The international online conference “EU Practices of Youth and Business Cooperation” was held on 12–13 December 2025 within the framework of the Jean Monnet Module “Youth & Business: EU Practices for Cooperation”, co-funded by the European Union.
The conference brought together researchers, academics, students, policymakers, business representatives, and civil society actors to discuss current challenges and opportunities in youth entrepreneurship, social innovation, digitalisation, and the application of artificial intelligence, as well as the role of youth–business cooperation in sustainable development and European integration.
The plenary session opened with welcoming addresses delivered by Professor Leonid Melnyk, D.Sc. (Econ.), Professor at the Department of Economics, Entrepreneurship and Business Administration and Director of the Research Institute for Development Economics at Sumy State University, who reflected on the long-standing tradition and impact of youth-led academic initiatives, and by Professor Rytis Krušinskas (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania), who addressed key financial and strategic insights into the growth trajectories of entrepreneurial ventures.
The keynote address was delivered by Professor Dev Dutta (University of New Hampshire, USA), Professor of Strategy, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship and a certified Design Thinking Coach (MIT and Stanford). In his keynote, Professor Dutta focused on the role of artificial intelligence in shaping the new world of work and on fostering an entrepreneurial mindset among young people. The plenary session was moderated by Dr. Bohdan Kovalov, Jean Monnet Module Coordinator, PhD in Economics, and Associate Professor at the Department of Economics, Entrepreneurship and Business Administration, Sumy State University (Ukraine).
Conducted across four time zones, the plenary session engaged scholars and experts from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, and Ukraine, highlighting the strong international dimension of the event. In addition to the keynote, the plenary featured invited speakers, including Professor Jean-Marc Trouille (University of Bradford, UK), Dr. Ugur Uygur (Loyola University Chicago, USA), Dr. Iryna Tytarchuk (National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine; University of Manchester, UK; The Women In initiative), Dr. Yevgeniia Gnatchenko (O.M. Beketov National University of Urban Economy, Ukraine; Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia, UK), Nora Zabarah Pucci (University of Ottawa, Canada), and Professor Oleksandr Kubatko (Sumy State University, Ukraine). Their contributions offered diverse academic and practice-oriented perspectives on innovation, entrepreneurship, and youth–business cooperation.
The event was held within the framework of the implementation of the European Commission project – the Jean Monnet Module “Youth & Business: EU Practices for Cooperation” (101126538-YouthBEU-ERASMUS-JMO-2023-HEI-TCH-RSCH), led by Dr. Bohdan Kovalov.
