March 2022 

The DESTIN project stands in solidarity and sympathy with the people of Ukraine, and condemns the Russian government’s violent and unwarranted aggression against a peaceful neighbour. 

Thirteen of DESTIN’s partners are based in Ukraine: in Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, Kyiv, Lviv, Mariupol, Rivne, Sumy, Uzhhorod, and Zaporizhzhya. We worry for the safety of our colleagues and their families, and our hearts break for the humanitarian catastrophe that we are witnessing across Ukraine and beyond its borders.

These terrible events have shown how vital a free press is for a healthy democratic society — and how urgent the need is for journalists who are skilled, knowledgeable, and responsible, and for an informed society that can identify reliable and trusted news sources. 

DESTIN has met those needs by:

• raising the quality of journalism and media BA and MA degrees In Ukraine;

• improving media literacy across Ukrainian society;

• redesigning and launching 20 new BA and MA degrees in journalism and media at ten Ukrainian universities;

• developing public-facing online media literacy courses, some of which are already available;

• publication in March 2022  of ‘National Guideline Statements’ for journalism and media;

• the establishment of the first Ukrainian Forum for Educators in Media and Journalism; 

• the creation of EU/Ukrainian dual-degree programmes. 

We hope to hold our final conference in Lviv.

The war has disrupted all of these activities but we remain committed to our colleagues, to the goals of our project, and the underpinning values of our collaborations. We will persevere.