INSPIRE (Institutional Accreditation for Sustainable Progress, Innovation and Excellence) is an international capacity-building project funded under the Erasmus+ programme, supporting the transformation of the Ukrainian higher education system towards institutional quality assurance aligned with the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG 2015).

The project responds to the need to move beyond fragmented, programme-based accreditation and to establish a transparent, coherent and sustainable institutional accreditation model that strengthens university autonomy while ensuring accountability and public trust.

Why INSPIRE matters

Ukrainian higher education is undergoing profound transformation in the context of European integration, recovery and long-term resilience. Traditional programme-by-programme accreditation creates administrative burden and limits universities’ ability to innovate.

INSPIRE promotes institutional accreditation as a system-level solution that evaluates how universities ensure quality across governance, teaching, learning, research, student support and continuous improvement.

Project objective

The main objective of INSPIRE is to design, pilot and support the implementation of a comprehensive institutional accreditation framework for Ukraine, replacing fragmented programme reviews with a holistic, ESG-aligned quality assurance model.

The framework enables universities to operate with greater strategic autonomy, embed continuous quality improvement, respond more effectively to societal and labour-market needs, and strengthen international credibility and recognition.

Consortium and partners

INSPIRE is implemented by a consortium of 17 partners from the European Union, Norway and Ukraine, including universities, national quality assurance bodies, public authorities and stakeholder organisations.

The project is coordinated by Wrocław University of Science and Technology (Poland) and implemented in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance.

How INSPIRE works

Project activities are organised into six integrated work packages covering project management and quality assurance, comparative analysis of European and Ukrainian QA systems, development of institutional accreditation policies and procedures, capacity building, piloting in selected higher education institutions, and dissemination and sustainability.

 A distinctive feature of INSPIRE is the role of Expert Facilitators, who bridge European standards with Ukrainian institutional realities, support peer learning and ensure coherence between analysis, capacity building and implementation.

Key results and deliverables

INSPIRE delivers concrete, system-level outcomes, including an ESG-aligned institutional accreditation framework, accreditation standards and procedures, self-assessment tools, evaluation protocols, a bilingual accreditation glossary, post-accreditation monitoring mechanisms and policy recommendations supporting national reform.

All tools are validated through pilot accreditation exercises and external expert review to ensure credibility and long-term usability.

Benefits

For universities, INSPIRE strengthens institutional autonomy, reduces administrative burden, supports strategic management and embeds a culture of continuous quality improvement.

For students, society and employers, the project contributes to higher and more consistent study quality, faster introduction of innovative programmes, better alignment with labour-market needs, stronger international recognition of degrees and increased public trust in higher education.