On September 25th, 2026, Rector of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, academician of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Professor Roman Gladyshevskii had a meeting with the Head of Goethe-Institut Ukraine Jakob Racek. The parties discussed the perspectives of cooperation of the institutions in the fields of culture and education, especially the possibilities of implementing initiatives aimed at learning foreign languages.
Vice-Rector for Research, Teaching and International Cooperation Khrystyna Miliyanchuk, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages Lyubomyr Borakovskyy, and Advisor on Educational Cooperation in German at Goethe-Institut Ukraine Tatiana Pavlova also took part in the meeting.
During the visit, Jakob Racek emphasised that Goethe-Institut is working on expanding their partnerships and is interested in increasing their presence in Lviv. The honoured guest shared the vision on new possibilities for Ukrainian-German cultural synergy. “At the government level, agreements have been reached between Ukraine and Germany for organising a range of cultural events. In the years ahead, Ukraine and Germany are going to hold a Bilateral Culture Season to establish inter-societal communication. And we would want Lviv University to join our cultural initiatives and become a part of this enlightening process”, the Head of Goethe-Institut Ukraine noted.
Roman Gladyshevskii thanked Jakob Racek for solidarity and willingness to cooperate. He introduced the guests to the structure of Lviv University, the activities of the academic community, he also told them about the mission and the tasks of a higher education institution under the conditions of a full-scale war. Particular attention the Rector also paid to the relevant trajectories of the University’s international cooperation.
Among other things, those present could discuss the idea of restoring the German language certification exams of Goethe-Institut for levels ranging from A1 to C1 at the Department of German Philology of the Faculty of Foreign Languages. Certificates provided by Goethe-Institut, which course participants can receive, are regarded as a well-recognised confirmation of one’s language proficiency all around the world. According to the participants of the meeting, this might become additional motivation for young people to learn German.
“Knowledge of languages facilitates dialogue, especially the inter-cultural variety. At Lviv University, over 30 languages are studied, among which some that are rare compared to the practices of other higher educational institutions in Ukraine. Teaching German, as well as Germanic studies, is a century-old and well-established tradition that we will support further’, Roman Gladyshevskii emphasised.
At the end of the meeting, those present outlined further steps for cooperation in order to improve Ukrainian-German cultural and academic dialogue.
Communications Centre
