Within the frameworks of the Erasmus + project "Journalism supports Democracy in Ukraine", teachers from Mariupol State University visited Bath Spa University (Great Britain). Mykola Trofymenko,Vice-Rector for Scientific and Pedagogical Affairs (International Cooperation) and Professor Svetlana Bezchotnikova, Dean of the Faculty of Philology and Mass Communications as well as teachers of the other Ukrainian universities-participats of this projectmet with foreign colleagues and experts.

The 5-day-visit-program included a series of meetings and discussions, which were held with participation of specialists from UK, Polish, Irish, Swedish universities and professional organizations from the Great Britain, Austria, the Netherlands and Ukraine. the European model of journalistic education, national regulation in educational sphere, the challenges facing the classical journalism, and other topical issues were discussed.

As part of the agreements reached, the process of monitoring and expert evaluation of educational programs in major "Journalism" in the participating universities was launched, as well as the development of the quality assessing system of educational services.
 

Classical journalism is undergoing significant transformations, related to the impact of digital technologies. New phenomena, such as information wars, civic journalism, fake in the digital public space appear. Future specialists should understand these processes and respond adequately to them. Therefore, the objectives of the project are complex and multilevel. They provide for a thorough study of the content of professional training of journalists at European and Ukrainian universities, cross-monitoring of curricula and programs, expert discussion of ways to modernize the content of education. To assess these results, employers, the Ukrainian Student Association, international professional organizations, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine were involved into the project,  

– Svitlana Bezchotnikova.

The Erasmus+ project "Journalism supports Democracy in Ukraine", funded by the European Union, involves 10 Ukrainian universities.Besides Mariupol State University, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukrainian Catholic University, Sumy State University, Uzhhorod National University and others are also participate in this project. 

The project is aimed at improvement of bachelor's and master's programs in journalism, promotion of media literacy in society, establishment of international affiliate contacts and effective relationships with employers.