OSCE facilitates addition of “green economy” course to university curricula in Kyrgyzstan
BISHKEK, 17 November 2011 - University students in Kyrgyzstan will be able to study “green economy” in the framework of the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) course from 2012 on, it was announced today at a conference organized by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek with UNDP, the Regional Ecological Centre for Central Asia and the Public Foundation “ECOIS”.
The new course will be part of curricula of universities offering education in agricultural and related spheres. It will provide theory and develop skills on effective management of water. The management of natural resources is of critical importance for conflict prevention in Central Asia, and particularly for Kyrgyzstan given its climatic and economic conditions.
The curriculum was prepared by a group of specialists on water management and university teachers from Osh, Talas, Naryn State Universities and the Kyrgyz State Agrarian University in Bishkek. The course will be officially integrated into the curricula of these universities, and recommended for other higher education institutions in the country.
At the event, more then 100 representatives of the State Agency for Nature Protection and Forestry, the Ministry of Education, schools, universities, civil society, scientists and experts on water-related issued from across Kyrgyzstan discussed environmental education in the country and its role in achieving effective water resource management and implementing the principles of a “green economy”.
Volker Jacoby, the Acting Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, stressed that “the future generation of specialist needs to take the principles of IWRM close to their hearts to be able to address future challenges in a preemptive and preventive manner - that is before resource management problems potentially lead to conflict.”
Bakyt Satybekov, the Director of the Bishkek branch of the Regional Ecological Centre for Central Asia, added: “We need to revise traditional models of production and consumption, and to encourage schools and universities to play a bigger role in promoting principles and technology of effective management of water resources and to facilitate transition to a ‘green economy’ more actively. This type of economy would raise citizens’ quality of life through significant reduce of environmental and ecological threats”.