On October 21, 2024, the implementation of the international project "Bridge to Inclusion: Accelerating the Value of Special Needs Education" funded by the Ministry of Education of Finland (TFK, Ukraine program 2024) began with a research visit of the delegation of Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University of the Faculty of Psychology, Social Work and Special Education. The delegation consists of the Dean of the Faculty Nataliia Klishevych, PhD in Education, Associate Professor; Deputy Dean of the Faculty for Scientific, Methodological and Educational Work Roman Pavliuk, PhD in Education, Associate Professor; Head of the Department of Special and Inclusive Education Olena Martynchuk, Doctor of Pedagogy, Associate Professor; Tetiana Skrypnyk, Professor of the Department of Special and Inclusive Education, Doctor of Psychology, Senior Researcher; Associate Professor of the Department of Special and Inclusive Education Nataliia Babych, PhD in Education, Associate Professor; Associate Professor of the Department of Special and Inclusive Education Halyna Vasylieva, PhD in Education; Lecturer of the Department of Special and Inclusive Education, Sofie Marie Ganevich.

During the first part of the visit to Häme University of Applied Sciences, the project participants exchanged experience in the development of the system of special and inclusive education in Finland and Ukraine, got acquainted with the system of training specialists in special education in higher education institutions, experience of participating in various international research projects and identified the perspectives and modern challenges facing the system of ensuring quality inclusive education in general education, vocational and technical and higher education institutions of both countries participating in the project.

Ahead of the project participants is the implementation of the practical component - the study of Finland's experience in educational institutions of various levels in order to develop and implement in practice the training of persons involved in ensuring the effective process of inclusive and special education, an training course (5 ETCS credits), which will be offered as an optional discipline with issues of inclusive education for applicants of the second (master's) level of higher education of various specialties and as a variable part for improving the qualifications of teachers who already work in the system of inclusive education and do not fully possess knowledge about the education of people with special educational needs.

Materials provided by Faculty of Psychology, Social Work and Special Education