challenges in vocational education teacher training at Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogics Academy». The other team, comprising Tetiana Bondarenko, Oleksandr Kupriyanov and Olena Kovalenko, presented the report «Ecosystem of digital solutions for VET institutions: the example of Ukraine and global trends».
During the meeting, Professor Denys Kovalenko awarded Professor Richard Fortmüller from Vienna University of Economics and Business an Honorary Doctor’s Diploma (Doctor Honoris Causa) of Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogics Academy. This award had been previously presented online; however, during the conference, it was possible to give the diploma in person.
The conference concluded with participants reflecting on the four years of collaboration and discussing future cooperation in the project's direction.
