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Ukrainians forced from their homes: "They lost everything, then started new businesses”
434 internally displaced Ukrainians have been retrained through a project focused on practical skills tailored to local workforce and communit needs.
When war forces you from your home, you take only what you can carry. For millions of Ukrainians, that meant clothes, documents, maybe a mobile phone.
But they also brought something less visible: their experiences, skills, and the will to start again.
The research project TURBO focuses on exactly that. It is led by Nord University in Bodø, Norway.
Through short, flexible courses known as micro-credentials, the project helps internally displaced people in Ukraine rebuild their professional lives. Internally displaced people are those forced to flee their homes but who remain within their country's borders.
Millions of Ukrainians now fall into this category.
Three have already started their own businesses
The courses focus on practical skills in areas such as entrepreneurship, social work, and digital tools for business, adapted to what local employers and communities actually need.
By the end of 2025, 434 displaced Ukrainians had been retrained by seven Ukrainian partner universities in collaboration with local non-governmental organisations. With more to come.
In Odesa, three from the first pilot group have already started their own businesses. The group ran from January to June 2025.
“Just imagine. People who moved from ruined cities with no extra funds, only the clothes they were wearing, to another city and started their own business,” says Volodymyr Chernykh.
He is an associate professor at South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University and the project coordinator.
More than skills
The numbers tell only part of the story. The project has also changed what it means to teach.
Sofiya Stavkova is an associate professor at Lviv Polytechnic National University. She’s a member of the local project team and academic staff delivering the courses. Stavkova explains that she can rarely end a session when the scheduled time runs out.
“I cannot just shut down my session and say the lecture is finished. When I see that people need to speak, we listen. We devote as much time as they need,” she says.
This reflects a broader shift in what Ukrainian universities have become during the war. Academic staff have taken on roles as crisis leaders. Lecture halls have now also become spaces for psychological support.
“We do not only provide knowledge. We teach them how to overcome stress and how to provide psychological assistance to their family members,” says Chernykh.
A reason to stay
One of the project's goals is to help people stay in Ukraine. Stavkova says the micro-credential model directly contributes to this.
“They do not emigrate. They stay in the country. Because of projects like TURBO, people don't have to go abroad. They are important here. They are valued here,” she says.
Stavkova says she understands these are very difficult times.
“But if we don't have people who live in Ukraine, who will remain? We have to fight for freedom, but we also have to live in this country. This project helps people survive, live, be involved, and feel respected,” she says.
A collaboration spanning over 20 years
The project did not appear overnight. Nord University's ties to Ukraine stretch back more than two decades.
Frode Mellemvik, professor emeritus at Nord University’s High North Center, was there at the beginning.
In the early 2000s, he received an unexpected phone call from the Norwegian Ambassador to Ukraine, who asked if the university could do something similar to what it had done retraining military officers in Russia. The Ambassador persuaded him to make the journey.
Mellemvik and colleague Anatoli Bourmistrov travelled to Crimea and Kyiv, met partners from the International Foundation for Social Adaptation, university leaders, and launched a pilot project.
It grew into joint master's and PhD programmes and a network of close professional ties. And also the Ukrainian-Norwegian research centre Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
When war broke out in 2022, those relationships meant Nord University could act immediately.
“With established partnerships, we already had all these connections,” says Sandra Wiik, international advisor at Nord University Business School. “We could start the very next day, reaching out to ask: how are you? Are you safe? How is your family?”
Hoping for peace
The team is now focused on how to keep the courses running after EU funding ends. With Ukrainian government budgets stretched thin by the war, finding alternative financing is one of the project's central challenges.
“Ukraine is in a difficult situation. Budgets are cut. The defence spendings are the first priority. It's not always easy to find ways to fund these courses,” says project leader Anatoli Bourmistrov, a professor at Nord University Business School.
He sees the work as part of something much larger.
“What about climate change? Are we going to face a new wave of migration? We need robust, resilient systems to help solve these challenges. Ukraine shows a good example of how to deal with them,” he says.
Mellemvik, who has watched the partnership grow for over 20 years, is looking ahead.
“I hope for peace as soon as possible. And I hope it will be possible again for Ukrainian students to come to Norway, and for us to go to Ukraine. That is my hope and my dream,” he says.
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