Humanitarian Security in Higher Education: Concept and Implementation
Oleksandr Horban
Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan UniversityRuslana Martych
Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan UniversityAbstract
The article explores the formation and development of humanitarian security within the context of higher education, emphasizing its critical role amid rapid digital transformation and emerging societal challenges. It highlights the primary threats to humanitarian security - disinformation, algorithmic manipulation, and
cognitive overload - and underscores the necessity of fostering critical thinking as a key cognitive tool to build individual and collective resilience. The study presents a triadic educational model based on competency development, media literacy integration, and ethical guideline formation to counteract information threats. Furthermore, it situates higher education as a space for worldview formation, moral reflection, and social integration, facilitating the cultivation of bioethical awareness and cultural diversity. Universities are portrayed as vital institutions that promote humanitarian resilience, moral responsibility, and inclusive dialogue, acting as both knowledge centers
and social mobilizers, particularly in times of crisis. The article argues that higher education’s mission transcends traditional knowledge transfer by fostering a responsible, critically thinking citizenry capable of sustaining freedom, dignity, and justice in a complex world. Practical recommendations include integrating humanitarian security into curricula, expanding bioethical competence, reinforcing university autonomy, and enhancing international cooperation to ensure sustainable development and peace.
Keywords:
humanitarian security, higher education, digital transformation, media literacy, information threatsReferences
Allison John, 2017, Human security and higher education: An examination of North American and European HS programs and the interdisciplinary academy, Journal of Human Security Studies, 6(1), p. 18–37. Google Scholar
Al-Rodhan Nayef, 2007, The role of education in global security, Slatkine. Google Scholar
Androshchuk Alina, Maluga Oleksandr, 2024, Use of artificial intelligence in higher education: State and trends, International Science Journal of Education & Linguistics, 3(2), p. 27–35, doi:10.46299/j.isjel.20240302.04.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Bauman Zygmunt, 2001, Community: Seeking safety in an insecure world, Polity Press. Google Scholar
Biesta Gert, 2006, Beyond learning: Democratic education for a human future, Paradigm. Google Scholar
Federowicz Michał, Terepyshchyi Serhii, 2023, Democratic values in education: A theoretical examination of Ukrainian children and youth in Polish schools post-February 2022, Studia Warmińskie, 60, p. 45–60, doi:10.31648/sw.9562.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Hanlon Robert, Christie Kenneth, 2016, Freedom from fear, freedom from want: An introduction to human security, University of Toronto Press.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Horban Oleksandr, Fedyuk Vladyslava, 2021, Critical thinking as the basis of modern educational approaches in the formation of a student’s personality, Educological Discourse, 35(4), p. 66–83, doi:10.28925/2312-5829.2021.45.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Horban Oleksandr, Martych Ruslana, 2022, The basic approaches to the value of life in bioethical discourse, Studia Warmińskie, 59, p. 87–96, doi:10.31648/sw.8328
Crossref
Google Scholar
Horban Oleksandr, Martych Ruslana, 2023, Conceptualising the value of life in bioethical discourse: Sanctity vs quality of life, Studia Warmińskie, 60, p. 61–70, doi:10.31648/sw.9563.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Horban Oleksandr, Martych Ruslana, 2024, Bioethical discourse of humanitarian security, Studia Warmińskie, 61, p. 113–125, doi:10.31648/sw.10788.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Horban Oleksandr, Protsenko Olena, 2022, External environment of university values: Culture economy, Educological Discourse, 37(2), p. 101–112, doi:10.28925/2312-5829.2022.27.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Horban Oleksandr, Protsenko Olena, Tytarenko Vita, Bulvinska Oksana, Melnychenko Olga, 2022, Cultural economics: The role of higher education institution in shaping the value systems, Scientific Bulletin of the National Mining University, 1, p. 128–132. doi:10.33271/nvngu/2022-1/128.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Horban Oleksandr, Stadnyk Mykola, Martych Ruslana, Mishchuk Andrii, Mishchuk Mariana, 2024, The role of higher education in the formation of humanitarian security of the state, Conhecimento & Diversidade, 16(43), p. 302–321, doi:10.18316/rcd.v16i43.11850.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Kaldor Mary, Martin Mary, Selchow Sabine, 2007, Humanitarian security: A new strategic narrative for Europe, International Affairs, 83(2), p. 273–288, doi:10.1111/j.1468-2346.2007.00623.x.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Kromydas Theocharis, 2017, Rethinking higher education and its relationship with social inequalities: Past knowledge, present state and future potential, Palgrave Communications, 3, Article 1, doi:10.1057/s41599-017-0001-8.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Luchaninova Olga, 2024, Institutions of higher education in the conditions of the development of the digital university and the new paradigm of thinking, in: Forum-SOIS “Development of a Single Open Information Space of Education Throughout Life” (pp. 26–29), Vinnytsia. Google Scholar
Martin Mary, Owen Taylor (eds.), 2014, Routledge handbook of human security, Routledge.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Newman Edward, 2022, Covid-19: A human security analysis, Global Society, 36(4), 431–454. doi:10.1080/13600826.2021.2010034.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Nussbaum Martha, 2010, Not for profit: Why democracy needs the humanities, Princeton University Press. Google Scholar
Panfilov Oleksandr, Savchenko Olga, 2021, Education as a factor in ensuring the national security of the state, Bulletin of the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, Series: Philosophy, Philosophy of Law, Political Science, Sociology, 1(48), p. 146–159. doi:10.21564/2075-7190.48.224807.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Reinsberg Bernhard, Shaw Daniel, Bujnoch Louis, 2024, Revisiting the security–development nexus: Human security and the effects of IMF adjustment programmes, Conflict Management and Peace Science, 41(1), p. 72–95, doi:10.1177/07388942221111064.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Stern Maria, Öjendal Joakim, 2010, Mapping the security–development nexus: Conflict, complexity, cacophony, convergence? Security Dialogue, 41(1), p. 5–29, doi:10.1177/0967010609357041.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Tadjbakhsh Shahrbanou, Chenoy Anuradha 2007, Human security: Concepts and implications, Routledge.
Crossref
Google Scholar
UNESCO, 2021, Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education, UNESCO. Google Scholar
United Nations Development Programme, 1994), Human development report 1994: New dimensions of human security, Oxford University Press. Google Scholar
Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University
Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University