At the time of the project’s preparation, the main goals identified included the development and establishment of Ukrainian language and culture teaching at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University, following the example of the existing Serbian language programme. The partner university in Lviv aimed to expand its teaching of the Slovak language. In political science, the goal was to promote academic exchange in light of growing interest in the study of democratisation processes in the region. In cooperation with the Japanese university, we aimed to establish a partnership with an institution operating in a high-quality higher education environment and to broaden opportunities for teaching and research in Asian languages and cultures. Strengthening students' language and intercultural competences was another key objective. In the Western Balkans region, we sought to support the teaching of Slavic languages and develop academic cooperation in the social sciences, particularly in the context of post-conflict societies.