Yesterday, the project 'Resilience and Preservation: Security, Migration and Cultural Heritage Protection in Ukraine” kicked off at the University of Trieste's Gorizia campus with the Italian–Ukrainian Students' Joint Workshop, “Upheaval in Ukraine: The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in the Ukraine Conflict”. The programme, which will continue until Friday 10 October, brings together students, academics, and practitioners to examine the impact of Russia's war of aggression on security, migration dynamics, and cultural heritage. The project is financed by Italy, through the CEI Fund at the EBRD, under the Know-how Exchange Programme (KEP).
DSG Yurii Mushka delivered his opening address alongside the academic hosts, emphasising the importance of cooperation and youth engagement in times of crisis.
He noted: "Protecting cultural heritage is about defending sovereignty, dignity, and the right of a people to exist."
Over the course of five days, sessions will cover topics such as threats to Ukrainian cultural heritage, collaboration with EU partners, the role of science diplomacy in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe, the protection of cultural heritage in conflict and post-conflict settings, geocultural power and foreign policy, and the preservation of cultural heritage in wartime Ukraine. The agenda also included a campus tour, and a study visit to Nova Gorica, which focused on cultural heritage.
This workshop marks the beginning of the project activities . A second workshop is scheduled for the first week of November 2025. This will focus on the evolution of European security architecture and the roles of NATO, the EU and the OSCE, considering forward-looking scenarios relevant to Ukraine and the wider region.
For more info: dovier@cei.int