On 2 November, the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University hosted the kick-off meeting for the international EU-VITA project (Integrating EU Values in Pre-service Teacher Education with AI) – "Integrating EU Values into the Training of Future Teachers using Artificial Intelligence". The project is being implemented with the support of the European Union as part of the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Modules programme.

EU-VITA aims to integrate European values into the professional training of future teachers. The project team will focus on developing communicative competence, professional resilience and the use of artificial intelligence tools in the educational process.

Iryna Osovska, Vice-Rector for Academic and Pedagogical Affairs, International and Humanitarian Work, and Tetiana Kolisnychenko, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, addressed the participants with welcoming remarks. They highlighted the importance of international cooperation, the European integration of university education and the opportunities that international educational initiatives offer for students’ professional development.

Project coordinator Olga Beshley presented the project’s objectives, main tasks, three-year implementation programme and expected outcomes. Team members outlined the key thematic areas: Nadiya Yesypenko spoke about the role of professional communication in the age of digitalisation and artificial intelligence; Olga Solovyova discussed European values as the foundation of teaching practice; and Zoriana Batrynchuk addressed communication strategies and their use in resolving professional conflicts.

One of the project’s key components will be the SmartTalk model. This involves training simulations using artificial intelligence, during which trainee teachers will be able to practise handling complex communication situations with parents, colleagues and the school administration. Participants will learn to recognise conflict-inducing and manipulative tactics and to select constructive communication strategies based on European values.

Eight Master’s students specialising in "Secondary Education" from the Department of English joined the kick-off meeting. In the autumn semester of the 2026/2027 academic year, they will be the first to trial the SmartTalk model. The pilot programme involves interaction with two AI avatars and subsequent professional reflection, which will help students analyse their own communication choices.

To support the learning process, the EU-VITA team has created an online course on the Moodle platform. It contains learning materials and tasks to help students engage with the project’s themes and master new approaches to professional communication.

EU-VITA opens up new opportunities for training future teachers by combining European values, modern pedagogical approaches and the potential of artificial intelligence.