How do we as educators respond in times of urgency and conflict? Not just in teaching, but also in exploring potentially transformative ideas and practices; in such moments of great challenge but also lots of opportunity. I had the huge privilege this week to talk with 3 amazing young people who doing just that in the context of the on-going conflict after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine just over 4 years ago. Yuliia Naidych, Marie Teich and Anastasia Tarasova have responded to these questions in deeply inspiring ways to develop what they are calling Third Floor, The Centre for Transformative Research. It's an emergent organisation that I first heard about from Ivo Mensch's article in Perspectiva. They are inquiring into questions about how to prevent the "brain drain" of young inspiring researchers leaving Ukraine for opportunities in other universities around the world, but also how to build bridges between the academic ivory tower and the world of practitioners in entrepreneurship local government and other sectors around Ukraine. And even what does it mean to do research in transformative ways that might support and enable some new ways of being and acting in the world.

Third Floor, Centre for Transformative Research Links:

Anastasia Tarasova: MA in Philosophy from V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, co-organiser of the summer school.

Ivo Mensch’s article in Perspectiva, ‘The Pedagogy of Urgency’: https://perspecteeva.substack.com/p/the-pedagogy-of-urgency

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