Round table
On October 18-19, 2021, the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) summed up the results of a round table on the development of an integrated approach "Water-Energy-Food-Environment". The online consultation was organized by the USAID Regional Project on Water Resources and the Environment in cooperation with the Regional Environmental Centre of Central Asia (CAREC) within the framework of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Blue Peace project in Central Asia and the European Union project "Central Asian Dialogue on Stimulating Intersectoral Financing Based on the Water-Energy-Food Relationship (WEF). The round table was held at the Hyatt Regency Dushanbe Hotel, which is located in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The meeting was held in a hybrid format for participants from Turkmenistan. Ms. Ekaterina Strikeleva, Coordinator of the Capacity Development and Education Component of the USAID Regional Project on Water Resources and the Environment moderated the consultation. In the meeting took part teachers of the Institute of International Relations of the MFA of Turkmenistan, Customer acquisition cost (CAC) members and representatives of Central Asian universities, representatives of EU Delegations in Tajikistan, the team of the USAID Regional Project on Water and Environment, the CAREC team.
Various reforms of the state apparatus, including the work of the water sector, are currently underway in all Central Asian (CA) countries. Since 2012, with the support of various development partners, including the World Bank, USAID, SDC and the European Union, a Network of Academic Communities in Central Asia has been established and is functioning. Over the years, the Network has achieved a number of results, including memoranda of cooperation (within the framework of the Smart Waters project), unification of educational standards in three disciplines (within the framework of CAWDP), etc. Currently, there is a need for further development of the Network to ensure its operational efficiency and sustainability in one form or another, so that the knowledge library and other results accumulated over the past 10 years are placed in one place and available for the exchange of experience both between network members and between other universities.
The consultation covered topics such as discussing the possibilities of formalizing the Network's activities and drawing up a roadmap for the further development of the Network, presenting to the Network members materials developed within the framework of projects in 2020-2021, defining procedures for making changes to educational programs to integrate integrated water resources management (IWRM) approaches, the relationship of Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE Nexus), SDGs and other global trends.
Dilnoza Muhadova,
2nd year student of
the faculty of
International Journalism of
the
Institute of International Relations
of the MFA of Turkmenistan.