Issue #1 (Volume 7 2023)

In Latin America, the age group made up of women is at a disadvantage compared to men in terms of their economic empowerment, which is reflected in the lack of access to paid employment, their average wages are lower than those of men and their performance in poor quality jobs. In this context, the objective of this study is to analyze what aspects of knowledge are developed by the main government financial education programs focused on Peruvian women belonging to organizations (Comedores Populares Programs) or participants in a state social program (Juntos Program) in order to include them financially. The method used is documentary research that seeks to deepen the financial education proposals that the Peruvian government has provided in the last 10 years. The results show that the implementation of government programs increased the participation of women in financial education actions by 61%, achieving a significant improvement from 31% to 77% in the knowledge obtained by the beneficiaries in financial matters; and that, due to the poverty characteristics of the beneficiaries, there were limitations in access to digital media and the current programs are carried out in person. It was concluded that the knowledge management component of the programs should focus on economic empowerment and attitudes towards money and not only on practical knowledge of financial products and services; and that the State must implement policies to ensure that beneficiaries have access to technological equipment so that training uses digital resources and not only resources for face-to-face training.

In order to set economic policy goals, it is important to understand the difference between adult education and lifelong learning, and how much research on SDG 4 combines lifelong learning and economic policy. The purpose of the article is to determine the main directions for justifying the lifelong learning system development, including for achieving sustainable development goal 4 (SDG 4). Based on scientific research data from the Scopus database using the VOSviewer software, this article analyzed the theoretical foundations for substantiating the temporal and geographical interrelationships of the categorical-conceptual system of such terms as “SDG 4”, “adult education”, “lifelong learning” and “economic”. This made it possible to identify the main trends in scientific research and cluster directions of international research on the relationship between adult education, lifelong learning and economic policy. The following trends were obtained: adult education as a driver of economic development; as a social phenomenon and as a source of innovation. The following clusters were identified: adult education as a part of life-long education; adult education under the influence of physical and age-related changes; adult education as part of professional education; the learning process, which is not related to professional activity. As a result of the analysis, an insufficient level of attention among scientific studies devoted to adult education within the framework of SDG 4 was revealed. The article confirmed the need for economic policy to support the lifelong learning system, as well as the difference between the concepts of adult education and lifelong learning.

Acknowledgment
The educational outcomes in this publication were created with the support of the EU Erasmus+ program within the framework of projects ERASMUS-JMO-2021-HEI-TCH-RSCH-101048055 – «AICE – With Academic integrity to EU values: step by step to common Europe» and ERASMUS-JMO-2022-HEI-TCH-RSCH-101085198«OSEE – Open Science and Education in Europe: success stories for Ukrainian academia». This study was funded by the grant from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine “Modelling educational transformations in wartime to preserve the intellectual capital and innovative potential of Ukraine” (registration number 0123U100114). “Convergence of economic and educational transformations in the digital society: modeling of the impact on regional and national security” (state registration number 0121U109553).

This study examines young people’s perspectives on local government bodies’ and universities’ roles in revitalizing de-occupied territories. A mixed-methods approach was deployed to examine their roles in returning and retaining young people in these areas. An initial quantitative survey was conducted among 1,180 young individuals from Berdyansk and its district (a temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine), focusing on the prospects of their return after de-occupation. A subsequent “Youth of Berdyansk” forum assembled roughly 300 participants, including university and local government representatives, to further explore youth perceptions. Findings revealed that 52.8% of respondents envision their future in the de-occupied region. Local government bodies and universities were seen as crucial for the region’s development and restoration by 92% and 86% of respondents, respectively. Moreover, 69% recognized the potential of partnerships between these institutions to enhance the territories’ appeal. Most respondents indicated readiness to participate in creating recovery strategies (41% absolute readiness, 38% with certain guarantees), though views on youth-centric strategies were mixed (80% agreement, 13% disagreement). The study concludes that local government bodies and universities are critical in the territories’ recovery and development, necessitating explicit engagement and focusing on young people’s needs for effective outcomes.

This paper explores how the war in Ukraine changed the interest in higher education of Ukrainians who stayed on the territory of Ukraine and emigrated to other countries. The methodology is based on Google Trends Analysis and peak approach with Google Trends Scale of Internet user inquiries about higher education from June 20, 2021 to June 20, 2023 with a middle point on February 24, 2022. Dynamics of changes in the queries of Internet users by keywords regarding studied higher education are: 1) exclusively from the territory of Ukraine; 2) from the territory of Poland, Slovakia, Germany, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Austria, i.e., top-10 countries by number of registered Ukrainian refugees according to the UN Refugee Agency. The key results are: 1) increased interest of Internet users in higher education after beginning of the full-scale war: Poland – 22.9%, Romania – 28.9%, Ukraine – 31.2%, Hungary – 32.4%, Slovakia – 35.8%, Moldova – 49.0% of average number of «university» inquiries; 2) increased requests for professional education (42.2%), distance education (25.6%), distance learning (34.1%) after February 24, 2022; 3) correlation between negative trends of interest per 32% from July 2021 (100 GT Scale) to July 2022 (68 GT Scale) in Ukraine and positive trends of this indicator in European counties in August 2022 (80-100 GT Scale). Chi-square test showed statistical significance of changes in interest in higher education (p-value = 0). Key findings demonstrate the following trends after February 24, 2022: distance learning development, increased Internet users’ orientation towards professional education for high-paying jobs, popularity of flexible schedules.

Acknowledgments
The educational outcomes in this publication were created with the support of the EU Erasmus+ program within the framework of projects ERASMUS-JMO-2021-HEI-TCH-RSCH-101048055 – «AICE – With Academic integrity to EU values: step by step to common Europe» and ERASMUS-JMO-2022-HEI-TCH-RSCH-101085198 «OSEE – Open Science and Education in Europe: success stories for Ukrainian academia».