Strengthening international cooperation, raising awareness of Ukrainian culture worldwide, and contributing to leading academic discussions across Europe are among the key objectives of the international project HER-UKR: Challenges and Opportunities for EU Heritage Diplomacy in Ukraine.

As part of this project, researchers from Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy (BKNUC) combined their participation in a major international conference in Italy with the examination of EU-supported initiatives promoting Ukrainian culture. Oksana Pietsukh, Doctor of Philological Sciences and Associate Professor at the Department of Translation Theory and Practice, and Svitlana Lievochkina, Candidate of Philological Sciences and Senior Lecturer at the Department of English Philology and Methods of Teaching English, participated in the 13^th Biennial Conference of the Standing Group on the European Union (SGEU), held from 1 to 3 July 2026 at the University of Catania in Sicily, with the support of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR).

The conference brought together leading scholars from various countries to discuss the domestic political and international challenges facing the EU in an era of global crises and security threats. Within the section “EU Security and Defence Policies”, the BKNUC researchers presented their paper entitled “Securitisation of Ukrainian Heritage: The Role of Media Visualisations”. During their presentation, they addressed pressing issues related to safeguarding Ukraine’s cultural identity and countering Russian narratives, with particular emphasis on the role of the media in visualising cultural heritage as a key component of national security and the EU’s cultural diplomacy. The presentation sparked a lively discussion among the participants.

While in Rome, the delegation visited the Esperienza Europa – David Sassoli multimedia centre in Piazza Venezia. From 9 June to 4 August 2026, the venue has been hosting the large-scale cultural initiative Ukrainian Art Weeks, organised with the support of the European Parliament Office in Rome and Ukrainian associations in Italy. The initiative features a series of solo exhibitions by contemporary Ukrainian artists, helping to promote Ukrainian culture abroad and contributing to its preservation during wartime. Culture remains a powerful instrument of both cultural diplomacy and heritage diplomacy. In addition to showcasing contemporary Ukrainian art, the exhibition includes the installation “Artem’s Room” (part of the international project Empty Beds by Bird of Light Ukraine), which highlights the tragedy of the abduction and mass deportation of Ukrainian children since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Visiting the exhibition reinforced the key message presented at the conference in Catania: today, Ukrainian culture is an integral part of the European cultural space, while art serves as a powerful instrument for fostering international dialogue.

Oksana Pietsukh, Associate Professor at the Department of Translation Theory and Practice