THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS FOR EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF A TECHNICAL EDUCATIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC CLUSTER

Abstract

Reforms in Ukraine's education system are creating new demands for the quality of the management process in educational institutions. In particular, universities and colleges need to be more mobile, adaptive, and focused on the professional development of teaching staff. These changes are driven, in particular, by the needs of the modern economy, which increasingly requires highly qualified specialists. This issue is especially acute in science-intensive industries, where human resources are a strategic asset for post-war recovery of the country. One of the promising directions for the transformation of the education system, in our opinion, is the formation of educational clusters of various types aimed at integrating education, science, and business. Clusters can provide students with more opportunities to choose disciplines and projects that correspond to their interests and professional orientations, where joint projects and interactive learning formats contribute to the development of communicative, leadership, and other soft skills, which are so necessary in the modern labor market. The combination of scientists, teachers, and students from different institutions allows for joint research and development, which contributes to the development of innovations. Clusters can promote the introduction of new technologies in the educational process, such as online platforms, virtual reality, etc., and can become a platform for the creation and development of student startups. Thus, clusters have every chance to become a powerful tool for regional development. Cooperation with local businesses allows for aligning the needs of the labor market with curricula, which will contribute to the development of the region's infrastructure, such as technoparks, incubators, and scientific centers, making the region more attractive to investors and talent. The development of educational clusters in Ukraine, taking into account the specifics of the national economy and institutional environment, can become a powerful tool for diversifying the economy of the entire country, increasing its competitiveness, and creating new high-productivity jobs. Active cooperation with international partners and government support are key factors in the successful development of clusters in the long term. To achieve these goals, it is necessary to overcome a number of challenges, such as insufficient funding, a shortage of qualified personnel, and bureaucratic barriers. Our research aims to analyze global best practices, identify optimal approaches to managing a technical educational and scientific cluster in Ukrainian conditions, which is a prerequisite for developing mechanisms for its operation and assessing its potential impact on the country's economy.