International Conference “Social Unity in the Black Sea Region”

An international conference “Social Unity in the Black Sea Region” was held online on September 16.The event was co-organized by the Black Sea Universities Network (BSUN) and Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC). Rector of the University of Bucharest, Marian Preda; ex-President of Romania, Emil Constantinescu; PABSEC Secretary General, Asaf Hajiyev; Head of the PABSEC Romanian Delegation, Roberta Alma Anastase and other officials participated in the online conference. President of BSUN, Pericles Mitkas made an opening speech. George Sharvashidze, Rector of TSU and member of the BSUN Executive Board, also addressed the participants. 

George Sharvashidze spoke about the peculiarities of the region, such as multi-ethnicity, importance of gas pipelines and transport corridors; he focused on the region’s contribution to ensuring welfare in Europe. The Rector also spoke about the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that universities should find a new niche on the path of fighting against challenges and strengthening social equality. Sharvashidze briefed the participants on Georgian examples of social solidarity. In particular, he said that students from the TSU Faculty of Medicine helped epidemiologists in communication with ethnic Azerbaijani citizens of Georgia. TSU professors, students and administrative staff also demonstrated social solidarity when beginning studies online as a result of hard work.  

Rector Sharvashidze clarified that the epidemiological situation posed the most serious threat to internationalization of education, because student and academic mobility had been one of the important means for developing educational programs and generally, increasing the quality of education. The Rector, however, noted that this difficulty yielded some positive results, because a great part of universities, including TSU made unique scientific and educational library available to everyone. 

It is worth noting that the pandemic has turned distance learning into reality. Previously, almost all countries were regulating and even restricting distance learning at a legislative level. The coronavirus outbreak has necessitated the revision of legislation and ensuring access to distance learning.