The Theoretical Foundations and Approaches to the Modernization of Higher Education Institutions on the Basis of the Conception of Sustainable Development

In recent years, higher education institutions have been developing under the influence of atypical, unpredictable, powerful exogenous challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant transformations in the educational, research, and international activities of universities, transferring most communications to an online format (distance learning, remote work, meetings with colleagues and communication with partners in the form of video conferencing, making use of modern digital technologies). With the beginning of russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, educational institutions are suffering enormous losses both in human capital (departure of scientific and pedagogical staff and students of higher education abroad, mobilization, injury, captivity, death of both employees and students) and in material and technical support (damage or destruction of buildings, laboratories, destruction or theft of equipment, etc.). The authors of the article note that the post-war modernization of Ukrainian universities should be implemented on the basis of the conception of sustainable development, covering various areas of their activities, and not limited exclusively to restoration to the pre-war state. The aim of the article is to systematize scientific approaches to the study of the processes of modernization of higher education institutions on the basis of the conception of sustainable development. To achieve the goal, the method of content analysis was used to study scientific publications of foreign scientists devoted to the study of various aspects of sustainable development of higher education institutions. On the basis of the carried out study, the following main groups of scientific approaches have been allocated: institutional, material-ecological, process, experimental-search, stakeholder (partnership), and structural-functional approaches. The authors conclude that, given the multifaceted nature of the processes of modernization of higher education institutions on the basis of the conception of sustainable development, it appears more balanced to apply an integrated approach to the related research work.