THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS OF UKRAINE
Authors:   Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Didenko Iryna , Kholiavko Nataliia ,   Chernihiv Polytechnic National University
Published: September 2023

In the context of the development of a stable national economy, universities are gradually turning from the institutions for knowledge accumulation into educational hubs, where university students do not only acquire knowledge, but also develop the competencies necessary for further social and professional life, where the interests of all stakeholders: university students, employers, the government, university professors overlap. Higher education institutions are a platform for communication and cooperation of all stakeholders to train high-quality creative personnel, exchange innovative ideas and achieve a synergetic effect in problem-solving. The pandemic and the massive invasion significantly complicated the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in higher education in Ukraine. First of all, the possibilities of implementing the fourth Sustainable Development Goal–‘quality education’ – has had a significant negative impact. Before starting to overcome the negative consequences, it is appropriate to study the situation with the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in higher education in Ukraine and identify the threats that still remain or have arisen as a result of the pandemic, war, and the development of science and technology. The article reveals the origin of the term Sustainable Development, the basic concepts and theoretical foundations of ensuring Sustainable Development of universities. Based on the research and systematization of the existent studies of sustainable development of universities, managerial, process, qualitative and fundraising approaches are identified. The factors influencing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in higher education are analyzed: lifelong learning (formal, informal and non-formal education); attracting talents among university professors and students; integrated and interdisciplinary training; interactive teaching methods; aiming at the acquisition of competencies by university students rather than their reproducing of the given information; decent funding of higher education institutions, both state and non-state, including charity and fundraising; academic integrity; greening of education both through the creation of appropriate new educational programs and through the introduction of appropriate courses into existent ones; the autonomy of universities, their flexibility and academic freedom of all participants of the educational process. The authors identified the main threats to the processes of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the field of higher education: fleeing of qualified personnel and talented students abroad due to the war in Ukraine; insufficient funding for universities due to the reorientation of cash flows to meet military needs rather than educational ones; rapid development and availability of applications with artificial intelligence, which creates new challenges for academic integrity, etc.