Find out more about this initiative on the project website.

Jean Monnet Policy Network Challenges and Opportunities of EU-Ukraine Heritage Diplomacy, leading Work Package 5 Strategic Communication (2023-2026)

The project PI is KU Leuven, with 15 partners in the project. University of Canterbury leads WP5 “Strategic Communication” in collaboration with 23 researchers on board, from the UC and the Cherkasy National University (Ukraine).

A consortium of 15 universities will bring together interdisciplinary expertise on EU foreign policy, Eastern European memory politics and heritage practices. HER-UKR aims to explore the potential of the EU as a values-based actor in heritage policies by focusing on three subtopics: 1) EU cultural heritage diplomacy for promoting democracy and European values; 2) conflict prevention with focus on contested heritage; 3) protection and reconstruction of heritage.

HER-UKR will use the principles of engagement of the 2021 EU concept on cultural heritage in conflicts as a framework for the case of Ukraine, where cultural heritage remains highly contested. The project’s objectives are to 1) stimulate research on EU heritage diplomacy; 2) promote excellence in teaching on EU heritage diplomacy; 3) pool expertise on heritage policies in East Central Europe; 4) provide European policymakers with solid research expertise for engaging constructively with Ukraine’s cultural heritage field; 5) monitor new tendencies in cultural heritage policies and strategic communication; 6) develop dissemination tools that increase the impact of the project. The objectives will be implemented through 8 work packages.

Panel The “Battle of Narratives” in Uncertain World presented at IAMCR, July 2024.

Frames and Narratives of  Ukraine in leading media in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji (2024)

University of Canterbury Faculty of Arts and the Ukrainian Studies Foundation in Australia

Mia Angeline (PhD in Media & Comms), Dmitry Romanenko (PhD in Media & Comms), Dinda Veskarahmi (MStratCom), Bryce Vevey (MIRAD), James Blanchett (MEURO), and undergraduate students Jamie Jovel-Flores, Charlotte McAleer-Menzies and Daisy Francis.

A  Student Research Hub (within the frames of the UC Research Centre Public Diplomacy and Political Communication Forum directed by Prof Chaban) has brought together PhD, Masters and undergraduate students to analyse narratives and frames of Ukraine in the latest media coverage in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, following Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region and the US elections. The multi-disciplinary team have succeeded in delivering a nuanced empirical analysis with multiple recommendations. On December 2, 2024, members of the research team presented their findings to the Ambassador of Ukraine to Australia and New Zealand, HE Vasyl Myroshnychenko