SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: LOCAL INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ASPECTS

Abstract

The current global strategic trend is the formation of a dynamic concept of education in the interests of sustainable development. Education is a prerequisite and at the same time a priority means of achieving sustainable development. Under the 21st Century Agenda, education is recognized as a process by which individuals and societies can reach their full potential, as it is crucial for ensuring the formation of values and approaches, inculcating skills and encouraging behaviors compatible with sustainable development. A special role in this process belongs to higher education. An essential component of sustainable development of higher education institutions is axiological and cognitive-behavioral assistance to meet the social, environmental and economic interests of society based on the fullest disclosure of creative potential of all members of the university community: students, research and teaching staff, service and support staff and management. Thus, sustainable development of higher education institutions is a continuous process of harmonization of interaction of internal stakeholders to harmonize educational and research activities with the conceptual triad of sustainable development - social, environmental, economic spheres in endogenous and exogenous areas and the transition to sustainable functioning. Modern business models of free economic zones should be aimed not at retransmission, but at generating new knowledge about sustainable development, and turning them into a valuable resource of sustainable operation with the help of appropriate information and communication support. For more than a decade, a certain layer of scientific research devoted to the issue of sustainable development has been formed in Ukraine. However, the number of such studies on the educational component is not very strong. Even smaller is the share of scientific papers on the activities of universities as subjects of sustainable development. Therefore, the information and communication aspects of this issue are also not currently the focus of domestic researchers. Therefore, currently one of the stumbling blocks in the context of sustainable development of free economic zones is the range of issues of information and communication nature.