There is a certain symbolism in the fact that Impact Visit – Polissia Phenomenon field trip training module for PMBA-22 and EMBA-35 and 36 participants ended in Ostroh. After all, the Ostroh and Kyiv-Mohyla academies are the oldest educational bastions of Ukraine, their histories are somewhat similar. The participants could see it on the tour around the Museum of History of the Ostroh Academy, acquaintance with the Old Academic and New Building, and communication with the school rector Ihor Pasichnyk.

Today the university has a European-style academic campus, sports complexes, restored classrooms, libraries, and laboratories and is one of the most promising universities not only in the region, which was studied for 5 days by the participants of the module but also in Ukraine.

The tour route started from the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, followed by Zhytomyr, Rivne, and Ostroh.

“‘Field research’ in kmbs field trip modules is always conducted according to the Quadruple Helix approach – through the study of business, public administration, academia (education and science), communities, and, most importantly, their interaction.

This way, we emphasize that truly significant and quality changes in systems occur as a result of the interaction of this four circle\helix, at points of their common interest. No matter how strong or smart we are, we will never be able to “make enough impact” on our own.

What is especially important: in the course of the field trip module we go beyond the theoretical highlights, theoretical concepts, and approach the HOW. How to influence on a larger scale?

Opportunity to discuss global strategies with government officials, research social projects, interact with unfamiliar industries and business structures, search for a common idea with everyone and composition of rules for the region – it allows participants to gain a different understanding of their own business and role,” says Olena Zhyltsova, Executive MBA Program Manager.

Therefore, first of all, the participants had meetings with representatives of government agencies: city officials, heads of regional state administrations and heads of the City Development Agency communal facility. The key topic of discussion at these meetings was the development strategies of the region from the authorities’ point of view.

 They got acquainted with the position of the business directly at the enterprises, analyzed the cases of companies based in these regions. In total, they worked on eight different business cases (tourism, food and furniture industry, technology and engineering), talked to top management about the existing challenges and development prospects.

 Participants also met with local elites. It is gratifying that Zhytomyr representatives of those are kmbs graduates, politician Hennadii Zubko and deputy, initiator, and curator of numerous cultural, artistic, and educational projects Liudmyla Zubko, who actively helped with the module organization. In Rivne, the community of our graduates is represented by Iryna Plisetska, who is one of the members of the board of directors of the Vilis pasta company, tour to which was part of the Impact Visit program.

 Thus, participants explored the region in social, cultural and historical, business, and educational contexts. And in some aspects, this study caused more questions than it answered.

 “Our training expedition to Chornobyl, Zhytomyr, Rivne, and Ostroh was full of meetings, which became a source of new impressions and powerful insights for the participants,” said Eduard Maltsev, head of President’s MBA. “The dilemma of today’s Chernobyl is to be a working expert and production center of the new generation of nuclear energy, or exclusively a recreation area? Zhytomyr’s proximity to Kyiv is an opportunity for the city’s development, or is there a real threat of an outflow of qualified and active people? Is Rivne a source of inexpensive labor or an example of uniting players and creating world-class Ukrainian products with high added value? Is Ostroh an exception among the state universities that are stuck by the regulations or a role example of a Ukrainian university town? Most of these dilemmas in one form or another are inherent for all the modern Ukraine. The more interesting it was for all of us to work with them.”

 An integral part of the field trip training modules is the implementation of the final complex task. Therefore, this time the participants in the teams had to propose a strategic idea and strategy (vectors) for the development of Zhytomyr or Rivne, in order to make it more socially equal, spatially more comfortable, culturally richer, more environmentally responsible, economically more successful. The results of the teamwork were presented on the last day of the module.

This was only the first presentation of the participants’ own vision, the search and refinement will continue over the next month, and the school will return to the discussion. Although the bridge for future interaction is much wider: the participants exchanged contacts with businesses to create partnerships, with the authorities – to work together on initiatives, took the addresses of local museums, and someone began to think over the entry of their children to Ostroh.