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Project Erasmus+ ‘DESTIN’ (2018-2022)

International grant project ‘Journalism Education for Democracy in Ukraine: Development of Standards, Integrity and Professionalism’

 

Project number: 598964-EPP-1-2018-1-UK-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP
Erasmus+ KA2 – Cooperation for Innovation and Exchange of Best Practices – Capacity Building in Higher Education

 

Short project name: DESTIN
Project duration: 15.11.2018 – 14.11.2022
Grant amount: €798,470.00
Grant Coordinator: Bath Spa University (Great Britain)
Official project website: http://www.destin-project.info

PROJECT GOALS

A1. Curriculum reform: reform, launch implementation and evaluate updated curricula for 9 bachelor’s and 11 master’s degree programs in journalism (2 degrees in each of the 10 Ukrainian partner universities), as well as institutional quality assurance of academic programs so that all updated programs are aligned with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), meet European standards of integrity and professionalism, improve student engagement with industry, career preparation and employability, and enable staff and students to develop strong and sustainable links with European journalism faculties and associations;
A2. Curriculum context: to improve the media environment in which journalism graduates will work: to increase the “media literacy” of key target groups, to provide new opportunities for journalism students to interact with the public during their studies, and to raise public awareness of the vital role of journalists and the media in promoting and protecting citizens’ rights in a multicultural democracy.

PROJECT TASKS

  • conduct an audit of current curricula (20) with gap analysis and action plans;
  • train development teams to align programs with EQF standards;
  • use European models of journalism education to inform curriculum reform;
  • to train academic and professional staff in the principles and processes of peer review;
  • development and evaluation of the first year of all updated bachelor’s and master’s programs;
  • development of National Recommendations for BA and MA Degree Journalism Education;
  • maximum involvement and participation of the public in the project;
  • conducting and evaluating educational courses on media literacy;
  • maximum ensuring the sustainability of the work and project results.

IMPLEMENTED PROJECT WORK PACKAGES

  • WP1  Preparation
  • WP2  Curriculum Audit and Action Plan (Development)
  • WP3  European Curriculum Design: Principles and Practices (Development)
  • WP4  Curriculum Models: European Journalism Models (Development)
  • WP5  Updated curricula, assessments and national guidelines (Development)
  • WP6  University educational online courses “Media Literacy” (Development)
  • WP7  Quality Management: Monitoring and Evaluation (Quality Plan)
  • WP8  Dissemination and Participation (Dissemination and Use)
  • WP9  Sustainability Plan (Dissemination and Use)
  • WP10 Project Management

IMPLEMENTED PROJECT PLANS

  1. Communication plan
  2. Regulations on Research Integrity and Ethics
  3. Equality and Diversity Policy
  4. Strategy and operational plan for educational courses
  5. Quality plan
  6. Dissemination and participation
  7. Sustainable development plan

PROJECT CONSORTIUM

  • Bath Spa University (United Kingdom)
  • Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (Poland)
  • Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (Ireland)
  • Linnaeus University (Sweden)
  • World University Service (Austria)
  • European Journalism Training Association (The Netherlands)

Ukraine

  • Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
  • Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy
  • Academician Stepan Demianchuk International University of Economics and Humanities
  • Ivan Franko National University of Lviv
  • Mariupol State University
  • Sumy State University
  • Ukrainian Catholic University
  • Uzhhorod National University
  • Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University
  • Zaporizhia National University
  • NGO “Ukrainian Association of Students”
  • PO “Hromadske Radio”
  • Ministry of Education and Science

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE

November 2018
DESTIN begins its work.
BSU DESTIN Project Steering Group Meeting (monthly).
A grant agreement has been signed.
Curriculum Development Groups have been formed in each partner university.

December 2018 – January 2019
Kick-off meeting (Bath).
Governing Council 1.
A sustainability team was formed and the first meeting was held.
The first meeting of the information dissemination team was formed and held.
The first meeting of the information work team was formed and held.
A Project Quality Plan and Risk Assessment have been written.
First Conference (Bath).

February 2019 – March 2019
Audit/review of undergraduate and graduate journalism programs.
A Partnership Agreement has been signed.
The DESTIN toolkit project (adapted from the ALIGN toolkit) has been distributed.

April 2019 – April/May 2019
Progress report.Action plans of Ukrainian universities have been published.
Conference on the development of student-centered educational courses (Kyiv).
Supervisory Board meeting 2.The project website has been launched.
The project’s YouTube channel has been launched.
Second meeting of the Sustainability Group, including review of the Sustainability Plan.
Second distribution team meeting, including review of distribution plan.
Second meeting of the outreach team, including review.Information and educational work plan.
Review of the Project Quality Plan and risk assessment.
Equality and diversity policy.

May 2019 – October 2019
The Action Plans of Ukrainian universities have been revised and updated.
Quality Assurance Review Meeting.
Trip to Linnaeus University, Sweden.

November 2019
Trip to Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland.
Training seminars on course development (training for trainers) (Kyiv).
Updated training toolkit for DESTIN trainers published.
A template for peer review has been published.
The Peer Review and Documentation Process Guide has been published.
Field trip benchmarking reports.
Online mentoring has been launched.

December 2019 – March 2020
Expert assessment group 2.
Expert Evaluation Group 1. (changed to desk evaluation due to Covid 19)

April 2020 – May 2020
Peer Review Group 3. (changed to desk review due to Covid 19).
Revised Bachelor/Master’s degree programs approved at partner universities

March-July 2020 – June 2020
Quality report (interim).
EU interim report (postponed due to Covid 19).

August 2020 – September 2020
Virtual Supervisory Board (additional rescheduling of the Supervisory Board due to Covid 19).
Equipment has been purchased and registered with partner universities.
Implementation of revised curricula at partner universities in Ukraine

Fall 2020 Monthly
Outreach team online evaluation meetings until July 2021.
Governing Board Meeting 3 (Suma) (postponed from April 2020 due to Covid 19).
Outreach team coordination meeting (Sumy) (postponed from 06.2020 due to Covid 19).
Coordination meeting of the sustainable development team (Lviv).
Pilot awareness-raising courses (postponed due to Covid 19).

Autumn 2020
Panels 1 and 3 of the expert assessment.
Governing Council 4.
National recommendations for bachelor’s and master’s degree journalism education in Ukraine.
A network of Ukrainian universities and professional journalistic organizations.
The Strategy for Interaction between Universities and Government Institutions implemented.
Field courses on media literacy were held.
An evaluation of media literacy outreach courses was conducted.
Open days at the University’s partners.

Fall 2021
Evaluate the implementation of the first year of the revised curricula.
Final conference “The Future of Journalism” (Lviv).
Implementation of the Sustainable Development Plan.
Quality report (final).

October 2021 – November 2021
The website has been updated.
EACEA reporting

PROJECT RESULTS

  • Qualitative changes in the development of journalism education in Ukraine through audit, evaluation, review of existing and redesigned new or revised curricula for 9 bachelor’s and 11 master’s programs in 10 universities in Ukraine with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and European standards of integrity and professionalism.
  • Development of national recommendations for undergraduate and graduate journalism education in Ukraine.
  • Creating a network of interaction and cooperation between universities, national employers, and student self-government in the field of journalism education in Ukraine.
  • Creating a network of interaction and cooperation between universities in Ukraine and the EU and professional organizations in the field of journalism education.
  • Development of online media literacy courses for target groups of non-professionals in the field of journalism, media and communications.
  • Creation and launch of a specialized website for further dissemination and use of the results of the DESTIN project.

MAIN PROJECT EVENTS 

2019. A conference on the implementation of the Project “Journalism Education for Democracy in Ukraine: Development of Standards, Integrity and Professionalism” was held at the Faculty of Journalism of the Stepan Demianchuk International University of Economics and Humanities. Representatives of the working group participated in it. The working meeting discussed issues that will be considered in Kyiv, namely: audit of training programs, discussion of the conclusions of the consolidated data of the expert evaluation group, results of the questionnaire among students, graduates, employers. The issue of the questionnaire was also discussed, on the basis of which ways to implement the improvement of training programs for journalists were determined.

2019. A reporting conference is taking place at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, which was attended by foreign partners and participants from abroad. Professor, Director of the Kyiv Institute of Journalism Volodymyr Rizun and Professor of the British University of Bath Spa University Paul Hyland commented on the unique importance of the work for journalistic education in our country. During the implementation, European scientific models will be adapted to the needs of Ukraine, and the profession of journalist will attract more and more attention from yesterday’s schoolchildren. Central and regional media editorial offices will develop proportionally.

2019. Representatives of the IUEH working group, as part of the project, attended a lecture by Nina Hjelmgren, education manager and trainer at Linnaeus University (Kalmar, Sweden).In a simple, accessible, and interesting way, participants from domestic universities were told about European standards of journalistic education and the nuances of training specialists in a rather difficult field.

2019. As part of the project, representatives of the IUEH working group learned from the editorial staff of the Barometern newspaper. A separate point of the educational journey was an introduction to the work of Swedish radio P4. The topic was the format of the radio station, the program concept of rated radio projects, technical support, compliance with journalistic standards in work, and activity on social networks.

2020. The main achievements of the DESTIN project include the analysis, assessment, revision of existing and implementation of 20 updated bachelor’s and master’s curricula and programs for training journalists in 10 Ukrainian universities in accordance with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and the European Standards of Integrity and Professionalism. An equally important result of the DESTIN project is “National recommendations on the content, development and implementation of curricula for obtaining bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism.”This methodological guide, developed by DESTIN partners, is in line with best practices from the European Union and the United Kingdom, which guides the development of international partnerships, joint research, double degree programs, and student exchanges. The joint result of the teamwork of the DESTIN project participants was the educational online media literacy courses.For the sustainable development of the results of the DESTIN project, a public organization “Ukrainian Consortium of Media and Journalism Teachers” was created. Uniting ten Ukrainian universities, the consortium became a member of European Association for Journalist Training (EJTA – European Journalism Training Association). This opened up opportunities to participate in current and new EJTA educational projects.

2020. About 40 participants of the international DESTIN project studied the experience of organizing journalism education at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, from November 19 to 21. The lecturers of the Faculty of Political Science and Journalism, Tomasz Branka, Bartosz Gordecki and Jędrzej Skrzypczak, organized a rich three-day program for the guests. The project participants were shown a TV and radio studio, computer laboratories.

 

The technical specialist of the faculty spoke about the equipment and software used during training, in particular, he focused in detail on the organization of drone filming. The graduate students explained the features of teaching TV and radio journalism at their university. Project participants met with representatives of student media (television channels, radio stations, newspapers).

 

About 40 representatives of universities and institutions from Ukraine, Poland, Great Britain, etc. took part in a working trip within the framework of the DESTIN project. It lasted in the Swedish town of Kalmar from October 6 to 10. University lecturers and media practitioners got acquainted with the process of training journalists at Linnaeus University, visited the editorial offices of the Swedish public radio station “P4” and one of the oldest socio-political newspapers in Sweden – “Barometern”. During all working days, the participants were at Linnaeus University, located in the Småland region (in two cities – Kalmar and Växjö).