Participation of the lecturers of the Department of Economics, Management, and Finance of BSPU in the 2nd Opole Forum of Social Economy

On September 25–26, 2025, the 2nd Opole Forum of Social Economy (Opole, Republic of Poland) took place, with the active participation of lecturers from the Department of Economics, Management, and Finance, in particular PhD in Economics, Associate Professor Yana Hlazova, and PhD in Economics, Associate Professor Hanna Kostenko. The event brought together representatives of local authorities, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and educators around the topic of developing the social economy, innovation, and partnership.

Within the framework of the forum, the following discussion panels and workshops were held: “Entities of the Social Economy and Local and Regional Social Strategies,” “Social Services and Non-Governmental Organizations,” “Changes, Challenges and Prospects. International Year of Cooperatives,” “The Role of Social Economy Entities in the Economy of the Future, Social Innovations (Artificial Intelligence),” “Financing the Development of Social Enterprises – Financial Instruments,” among others. Participation in the forum allowed the lecturers of the Department of Economics, Management, and Finance to familiarize themselves with the latest trends in financial instruments for supporting social enterprises, as well as to understand the importance of cross-sectoral cooperation.

The panel discussions and practical workshops proved to be especially valuable, as they addressed issues of financing the development of social enterprises, the use of modern technologies (in particular, artificial intelligence), as well as the formation of social innovations. This experience was highly beneficial for the lecturers, as it allows them to combine theoretical knowledge with practice, directly contributing to the quality of training for higher education students.

For the development of the educational program “Finance, Banking and Insurance”, such events are particularly important, as they provide access to new case studies, examples of financial support for social initiatives, and models of partnership. In this way, BSPU students will be able to gain knowledge about the functioning of social finance instruments that can be implemented in Ukraine, as well as learn about the practical aspects of interaction between financial institutions and social enterprises.

The results of the forum are to be integrated by the lecturers into the educational process of the “Finance, Banking and Insurance” program through the updating of course syllabi, the organization of lecture-discussions, and practical classes based on real case studies. The lecturers plan to apply the acquired knowledge to foster students’ critical thinking, to model financial strategies for social enterprises, and to analyze international experience in the field of social economy.

Thus, participation in the forum has become not only an opportunity for the professional development of the faculty members of the Department of Economics, Management and Finance at BDPU, but also an important step in modernizing the educational program “Finance, Banking and Insurance.” The acquired knowledge and contacts will contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of graduates of the specialty D2 “Finance, Banking, Insurance and the Stock Market,” as well as to shaping their vision of finance as a tool for social development.