Sumy State University, through the Department of International Economic Relations, actively cooperates with partner institutions from Italy, Turkey, and Spain within the international Erasmus+ grant project “Cultural Heritage Recovery After Disasters and Conflicts – Understanding, Training, and Encouragement” (CHERISH, project number: 2023-2-TR01-KA220-YOU-000182116). From February 19 to 22, 2026, the fourth transnational project meeting took place in Ankara, Turkey. It was attended by Associate Professors of the Department of International Economic Relations of the Educational and Research Institute of Business, Economics and Management, L. I. Khomutenko, and postgraduate student S. V. Petrenko.
The project is implemented with the aim of joint work on protecting cultural heritage that has been affected by conflicts or disasters. The full-scale Russian military aggression that began in February 2022 has led to the destruction and damage of cultural heritage sites in Ukraine and has caused irreparable losses to places of national identity: architectural monuments, reserves, museums, churches, and others. Under these extreme conditions of Ukrainian reality, such projects acquire exceptional importance not only as a tool for documenting memory and advocating cultural rights, but also as a means of gaining experience for Ukraine’s post-war recovery.
The meeting program was productive and highly useful: discussion of the work carried out by each partner, as well as the next stage of project implementation and further steps toward its completion. Participants also became acquainted with the architectural heritage and historical landmarks of Ankara. The next and final project event will be an international symposium for young scholars, to be held on April 16–17, 2026, in Santiago de Compostela (Spain), as a forum of ideas on preserving Europe’s cultural heritage, bringing together researchers, students, and civic activists from all partner countries. Details: https://hitit.edu.tr/en/isyech
Such meetings contribute to raising awareness among international partners by providing reliable and objective information about the history and current events in Ukraine. The meeting was marked by an atmosphere of cooperation, engagement, and unity. We sincerely thank the project partners for their inspiration and shared goal.
