The Digital University – Open Ukrainian Initiative project, or DigiUni for short, was launched earlier this year and aims to help Ukraine create a national platform for online and distance learning that will be used by 300 Ukrainian universities, creating a one-stop shop where Ukrainian university students can access free courses in a range of disciplines from medicine to philology. In addition to Ukrainian universities from Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Chernivtsi, Sumy and Kherson, Masaryk University cooperates on the development of DigiUni with universities from France, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands and Germany.
A film crew from the French creative agency Factstory came to MU to film a clip about this project for the European Parliament. In a three and a half minute video, IT architect and assistant professor Kamil Malinka, who coordinates the project for Masaryk University, spoke about the DigiUni project in more detail. “We were very pleased that the DigiUni initiative caught the attention of people in Strasbourg and that they came to film in Brno, where we welcomed a forty-member delegation from Ukraine. I spent a whole day with the crew of three and we filmed in different locations around the University to show the diversity of what we’re doing. It was a busy day, but I think the video turned out great,” says Kamil Malinka.
The video not only introduces Masaryk University and its activities to help Ukraine, but also presents the situation through the eyes of a student from Ukraine. In the video, Olena from Kharkiv, who is studying political science and economics in Gdansk, expresses her gratitude for the opportunity to study in the European Union. Like other Ukrainian students studying in Europe, she believes that she will return to Ukraine and that the education she has received will help her country develop. Through her story and the stories of others, the European Union illustrates how it is helping Ukrainians gain knowledge in times of war by building a national platform for online education, while highlighting the fact that investing in the young generation is key to helping Ukraine rebuild.
“We believe that one day the war will end. And it will depend on whether Ukraine has a lot of uneducated young people or, on the contrary, a new generation ready to rebuild the country,” says Kamil Malinka from the MU Institute of Computer Science in the video.
The promotional video is available on the European Parliament website as well as on Instagram and YouTube.
Ten similar videos have been produced for the European Parliament, covering a range of topics including climate change, democracy, press freedom, gender equality, digital transformation and recycling in the European Union. As well as the Czech Republic and Poland, the agency behind the video has also produced spots in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
You can watch the resulting videos made as part of the series here:
- Rising to the challenges of migration in the EU
- Ensuring education for Ukrainians in times of war
- Making the EU economy more resilient
- Get involved in strengthening EU democracy
- Protecting democracy through journalism
- Maintaining EU independence and democracy
- Making the economy work for you and the planet
- Advancing women’s rights in the EU
- Benefits of the EU’s digital transition
- Climate action across generations and nations