Ursula von der Leyen identifies diverse classrooms have different knowledges and ‘epistemologies’. A typology of epistemologies for democratising knowledge ‘A Blueprint for Character Development for Evolution’ (ABCDE) is offered to mainstream policy benefits for all by Higher Education as hubs i) credentialing educational leaders by doctoral-study and ii) propelling networks of Professional Educators and Administrators Committees for Empowerment (PEACE) across professions credentialed by Higher Education and chaired by educational leaders. PEACE builds robust evidence bases to inform redesigning curriculums and culturally responsive pedagogies as policy benefits that empower students to use ABCDE with Assessment for Personal and Social Learning (APSL) to problem solve across the quadruple-helix. Education Outcomes include students’ self-management of personal and social understanding and wellbeing for resilience within sustainable circular, entrepreneurial, green and digitised economies with products and means of production regulated by professions credentialed by Higher Education. Impacts include communities developing responsible historical social consciousness to reinvigorate democratic governance, accountability, transparency, effectiveness and trustworthiness of rule-of-law based institutions and policies to expand active and inclusive citizenship empowered by safeguarding human rights. Further research, building on the powerful European Commission funded platform ‘DocEnhance’ is recommended to inform effective and efficient investment into high quality education and training.

This study examines the state of grant writing practices in Ukrainian universities and proposes recommendations to enhance their capacity to secure external funding for research and development. Through a mixed-methods approach involving surveys and semi-structured interviews, data was gathered from researchers and faculty members. The study identifies challenges faced by Ukrainian universities in obtaining external funding and highlights important themes for improving grant-writing practices. These themes include promoting collaboration, providing resources and infrastructure, implementing language support policies, raising awareness of funding opportunities, offering institutional support, fostering a research culture, establishing internal grant review processes, leveraging international collaborations, and emphasising evaluation and learning. By addressing these themes, Ukrainian universities can improve their grant-writing practices, increase proposal competitiveness, and enhance success rates in securing external funding. This study provides valuable insights, complements existing literature, and offers practical recommendations for grant writing in Ukrainian universities.