WEST UKRAINIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

 An online meeting with international partners, ‘Partnership Dialogue with The Global Resilience Centre: European Practices of Sustainability and Reforms,’ was held at the West Ukrainian National University. The event brought together representatives of the university community, the National Police of Ukraine, the Netherlands Business Academy and the Global Resilience Centre (GRC, Netherlands) to discuss opportunities for joint work in the field of psychological support and rehabilitation for veterans.

The discussion focused on contemporary challenges related to the post-traumatic effects of war and the search for effective approaches to creating a sustainable support system for people returning from the front lines. According to official estimates, Ukraine will have over a million war veterans in the coming years, including demobilised military personnel, volunteers, and law enforcement officers, particularly police officers. These people face serious psychological challenges on a daily basis, such as PTSD, depression, adjustment disorders, and emotional burnout. The National Police of Ukraine, which performs critical functions both at the front and in the rear, also has an urgent need for quality psychosocial support programmes for its employees.

European partners shared their experience in this area. In particular, experts from the Netherlands spoke about effective models of psychosocial rehabilitation, multidisciplinary approaches, and the role of educational and medical institutions in the process of returning veterans to peaceful life. Representatives of The Global Resilience Centre, an organisation that brings together specialists in psychology, trauma therapy, crisis management and education, presented practices that have already been successfully implemented in European countries and outlined potential areas for adapting these models to the Ukrainian context.

Participants were particularly interested in innovative approaches to training specialists in crisis communication and psychological support, presented by Jan van Zwieten, Rector of the Netherlands Business Academy. It was his initiative that launched a dialogue on the involvement of Ukrainian universities in the international rehabilitation programme for veterans supported by GRC. During the meeting, participants discussed prospects for creating joint educational programmes, developing advanced training courses for specialists, forming multidisciplinary support teams, and the importance of interagency cooperation between the police, educational institutions, medical organisations, and public initiatives.

West Ukrainian National University continues to actively develop its own support centres, which are already implementing unique initiatives. For example, the WUNU Education and Research Centre for Communications has experience in organising training for police officers in frontline regions with the participation of international experts in crisis communication and trauma therapy. The centre integrates modern methods into its training programmes, preparing specialists to work in conditions of stress, uncertainty and high risk. In parallel, there is an Education and Research Centre for Social and Psychological Support and Resilience, which works with veterans, internally displaced persons, and people who have experienced loss or trauma. The centre uses innovative approaches, including art and body-oriented practices, psychoeducation, and community work.

The event was attended by Vice-Rectors for Academic Affairs and Research Viktor Ostroverkhov and Uliana Koruts, Director of the Education and Research Centre for Social and Psychological Support and Resilience Oksana Shandruk, and a team of specialists in international cooperation and psychological support. The National Police of Ukraine was represented by department heads, including Ruslan Horyachenko, Head of the Department of Main Inspectorate and Human Rights Compliance, and human rights inspectors, who expressed their readiness for interagency cooperation. The team of European partners was represented by GRC Chairman Sven Burgers, clinical psychologist Bas Schrijner, psychotherapist Henri Spek and project manager Jacqueline Talevska. The meeting was organised and moderated by Oksana Koval, Director of the Education and Research Centre for Communications.

This partnership dialogue was an important step towards establishing a sustainable system of assistance for veterans in Ukraine. It demonstrated the parties' readiness to join forces, exchange experience and jointly create a platform for long-term cooperation. Further steps include the development of joint training programmes, the adaptation of European practices to national needs, and the creation of a comprehensive interdisciplinary model for supporting veterans through Ukrainian universities and law enforcement agencies.