We build connections, understanding and trust between people in Ukraine and the United Kingdom through arts and culture, society development, education and the English language.
We work in two ways: directly with individuals to transform their lives, and with governments and partners to make a bigger difference for the longer term, creating benefit for millions of people all over the world.
We provide educational opportunities for Ukrainians in English for individual and professional development and administer examinations and tests from the UK.
In 2019, more than 420,000 people took part in our programmes or activities with a further 3,400,000 using our digital services, including English language resources and more than 13 million using our publications and broadcast products.
In the
Arts, we showcase the best contemporary works from the UK, develop skills and networks for the cultural and creative sectors, and facilitate professional exchange on cultural governance and creative ecosystem development between policy-makers and public bodies in Ukraine and the UK. Among our partners are the Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Music Export Ukraine, the Dnipro Centre for Contemporary Culture, Mystetskyi Arsenal, PPV Knowledge Networks, ArtHouseTraffic and numerous creative hubs and individuals around Ukraine. In 2019, we reached more than 97,000 people through our events, worked with over 800 arts leaders and artists from Ukraine and the UK, and engaged 82 arts organisations in our projects. Each week we reach more than 50,000 listeners through our Selector Radio broadcast.
We managed two EU-funded programmes: EaP Culture&Creativity II and Culture Bridges and are now a consortium partner in the House of Europe programme. We are also a member of the EUNIC (European Union Network of Institutes of Culture) Ukraine cluster, collaborating closely with other organisations on supporting cultural exchange between Ukraine and the EU.
In
English, we are working with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Institute of Education Development and in-service teacher training institutions (INSETT) to provide continuous professional development for English language teachers. We partner with the Goethe Institut and the French Institute to support the New Ukrainian School reform programme which addresses the instruction of modern foreign languages. We also partner with the Cambridge University Press and the Linguist to develop an online platform for English teachers. We trained about 200 English teachers as change agents (teacher trainers), 18,000 primary school English teachers, 100 facilitators for Teacher Activity Groups and 75 INSETT teacher educators as Core Skills trainers. We also provide teacher development opportunities in Moldova and Belarus (countries where the British Council is not present), as part of the Learning Hubs: Improved Skills for Stronger Societies project. The effort is financed by the CSSF and is currently conducted in the countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova.
In
Higher Education, we build links between the UK and Ukrainian higher education systems in the areas of teaching and learning excellence, quality assurance and the internationalisation of higher education. We also work to develop the professional capacity of university leadership and contribute to student self-governance. Employing a range of programming, we worked with more than 80 universities during the year.
In
Society, we work with more than 80 active partners in Ukraine to strengthen social cohesion at the community level, developing skills for Active Citizens, intercultural dialogue and sustainability. We supported the implementation of more than 1,000 social action projects within local communities, engaging more than 100,000 citizens throughout Ukraine. We manage the EU-funded programme “Strengthening Cross-Sectoral Collaboration for Social Cohesion”. The programme addresses local development challenges and opportunities effectively and innovatively by employing joint, mutually reinforcing initiatives between local authorities and civil society.