Tempus GEM Final PM Meeting in Bishkek

The Tempus GEM project consortium was hosted on Aug 21-23 at the University of Central Asia (UCA) in Bishkek. This project had succeeded in establishing Geoinformatics MSc study programmes at partner universities across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as well as interdisciplinary Geoinformatics courses at additional partners.

In this final project management meeting all partners prepared not only for the reporting phase, but put a major emphasis on continuing support for the newly established curricula and programmes. Securing the sustainability of project outcomes tops the agenda - with ongoing needs like teacher training and international networking addressed through a variety of means.

As an international university covering all three participating countries, UCA was not only a very suitable host institution, but also contributed a strong forward looking vision towards internationalisation of higher education, quality assurance for qualifications and international connectivity within a community of practice.

KAzNU Joinining ACA*GIScience

In a signing ceremony in Almaty on Aug 20, followed by another in Bishkek on Aug 21, the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU) joined the Austria-Central Asia Centre for GIScience (ACA*GIScience). Represented by Dean Vitali Salnikov from the Faculty of Geography and Environmental Sciences and in the presence of staff from the international department, KazNU and Prof Josef Strobl from the University of Salzburg signed the joining agreement.

Akylbek Chymyrov from ACA*GIScience
with Gulnara Nyussupova and Aizhan
Assylbekova (right) from KazNU in Bishkek

ACA*GIScience, originally established by the Eurasia-Pacific Uninet serves as a regional hub for the cooperation between Central Asian and Austrian universities. Joint activities include educational projects from the Tempus and Erasmus Mundus programmes, student and faculty mobility as well as access to the UNIGIS distance learning programme. A special highlight is the annual GISCA conference managed through ACA*GIScience.

Members in ACA*GIScience collaborate in numerous joint projects, in the development of regional Spatial Data Infrastructure components, and of course in capacity building initiatives. KazNU, as one of the leading universities in this region, will strengthen this network and certainly make important contributions to its succcess!