Continuity and Accessibility in Higher Education Amid Armed Conflict

This paper investigates HEIs’ adaptive strategies to sustain operations and activities amid armed conflict, focusing on an emergency-induced shift to a cloud university model. Drawing on organizational theory as well as institutional and conflict management research, we present interview-based case studies of three HEIs affected by war. The findings highlight adaptive responses such as agile HE governance, the use of cloud-based services, informal networks, international cooperation, and institutional transformation. Across all cases, crises emerge not only as threats but also as catalysts for innovation, restructuring, and the reassertion of institutional missions.