In November, the Transatlantic Dialogue Center, the Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism”, and the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, together with contributing experts Darina Tkachenko and Javier Donoso, launched the Initiative UA–EC: Dialogue between Ukraine and Ecuador. The project brought together students, faculty members and young professionals from both countries and aimed to create a structured space for academic dialogue. Its purpose was to deepen the understanding of social, economic and cultural processes in Ukraine and Ecuador and to lay the groundwork for future cooperation in the academic sphere.
The initiative consisted of three core activities. The first, the conference “The Profile of the Ecuadorian State in the 21st Century“, featured Yuriy Polyukhovych, Ambassador of Ukraine to Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, and Ramiro Rivera, President of El Comercio. The discussion examined the profile of the Ecuadorian state in the twenty-first century, focusing on institutional evolution, internal dynamics and the factors shaping governance. Participants also reflected on how closer academic cooperation could help both countries create sustainable spaces for exchange.
The second activity, the conference “Education in Time of War“, was delivered from Ukraine and explored how educational systems respond to severe societal challenges. Speakers included Ruslan Spirin, Special Representative of Ukraine for Latin America and the Caribbean, Bohdan Chuma, Director of the master’s program The Future of Heritage at the Ukrainian Catholic University, and Javier Donoso, journalist at UATV Español and professor at the National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”. The session examined the functioning of the Ukrainian education system under conditions of war and displacement, the strategies students and teachers developed to sustain learning and resilience, and the ways in which these experiences could enrich academic dialogue with Ecuador.
The third activity, “UA–EC Meeting: Youth and Intercontinental Dialogue“, took place in hybrid format. It brought together students from both countries for a structured conversation on identity, global challenges and youth perspectives on international cooperation.
As the final output of the initiative, organisers will prepare the UA–EC Handbook, a bilingual Ukrainian–Spanish publication compiling the main insights and reflections from all sessions. The handbook will be available digitally for students, researchers and practitioners interested in Ukraine–Ecuador cooperation.
Partner institutions included Kyiv National Linguistic University, the Ukrainian Catholic University, and Ecuadorian institutions including ECOTEC Technological University, the National University of Education UNAE, and the newspaper El Comercio.
The activities carried out to implement this initiative under TDC’s Spain and Latin America Cooperation Program were supported by the International Renaissance Foundation.