Today, more and more Belarusian educators are working from Lithuania, Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, and other European countries. They create online courses, organize training, provide consultations, build professional communities, and seek ways to preserve an independent knowledge space for their compatriots around the world.
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The role of Lithuania – not only to provide refuge but also to help create the future
Lithuania has been one of the most important partners of the Belarusian civil society and academic community for several years. Alongside universities, non-governmental organizations, and various support initiatives, solutions are being developed here to help independent education not only survive but also grow.
One of the most prominent examples is the EU-funded project “EdTech4BY,” launched earlier this year and implemented by the Lithuanian Innovation Center in cooperation with the Central Project Management Agency. The project’s goal is to help Belarusian teachers, educational technology developers, and early-stage startups living in the European Union, the European Economic Area, and Schengen countries to create modern learning solutions and ensure that independent Belarusian education remains accessible despite geographical or political circumstances.
During the seven-month project, 50 Belarusian educators and EdTech startups developed their ideas, with the total allocated funding exceeding half a million euros.
The greatest result – the community
The greatest achievement of “EdTech4BY” is not the platform or funding, but the formation of an international community of Belarusian educators.
The project brought together teachers, mentors, educational technology developers, and startups who often worked separately until now. In incubation programs, they developed their ideas, created online courses, tested learning solutions, consulted with international experts, and sought sustainable ways to reach learners worldwide. Thus, an international Belarusian educational community is gradually forming, based on collaboration rather than competition.
The value of this community is best revealed by the experiences of the participants themselves. Nate Vasileuski, founder of the startup “Bloomin,” admits that he joined the program with an idea he considered only a side project.
“The program made us stop defending what we had created and start listening to people’s real needs. That’s when we understood what problem we really needed to solve.”
From individual courses to a shared knowledge library
One of the biggest problems faced by independent educators is that their content is scattered across different platforms, social networks, and websites. This makes it harder for both learners and community members to find it.
Therefore, during the project, a joint learning platform ByEdTech is being created, where courses from Belarusian teachers, experts, universities, and non-governmental organizations will be available in one place.
Equally important is that educators will be able not only to share their knowledge but also to build sustainable professional activities. The platform will allow them to present their courses in one place, reach a wider audience, and commercialize them in the future, thus creating more opportunities for independent Belarusian education to grow.
The platform becomes a shared digital home for a community whose members today live in different European countries but strive to preserve a common language, culture, and the opportunity to learn from each other.
When technology becomes the infrastructure of democracy
Today, technology is becoming not only a learning tool but also a way to preserve free access to knowledge. When learning no longer depends on the institutions of a single state or a physical location, there is more resilience, and communities can maintain connections even in difficult circumstances.
Mikhail Paslauski, founder of “AIBoosted” and a program participant, says that the biggest change was not just financial support.
“Before the program, I worked on my idea only in my free time – survival in emigration was more important than the risk of creating a startup. ‘EdTech4BY’ provided a clear plan, mentorship, and the opportunity to focus entirely on my project for the first time.”
Initiatives like “EdTech4BY” contribute to the European educational space, where geographical distances become less important than the ability to freely learn, create, and share knowledge.
An end that marks a new beginning
The final conference of “EdTech4BY,” taking place on July 17 in Vilnius, will be an opportunity to present the project results and the people who, in a short time, created new learning products, online courses, and educational technology solutions. The event will recognize the strongest initiatives – five of the most promising educational startups and fifteen courses by educators with the greatest impact will share more than 200,000 euros in funding to further develop their solutions.
However, the most important project result is likely to be neither the funding nor the new platform. Its greatest value is the people who proved that even after losing audiences, it is possible not to lose the most important thing – the ability to teach, learn, and create the future together.
And Lithuania, by bringing together partners and EU support, becomes a place where solutions are born to help preserve a free, open, and future-ready Belarusian educational community.
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