In 2025, Academician Stepan Demianchuk International University of Economics and Humanities as part of a consortium of Ukrainian higher education institutions led by Bath Spa University (UK), implemented the Pump Priming 2025 grant project. Funding for the project was received from the British Academy grant, which enabled the launch of international cooperation in the field of research on the impact of war on cultural heritage.
As part of the project, researchers from IUEH, together with Bath Spa University, the Kyiv School of Economics, and Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, prepared a report entitled “Assessment of the Impact of the Russian Invasion on the Cultural Heritage and Creative Industries of Ukraine.”
It should be noted that the partners began preparing the report in April 2025 and together completed the practical stage of preparing the materials in June in Warsaw (Poland).
The report, developed by Ukrainian partners, is available in English (https://doi.org/10.17870/bathspa.30084532.v1) and Ukrainian (https://doi.org/10.17870/bathspa. 30084574.v1), which documents the profound losses of tangible and intangible cultural heritage because of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It highlights the destruction of cultural sites, the disruption of creative industries, and the broader implications for national identity and cultural resilience.
The working group from IEU included:
Alina Kruhliak Head of the International and Project Department, who was the coordinator of the Ukrainian partners and the editor-in-chief of the bilingual report;
Viktoriia Artiushok, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Quality of Education, whose professionalism and suggestions complemented the scientific component of the report;
Iryna Budz, Head of the Department of Romano-Germanic Philology, who not only made a significant contribution to the development of the report, but also helped with the official translation;
Volodymyr Starzhets, Associate Professor of the Department of History, Theory of State and Law and Philosophy, and Vitalii Levytskyi, Head of the Department of History, Theory of State and Law and Philosophy, reviewed a number of official sources, news channels, newspapers and helped with the practical and theoretical preparation of the report.
This research is the basis of the Horizon Europe application submitted in September 2025, under the heading: HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-HERITAGE-07: Cultural Strategies for Peace: culture and creativity as catalysts for conflict prevention and post-conflict reconciliation.
The proposed project aims to develop cultural strategies that promote peacebuilding and reconciliation, using creativity and cultural heritage as tools for recovery and dialogue in post-conflict settings.
IUEH expresses its sincere gratitude to the Ukrainian partners for their collaboration in the project and to Bath Spa University for supporting this important work, their commitment to developing international partnerships, and promoting cultural understanding, resilience and peace.
