Results
BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT:
HIGHER EDUCATION IN TIMES OF WAR AND CRISIS
Institutional Resilience, Responses, and Preparedness in Contexts of Armed Conflict and Systemic Disruption
This volume examines how higher education systems respond to war and crisis, analysing contemporary (Ukraine, Israel), historical (World War II, Yugoslavia), and anticipatory cases (Poland, Latvia) to identify strategies that sustain institutional resilience, continuity, and accessibility under conditions of disruption.
How do higher education systems endure war, and what enables them to continue teaching, learning, and research under extreme disruption? This volume answers these questions through a multiple case-study approach spanning contemporary (Ukraine, Israel), historical (World War II, Yugoslavia), and anticipatory contexts (Poland, Latvia). It shows how higher education institutions adapt to maintain continuity and accessibility, despite destruction, displacement, and political pressure. Grounded in a shared theoretical framework, the chapters reveal both common patterns and context-specific responses. Written by scholars partly directly exposed to these conditions, the book offers rare, practice-based insights into resilience, making it an essential reading for researchers, policymakers, and higher education practitioners.
PUBLICATIONS
NEW CLOUD HED publication:
Building the “Cloud University”
A new publication from the CLOUD HED project is now available in the edited volume Openness: A Mission Challenged, published by Brill.
The chapter “Building the ‘Cloud University” examines how higher education institutions (HEIs) can prepare for and respond to crises characterised by the simultaneous occurrence of geopolitical instability, armed conflict and technological disruption. While the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of digital readiness, crisis resilience requires more than the capacity to move teaching online. The “cloud university” model encompasses management strategies, the replication of core institutional processes and the reorganisation of decision-making in virtual contexts.
The study draws on a multiple case study of four HEIs in Israel, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine, which have experienced geopolitical instability and crises to different degrees. Based primarily on semi-structured interviews with management, educational and IT staff, the analysis examines institutional preparedness across three dimensions: management structures, teaching and curricula, and technical infrastructure.
The findings show that all four institutions have developed a degree of foundational readiness for cloud-based operations, with digital transformation having been significantly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, institutions differ considerably in terms of digital maturity, technical infrastructure, governance flexibility and their capacity to address technological, organisational and human-centred challenges simultaneously.
Particular attention is given to the human dimension of digital resilience. Staff and student acceptance, digital skills and readiness are crucial conditions for successful transformation. The findings therefore point to the importance of targeted faculty development, unified digital platforms and comprehensive student support systems.
The chapter contributes to the CLOUD HED project's broader objective of understanding and strengthening whole-institutional resilience in higher education under conditions of war, crisis and systemic disruption.
Publication:
Chapter 13, “Building the ‘Cloud University’”, in Openness: A Mission Challenged, Brill.
PUBLICATION: Régent, V., Avila, R., Aharonson-Daniel, L., Alt, D., Tarasenko, S., & Vorontsova, A. (2025). Continuity and Accessibility in Higher Education Amid Armed Conflict. Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung, 20(4), 153–173. https://doi.org/10.21240/zfhe/20-4/07
This paper investigates the continuity and accessibility in higher education amid armed conflict.
PUBLICATION: Tarasenko, S., Vorontsova, A., Régent, V., Soss, J., & Mylenkova, R. (2025). Science mapping analysis of challenges surrounding cloud universities and their impact on the resilience of higher education. Knowledge and Performance Management, 9(2), 1-17. doi:10.21511/kpm.09(2).2025.01
Science mapping analysis of challenges surrounding cloud universities and their impact on the resilience of higher education.
REPORTS & GUIDELINES
TITLE: GUIDELINES
for a Holistic Approach to
Crisis Sensitivity in Higher Education
These guidelines are grounded in an extensive literature review and empirical research conducted within the project CLOUD HED, including interviews, document analysis and ethnographic accounts from four higher education institutions (HEIs) operating under crisis-conditions such as armed conflict, spillover-effects from crises in neighbouring countries and crisis anticipation.
TITLE: International Best Practices Analysis
This report analyses the implementation of cloud university practices across 16 leading universities worldwide. The institutions analysed are geographically diverse, representing Europe (9 universities), North America (4), Asia (2), Australia (2), and the Middle East (1, Israel).
TITLE: Analysis of Partner HEIs
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Assessment of level of preparedness / status quo analysis
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Identification of (HEI-specific and general) key requirements
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Potential institutional challenges and mitigation strategies
TITLE: Selection of pilot-curricula in partner HEIs and adaptation to Cloud University
TITLE: Implementation of transversal and resilience skills in pilot curricula
Crisis-sensitive higher education is not only about teaching online. It also means helping students continue learning and working when conditions are unstable. Activity A4.1 looks at how transversal and resilience-related skills can be built into selected pilot curricula in ways that are visible, assessable and workable in crisis-affected and largely digital settings.
PRESENTATIONS
TITLE: Presenting the EU-project CLOUD HED: Disaster Resilience in Higher Education Systems via a Cloud University Model
5. Konferenz des Netzwerks Hochschulforschung
May 5th, 2025 in Vienna, Austria
TITLE: Continuity and accessibility in HE amid political instability and armed conflict: Institutional strategies and cloud-based innovations
Resilience and Regeneration in HE, Yehuda Elkana Center, CEU
June 24th, 2025 in Vienna, Austria
TITLE: Continuity and accessibility in HE amid political instability and armed conflict: Institutional strategies and cloud-based innovations