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Central Asia - On March 18, 2024, a meeting of the Central Asian Network of Academic Societies (NAS) was held online with the joint support of the USAID Central Asia’s Regional Water and Vulnerable Environment Activity and Switzerland, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in cooperation with the Regional Environmental Center of Central Asia (CAREC). The meeting was attended by 44 representatives of leading universities and research institutes in Central Asia and Europe, as well as international and regional organizations.
First of all, the meeting was aimed at finalizing and approving the Regulations on membership in the NAS. The document will not only formalize this structure, but also increase its operational efficiency and streamline processes within the network.
The meeting also presented the development progress of the NAS and the Community of Practice platform. Currently, there is an intensification of cooperation between universities in the region, which indicates the effectiveness of this network. Since the last NAS meeting, in addition to the growth in the number of users (+40 new users), new sections have been created on the Community of Practice platform. These sections help to find out information about scientific journals in Central Asia, stories of successful examples of cooperation between universities in the region, as well as announcements of internships, grants and scholarships in the field of the environment.
At the same time, the issue of opportunities for cooperation with scientific organizations was on the agenda of the meeting:
● Kyrgyzstan presented opportunities for the development of universities and advanced training of personnel according to the Program for the Development of the educational sector in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2023-2027. According to the program, university students have the opportunity to practice at leading universities and research institutes of the country.
● The Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (KazISS) presented students with internship opportunities for undergraduates and doctoral students, support for young experts and grants for qualified experts.
● The Institute of Geography and Water Safety spoke about examples of internships by university students with subsequent employment.
In addition, plans for international projects in the academic field were presented to the participants of the meeting:
● Within the framework of the ERASMUS+HWCA project, a course on Public Administration and Water diplomacy will be developed, which will be implemented at 12 partner universities in Central Asia. The project announced a competition for young scientists on academic writing and a short-term training on Water diplomacy for representatives of the Academy, which will be held in July this year in Tashkent.
● The GIZ-SDC project “Climate-Resilient Water Resources Management in Central Asia” initiated the creation of a working group including CA universities-NAS members, as well as universities from Germany and Switzerland. The Group will develop a training course on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) for specialists in the water sector.
● The Green University of Central Asia outlined the areas of training specialists in the field of sustainable development and green economy and expressed readiness to cooperate with universities in the region.
The theme of the next meeting of the NAS, scheduled in Dushanbe within the framework of the International Conference “Water for Sustainable Development”, was defined as “Rational use of water resources”. Both foreign and domestic achievements in the field of water conservation will be presented at the meeting.
Additional information: Ludmila Kiktenko, Environmental Management Program Manager, CAREC, lkiktenko@carececo.org
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