From May 17 to 21, 2026, faculty members from the Faculty of Education at Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University (Prof. Olena Budnyk, Assoc. Prof. Marianna Matishak, Prof. Lyudmyla Matsuk, Assoc. Prof. Iryna SKOMOROVSKA) made an educational visit to the University of South-Eastern Norway (Notodden, Kingdom of Norway) as part of the project “Rebuilding futures: Empowering educators and students through cross-border collaboration and invention pedagogy (REFINE)” (“Rebuilding the future: Empowering Educators and Students through Cross-Border Collaboration and Invention Pedagogy”) as part of EDUC-WIDE SEED PROJECTS – 2024.
The visit’s program included training sessions to improve skills in making and invention, as well as an exchange of experiences. Colleagues from the University of South-Eastern Norway, Camilla Groth and Larysa Dahl Kolesnyk, emphasized the values of sustainable development in invention, explored the methodological aspects of implementing invention and making, and discussed their impact on the development of resilience and agency among participants in the educational process.

Through their practical work, faculty members at Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University developed their own ideas for improving the educational process, created and presented maker projects, including the original educational games “Quest Maker” and “Landscape of Emotions,” designed to foster inventive thinking among pupils, students, and faculty.
🇳🇴🇺🇦 To conclude the visit, on May 20, a cultural and educational event titled “The Pedagogy of Invention, Intercultural Learning, and the Voices of Ukraine” was organized at the Notodden Library (Notodden bibliotek) to present the interim results of the REFINE project and the podcast “Voices of Resilience and Recovery.” During the event, lecturers from the Department of Theory and Methods of Preschool and Special Education, Assoc. Prof. Iryna SKOMOROVSKA and Assoc. Prof. Marianna MATISHAK, presented the activities conducted at Ukrainian higher education institutions within the REFINE project, the results of a survey of training participants, and reflections on continuing cooperation.

Colleagues from Ukraine joined the events: Prof. Svitlana STRILETS (T.G. Shevchenko National University “Chernihiv Collegium”), Assoc. Prof. Oksana ZINKO (IPKP “Perspektyva”), faculty members and researchers from the University of South-Eastern Norway, as well as representatives of the Notodden community.
The trip proved to be a valuable experience for the university’s faculty, expanding their network of professional contacts for future academic mobility and the creation of innovative educational content, and opening new opportunities for professional development and international cooperation. This will contribute to the further implementation of European educational practices in the activities of Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University