Cooperation with Civil Society and Charitable Organisations
Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic cooperates with civil society and charitable organisations on educational, social and civic initiatives that support various groups of people, develop civic engagement and spread socially important knowledge.
Joint activities create opportunities for students and teachers to take part in practical projects, educational events, volunteer initiatives and other forms of civic participation.
About this area
Combining academic knowledge with the experience of civil society fosters social responsibility, inclusion, a culture of mutual help and the active participation of young people in community life.
In 2025 this cooperation included educational programmes, involving students in social projects, and developing youth leadership and entrepreneurial skills. The university paid particular attention to the practical involvement of students and teachers in activities that meet the current needs of the Zaporizhzhia region.
TechWay ZP: choose your future in tech
Educational projects and technology skills
2025. Partner: NGO «Vilni UA». Support: UNICEF, KfW.
In 2025 Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic, together with the NGO «Civic Initiatives Support Centre Vilni UA», carried out the educational project «TechWay ZP: choose your future in tech», supported by UNICEF and funded by the German development bank KfW.
Over a month, 230 young people, including 21 internally displaced persons, gained practical skills in three areas: 3D modelling, 3D printing and graphic design. The programme included 18 training sessions, during which participants worked with modern digital tools, created their own models and completed practical tasks.
University teachers and specialists were involved in the project. The training combined technology education with career guidance for young people, and participants received certificates after completing the course.
TechWay ZP became an example of an educational initiative carried out jointly by the university and a civil society organisation to widen young people’s access to modern technologies and develop skills in demand on the labour market.
Result: 230 participants, 18 sessions, three technology areas and practical work by young people.
Source: The TechWay ZP course has been completed
International project «Together We Can»
Civic education and social cohesion
February — November 2025. Partners: NGO «Social Interaction», NGO «Human Rights Foundation».
From February to November 2025, Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic was one of the implementers of the international project «Together We Can», carried out in partnership with the NGOs «Social Interaction» and «Human Rights Foundation» with the support of the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) and the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.
Students and teachers of the Faculty of Social Sciences, in particular the Department of Journalism, joined the project. Joint activities included training sessions, round tables, blog cafés and civic initiatives on media literacy, human rights, gender equality, non-discrimination, youth leadership and a culture of dialogue.
The practical results of the project were 73 information posts prepared by participants on the MustPost platform, two interactive forum theatre performances for residents of territorial communities of Zaporizhzhia region and five youth mini-projects, presented at the final round table on 25 November 2025.
The university’s participation helped combine young people’s academic training with practical civic activity, develop critical thinking and involve them in solving socially important issues.
Source: Final round table of the international project «Together We Can»
All-Ukrainian project «Art Helps»
Student participation in charitable initiatives
2025. Partner: charitable foundation «Friends of Children». Support: UCARE, Inc.
In 2025 students and teachers of the Department of Psychology of Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic continued to take part in the all-Ukrainian art therapy project «Art Helps», carried out by the charitable foundation «Friends of Children» with the support of UCARE, Inc.
The project provides psychological support to children affected by the war through creativity, emotional self-expression and the development of inner resources.
From March 2025, practical psychologist Olena Hanotska and third-year psychology student Kateryna Lashchenko joined the art therapy sessions. Methodological support was provided by Associate Professor of the department Tetiana Borodulkina.
In spring 2025 a series of sessions with creative exercises aimed at recognising emotions, self-expression and psychological support was held for pupils of class 9-B of the Zaporizhzhia specialised boarding school «Sichovyi Kolehium». In September representatives of the department also took part in a specialised training seminar for the project’s art therapists.
Cooperation with the charitable foundation allowed students to apply their professional knowledge in practical work with children and to take part in socially important activities in wartime.
Sources: Psychology students in the art therapy project; Training of the project’s participants
«Business Coffee» project
Entrepreneurship education and cooperation with business
2025. Partner: NGO «Vilni UA».
Another area of partnership with the NGO «Civic Initiatives Support Centre Vilni UA» is the «Business Coffee» project, which develops the entrepreneurial skills of students.
In 2025 the university and the NGO held themed meetings of students with entrepreneurs and business experts. In particular, in March and April participants discussed the practical experience of starting a business, professional growth, putting business ideas into practice and career development.
The informal format of the meetings encouraged a direct exchange of experience between students and business people, and the partnership of the university with the NGO broadened the opportunities for practice-oriented entrepreneurship education.
Sources: «Business Coffee» at Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic; «Business Coffee» with Vira Muravytska
Partnership for sustainable development
The initiatives carried out in 2025 show the variety of Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic’s cooperation with civil society and charitable organisations: from joint educational projects and civic leadership to practical psychological support for children and entrepreneurship education for young people.
Such partnership creates opportunities for students to apply professional knowledge, for the university and civil society to share experience, and for initiatives aimed at community development, social cohesion and wider educational opportunities.
Cooperation with civil society is part of the university’s contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, above all SDG 4 «Quality Education», SDG 10 «Reduced Inequalities», SDG 16 «Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions» and SDG 17 «Partnerships for the Goals».
