GEM 2013 Summer School in Almaty, April 28 - May 4, 2013

The TEMPUS GEM Summer School and Teacher training workshops have started at the Faculty of Geography and Environmental Science, Al-Farabi KazNU in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

GEM and UNIGIS MSc students and young teachers from Central Asian universities are attending classes on GIS, Remote Sensing and Project Management given by Prof.Dr. Strobl, Prof.Dr. Bela Markus and other international trainers. These activities are organized as pre- and post-conference events to the  Annual Central Asia GIS Conference - GISCA'13, May 2-3, 2013, KazNU, Almaty.

Workshop ‘Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment for Central Asia and the Caucasus'

The workshop  ‘Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment for Central Asia and the Caucasus’ was held from March 7-10, 2013 in Tbilisi (Georgia). This workshop is organized by the Volkwagen Foundation and Giessen University, Center for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU).

The workshop was aiming to identify current research directions and to explore possibilities for cooperation between researchers in Germany, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Discussion topics of the workshop sessions will address interdisciplinary research strategies as well as methodological research questions on a regional scale.

The work process -Interactive World Café group #1

There are about 70 participants from Central Asia and Caucasus and Europe. During these days we had an excellent opportunity to work in small groups in Interactive World Café. It was really very interesting experience. All of us could make contributions within this time. This also helped us to meet and get aquainted with new contacts.

All participants had a good opportunity to learn about the country by visiting Aragvi valley, Mleta and  Gudauri. We were all very impressed by the city tour introducing special architecture and old historical buildings.
 

KKSU welcoming Tempus GEM delegation

Kyzylorda Korkyt-Ata State University (KKSU) is an important partner in the EU Tempus project "Geoinformatics: Managing Energy, Resources, Environment - GEM", and currently is in the process of launching Geoinformatics and Cartography courses across multiple institutes and departments. To support and consult in this process, the 'GEM' project coordinator Prof Josef Strobl from the University of Salzburg together with highly qualified and experienced senior teacher Aizhan Assylbekova from the Kazakh National University named after Al-Farabi were visiting KKSU on February 19/20.

After a kind welcome by  university vice-rector for academic affairs, first vice-rector Dr. Abaibek T. Zhunissov, this visit introduced several teachers from KKSU to the leaders in this project, and provided opportunities for discussing concepts and objectives. For the visitors, this was a chance to familiarize themselves with the excellent facilities and highly motivated faculty at KKSU, and for offering advice on next steps in the implementation of project objectives.

International Cooperation Department
Director Timur Kenshinbay (right) and
teacher Kuanysh Daurenbekov

The delegation was welcomed at the Polytechnic Institute Department of Water and Land Management, talked to chairperson Prof.Dr. Serikbay I. Koshkarov as well as teachers and other participants of the project. After visiting a computer classroom to be equipped during the project, course syllabi offered by  Tempus GEM were discussed with Laura Abzhamiyeva and Elmira Yeleuova.

This was followed by a visit to the Institute of Natural Sciences and Agrarian Technologies Department of Geography and Biology. Chairperson Prof. Dr. Saltanat Ibadullayeva offered a warm welcome on behalf of faculty members, followed by an inspection of a future Tempus computer classroom and deliberations on a broad range of topics related to teaching and learning in Geoinformatics, as well as the potential for cooperating with application domains for this important methodology facilitated by new technologies like GNSS, GIS and remote sensing.

Extensive time was dedicated to discussing designs and outlines for the courses 'Introduction to Geoinformatics' and 'Online Cartography', which will be offered to students from different programs. These courses will be a first step towards offering a complete study program in Geoinformatics, which will be of high importance in a region where geospatial experts are urgently needed in the resources industries, agriculture, planning and public administration.

Prof Strobl discussing curriculum design and management
of educational programs with KKSU faculty

Tempus: Geoinformatics MSc Development for Uzbek Universities

ACA*GIScience is congratulating our colleagues at four Uzbek universities to successfully launching the new Tempus project "GEoUZ" on January 17-19, aiming at establishing Geoinformatics study programs at the Uzbek partner institutions National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulug’bek (NUU), Karakalpak State University (KSU) Nukus, Tashkent Architecture Building Institute (TABI) and the national lead institution Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Melioration (TIIM).

Led by the University of West Hungary (UWH), KTH Stockholm, University of Greenwich and the University of Salzburg contribute to this initiative as European partners, jointly developing curricula, learning materials, dissemination and outreach activities and quality management for graduate Geoinformatics studies now soon available in Uzbekistan, after they had been established in other Central Asian countries through the Tempus "GEM" project.

Prof. Bela Markus from UWH as project coordinator opened the kick-off meeting at TIIM and gave an extensive overview of project objectives and management. Hosted at TIIM, this event was introduced by Rector Professor Uktam P. Umurzakov, followed by the remarks by European Union Ambassador Yuri Sterk (photo: sitting next to Rector Umurzakov) on the development of relations between Europe and Uzbekistan.

Dr. Odil Akbarov, head of the Land Tenure Development Center at TIIM managed to get the GEoUZ-Initiative off to an excellent start with this meeting, commenting that "Uzbekistan needs highly qualified Geoinformatics experts, contributing to the evolution of the country through this aptly named project - Geoinformatics-enabling sustainable development in Uzbekistan".

2012 at ACA*GIScience in Review

We are looking back at an exciting, innovative and successful year at ACA*GIScience! Like in the years before, a mix of research, education and communication activities was characteristic for the activities at this international center at KSUCTA with connections across the entire region.

Led by Akylbek Chymyrov and Ainura Nazarkulova, the first class of students in the EU Tempus supported MSc in Geoinformatics was working their way into a second year and setting their eyes on suitable thesis topics, while in early October the 2012 intake set their sights on a first round of lectures.

In May, the GIS in Central Asia (GISCA) conference was hosted at KSUCTA, and attendees shared an intensive week of workshops, training, and conference presentations. The published conference proceedings serve as a record of the level of Geoinformatics research reached in Central Asia.

Teacher trainings alongside GISCA, in September in Hungary and again in early December in Bishkek provided the 'brainware' for emerging education programmes, while Tempus supported lab equipment was celebrated in formal opening ceremonies in Osh, Bishkek and Almaty where the 'software and hardware' now are being put to good use in the respective Geoinformatics study programmes.

In October, at the Eurasia-Pacific Uninet Plenary conference in Shanghai, ACA*GIScience was represented with a poster display as well as with a presentation by Barbara Brunner-Maresch. This event provided the opportunity to communicate ACA*GIScience activities and successes beyond the Central Asia region, and to promote the annual GISCA conference as well as research activities.

Research was organized in several, mostly international projects. Satellite image analysis and data extraction for map updating was one recurring task in several different contexts, combined with analysis of renewable energy potentials and public health analyses. Outstanding results were achieved in some field work activities, generating ground truth and validation for geoinformatics projects.

Finally, we need to mention the second group of 18 students from the Kazakh National University coming to Salzburg for the fall semester of 2012/13, participating in a suite of Geoinformatics classes. This student mobility already is becoming a valuable tradition, and a great opportunity for KazNU students to combine a European study abroad experience with their Bachelor and Master degrees at the Faculty of Geography and Environmental Sciences.

Congratulations, and best wishes to our friends and colleagues at Central Asian partner universities to their progress and achievements in the field of Geoinformatics.

Registration for GISCA13 opened!

The well established annual GIS-in-Central-Asia (GISCA) conference in 2013 will again be held in Kazakhstan's 'Southern Capital' of Almaty! The Kazakh National University (KazNU) named after Al-Farabi and its Faculty of Geography and Nature Management will be the host and venue of this event on May 2-3, 2013.

'GISCA' since 2005 has evolved as the main regional scientific cooperation and networking event for the geospatial information science and technologies community across Central Asia. Coordinated by ACA*GIScience center at KSUCTA, the GISCA conference is annually hosted by established centers of GIScience competence in the region - 2013 returning to the outstanding Geography Department at KazNU!

GISCA also is a platform for collaboration in the development of educational program, e.g. Tempus JEP projects as well as UNIGIS, and for establishing GIS research initiatives in the broad field of GIS applications. A special emphasis this year will be on advancing the cause of Spatial Data Infrastructures in the Central Asia region.

Registration for GISCA13 now has opened, and abstracts for paper submissions are welcome - please find all relevant information on the conference website at http://gisca13.aca-giscience.org! Enquiries from media partners, sponsors and interested technology vendors can be directed to info@aca-giscience.org.

Prof. R. Lassche has given classes at KSUCTA

Dr. Ronnie Lassche, Professor at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, has visited  the Kyrgyz State University of Construction, Transport and Architecture (KSUCTA) on December 17-20, 2012. He has given lectures and laboratory classes for Geoinformatics MSc students and teachers on the topics of Spatial Databases and PostGIS, the design and use of WMS Layers, and publishing online maps. Despite the extreme weather conditions (-26 degree outside and +12 degree inside lab!) GEM Students and teachers have enjoyed his classes by studying the advanced technologies and methods.

This visit supports the development and implementation of the Tempus Geoinformatics MSc study programme in Kyrgyzstan. VU Amsterdam is one of the European partners in this project, with researchers and teachers from its SPINlab contributing significantly to curriculum design, media development and in particular to teacher training. The first groups of Geoinformatics MSc students in Kyrgyzstan benefit significantly from this involvement of European teachers!