Citizen engagement as a crisis response at higher education institutions in the Baltic states and Ukraine

This publication presents social actions organised in Baltic universities in collaboration with policy, industry, and society, aiming to support Ukrainian populations in humanitarian crises. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many Ukrainians had to leave the war zone and emigrate to other countries in order to find a safe place to live. This humanitarian crisis imposed new challenges for Ukrainian people who became refugees in the Baltic states, as well as to the host societies. There was a lack of resilience mechanisms to cope with this new reality and provide support for Ukrainian refugees. To address these challenges, six partners (four Baltic universities, a Ukranian university and an organization in Greece) collaborated in the project ''Supporting Ukraine through citizen engagement at Baltic Universities'' (Baltics4UA) under the Erasmus+ Programme. The main goal of Baltics4UA project is to enhance Baltic universities’ social responsibility through civic engagement actions to address the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis in the Baltic states. A methodological approach that focuses on citizen engagement and emphasises social innovation and participation has been developed in the framework of this project prior to organising 23 university-driven social actions in every partner institution. Overall, 488 participants took part in social actions. Participants were asked to fill in a post-event evaluation form; this feedback was used to identify whether the social actions met the aims and objectives of the project. Moreover, the organisers of the social actions described the impact of each action by evaluating the aim and goal of the social action, as well as the level of citizen engagement. While planning, organising and implementing these social actions, project partners encountered a variety of challenges and learned lessons, which can serve as useful guidelines for those seeking to foster effective business, academia and society collaboration while providing support and engaging societies in the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis.