Teachers of Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas spent five days studying at the University of Coventry (Great Britain). The training was held under the Creative Spark grant program funded by the British Council. The delegation from the IFNTUOG was represented by Vice-Rector for International Affairs Maksym Karpash, Director of the Center for International Cooperation Artur Voronych, Director of the Institute of Information Technologies Ihor Liutak, associate professor of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Marketing Oksana Malynka, lecturer of the Department of Architecture and Urban Development Kateryna Holubchak and postgraduate student of the Department of Energy Management and Engineering Diagnostics Serhii Maksymiuk.
The main purpose of the trip was to study and elaborate a program of training courses for the development of creative entrepreneurship in Ukraine.
During the visit, the university representatives took part in interesting and up-to-date trainings and workshops. Thus, during the "Publish or perish" session, under the headed by Catalina Neculai, a representative of the Coventry University Academic Writing Center, participants discussed the peculiarities of writing scientific publications, as well as future cooperation in the creation of joint scientific works of representatives of both institutions.
The problems of the innovation ecosystem, education for innovation, the creation of innovative business models, measuring the success and impact of innovations, as well as other topical issues of the present, were reflected in the conference Think Thank II, during which the representatives of IFNTUOG lead an active discussion, shared their experience. The scientific forum was held by the International Center for Transformation Entrepreneurship at the Coventry University, the speakers were specialists in the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation in the UK's leading institutions. Such a conference is usually held only twice a year in a very interesting format: after the speech of each speaker there is a brainstorming and lively discussions in teams on problematic issues. After them, each team has a chance to share their thoughts.
The training program was complemented by the Lego Serious Play workshop, which involved using the interlocking plastic bricks as an effective tool for generating ideas, creating innovations and, as a result, improving business efficiency.
As a result of the visit, the representatives of both universities have developed a further action plan for the successful implementation of the Creative Spark project in Ukraine.
