Resolution: Ensuring energy resilience in Higher Education Institutions under the full‑scale war against Ukraine
Since 2022, the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the systematic attacks carried out by the Russian Federation against Ukraine have posed a direct threat to the lives and safety of civilians, including students. Higher education institutions have also been targeted by the aggressor state. More than sixty universities have been damaged in different regions of Ukraine, and around ten have been completely destroyed. Another major challenge has been the destruction of critical infrastructure facilities, which, in turn, has led to large-scale and prolonged blackouts, depriving people of access to basic household needs, such as electricity, water supply and heating, making it impossible to remain in safe conditions.
Due to the damage and destruction of this infrastructure, higher education institutions and their infrastructure, including student dormitories, have found themselves at the centre of the crisis without backup power supply, without properly equipped shelters, without the ability to guarantee protection and safety for students, and without proper conditions not only for accommodation but also for the continuity of the educational process. This situation becomes particularly acute during the cold season, when students are deprived of the opportunity to study, heat their accommodation, charge communication devices and receive emergency assistance. Under the conditions of the full-scale war in our country, universities are not only places of study for students, but also spaces where all members of the educational community and local residents, including young people, seek stability and safety. Today, this space remains vulnerable.
The Ukrainian Association of Students (UAS) is convinced that safety and decent living and learning conditions are a basic need for students during the war. Higher education policy must take into account the realities of war and respond to them through concrete and measurable measures. Special attention must be paid to the most vulnerable categories of students, including internally displaced persons and students with special needs.
Although Ukraine is implementing energy resilience programmes that include national, regional and international initiatives aimed at the transition to alternative energy sources, building insulation and the provision of autonomous power supply, these programmes are primarily focused on households, associations of co-owners of apartment buildings and businesses. Higher education institutions and student dormitories do not have sufficient opportunities and do not possess enough autonomy to independently manage energy resilience in order to ensure an uninterrupted educational process and proper protection for students. Cogeneration programmes, which could become an effective tool for increasing the energy autonomy of universities, remain either inaccessible to most institutions or only partially implemented. The coverage of existing initiatives is uneven, while the measures themselves are fragmented and do not correspond to the scale and systemic nature of the challenge.
The UAS calls on the public authorities of Ukraine to urgently begin systematic work on ensuring the energy supply of higher education institutions and student dormitories, in particular by providing them with backup power sources, cogeneration systems and other solutions for autonomous energy supply. Shelters located on university premises and in student dormitories must be brought into compliance with civil protection requirements, made accessible, properly equipped and suitable for long-term stay, including with due regard to the needs of persons with disabilities.
The implementation of these measures must be accompanied by transparent reporting by the responsible authorities, open access to information on the condition of shelters and the energy preparedness of educational institutions, as well as regular assessment of the impact of the measures taken on students’ learning and living conditions. Student self-government bodies at the institutional level must be included in the mechanisms for monitoring the fulfilment of these obligations as full participants in the monitoring process. In turn, the Ukrainian Association of Students may be involved in mechanisms for monitoring the fulfilment of these obligations as a full participant at the regional and national levels.
The UAS insists that decisions in the field of safety of higher education institutions must be adopted with due regard to the real needs of students, guarantee equal protection for all, regardless of region, status or circumstances, and ensure the meaningful participation of student organisations in the development and implementation of the relevant public policy.
In light of the above, the ESU and the UAS urges the responsible authorities to take concrete steps toward ensuring the energy preparedness of higher education institutions and to create conditions for open and constructive dialogue to engage student representatives as active partners.
Reason & Seconders
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukrainian students have been studying and living under conditions of constant threat – damaged universities, destroyed infrastructure, prolonged blackouts, and inadequate shelter facilities. Higher education institutions lack sufficient autonomy and resources to address energy resilience independently, while existing national programmes do not adequately cover the needs of the university sector. Student organisations remain largely excluded from decision-making processes related to safety and energy preparedness. This resolution calls on the responsible authorities to take systematic action to ensure the energy resilience of higher education institutions and student dormitories, and to establish meaningful mechanisms for student participation – not only in monitoring what has been done, but also in responding when obligations remain unfulfilled.
Seconders: AMLE, UNEL.