ECAP project results
The first coordination conference on Erasmus+ ECAP “Enhancement of Competencies and Skills of Universities in Central Asia in Agricultural Policy with special focus on Environmental Protection and Land Management” №561590-EPP-1-2015-1-SK-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP project took place on 14th - 16th May, 2016 in Nitra, Slovakia.
The participants of the conference were 7 programme partner HEIs from 5 countries: Slovakia, Czech Republic. Austria, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan. A. Baitursynov KSU was represented by Dean of Agricultural and Biological Faculty – N.Kalimov, Head of Department of Ecology – G.Yunussova and senior teacher of Department of Foreign Philology – A.Abdibekova.
During three days meeting bachelor and master programmes related to the project were discussed. The representatives of our University presented the report on situation analysis of ecological disciplines. The members of quality management committee were selected. The partners were presented with the programme website and knowledge platform with the elements of electronic education. The guidelines of partnership agreement were discussed.
As a part of the programme, 30 teachers of our HEI will be able to advance their qualification in 3 European Universities, the quality of bachelor programme on ”Ecology” will be improved, material and technical resources improvement will take place as well.
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Lecturers of A.Baitursynov Kostanay State University participated in training workshop in Czech University of Life Sciences on the programme of “Enhancement of Competencies and Skills of Universities in Central Asia in Agricultural Policy with special focus on Environmental Protection and Land Management” from 19 to 23 of September 2016
Lectures on 6 themes related to Environmental protection and Landuse management took place:
- Management of land, soil and water resources;
- Development and realization of ecological policy;
- Planning of landuse and agriculture: Experience and problems of Austria;
- Remote probing and GIS as the instrument of sustainable management of land resources;
- EU and recent developments in field of agricultural policy;
- Environmental protection within the framework of unified agricultural policy of EU.
The meeting of steering committee of ECAP programme also took place as a part of the workshop. The participants of the training workshop had a chance to take a part in Prague city tour, visit to a brewery factory and acquaintance with the technology of czech beer production. Participants of the training workshop obtained certificates.
Next training workshop will be organized in February 2017 in BOKU University, Vienna, followed by the next one in Slovak Agrarian University, Nitra.
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In January 2017, lecturers of Ecological Department of KSU, Yunussova G.B., head of department, Khassanova A.I., senior lecturer, have developed their competencies within the framework of "Integrated management of water resources: economical and judicial aspects" training session. The session was organized by Kazakh-German University under a joint project of EU/UNDP/ECE "Support of the Republic of Kazakhstan in transfer to green economy model".
Lectures and outside practical classes were conducted by the lecturers experienced in work of international level: B.Janusz-Pavletta, Professor of Kazakh-German University; M.P. van Dijk, Professor of Water Education Institute of UNESCO; Professor S.Ibatulin, Kazakhstan consultant of ECE; Associate Professor M.Narbayev, Aral Saving Fund, Executive Board in Kazakhstan; A.Nikolaenko, regional councellor of GIZ TWMCA.
Lecture attendants systemized the ideas of the legal borders of hydroenergetic influence, agriculture, industrial enterprises and residential sector on water resources. For the purpose of comparison the situations in EU and the Republic of Kazakhstan are depicted. The examples of economical analysis of data in China and Singapour allowing to choose rational ways of water use on regional level are presented.
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On January 31, 2017 the scientific and practical conference "Careful attitude to nature - the health and well-being of the modern and future generation" was held at Kostanay State University named after A.Baitursynov. It was organized and conducted jointly by the specialized environmental prosecutor's office, the regional museum and the Agro-biological Faculty.
The representatives of state bodies, regional structural units, enterprises, regional and national media, more than 100 students and teachers of the faculty attended the conference. Also in the hall of the building №2 there was a mini exhibition on the beauty of the nature of the region.
The participants of the conference discussed a number of important issues related to nature protection, protection of forests, problems of environmental pollution by industrial and domestic waste, as well as the issues of forming an ecological culture among young people and the principle of zero tolerance for violations of environmental legislation.
The moderater of the conference was the Deputy Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management of the Kostanay region S.Kaliev. The list of speakers was quite impressive: the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management of Kostanay Region, the Department of Ecology of Kostanay Region, the Kostanay Regional Forestry and Hunting Administration, the Environmental Police of Kostanay region.
Head of the Department of Ecology G,Yunussova introduced the modern trends in environmental education implemented at the department for training specialists in the field of ecology and environmental protection, the contribution of the Tempus / Erasmus + programs, the ECAP project. Director of Atameken 4+ LLP M.Klementyev spoke about the implementation of separate collection of waste in the city of Kostanay, the current problems of this activity.
The results of the meeting were summed up by the prosecutor of the specialized environmental prosecutor's office of Kostanay region N. Kassymbekov.
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In February 2017 the university teachers had a training in the framework of the ECAP project at the University of Natural Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria. During the training, the following lectures were conducted: Learning Aspects, Distance Learning / e-learning systems, Land Management / Administration, Land Use Planning and Water Resources Management, GIS: Fundamentals and Accessibility of Databases for Environmental Applications, Digital Mapping as a Tool for Protection Soil, Implementation of the European Common Agricultural Policy and Legislation in the Conditions of Slovakia. The lectures were conducted by the professors and PhD of the Czech University of Life Sciences / Prague, University of Natural Sciences / Vienna, Slovak University of Agriculture / Nitra. An excursion to water management took place. The teachers received a certificate of completion of training.
The foreign partners proposed a sample curriculum on land management and environment. The partner universities of Central Asia chose 2 courses to prepare the distance course.
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The training at Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Slovakia was held from 9 to 15 September, 2017. The academic staff from the Departments of Ecology, Agronomy, Economics, and doctoral students participated in it. During the training, the lectures were conducted on the following issues: "E-learning, Land Management, Land Consolidation and their role in landscape, water resources management, Photogrammetry, Wastewater Treatment and Water Pollution, Environmental Monitoring".
The most memorable events were an excursion to the University’s Innovation Center and a lecture on selecting remote sensing tools to solve environmental problems. The lectures were presented by the professors and PhD of the Czech University of Life Sciences/ Prague, University of Natural Sciences / Vienna Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra / Nitra.
The participants received certificates of attendance, got advice on some issues and established personal contacts with scientists from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, and Uzbekistan.
On November 9-11, 2017 Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague hosted the Management meeting of the ECAP project. The project partners discussed the progress of its implementation, were introduced the project evaluation by the national and European coordinators of the Erasmus + program. They set new tasks in accordance with the work plan, agreed on completion of syllabus, preparation of 2 courses - Environmental Monitoring and Land Use Planning. Pilot testing will be conducted on a platform in February-March 2018. In general, the project is being implemented successfully, the partners have already purchased office equipment, the teaching staff involved in the project attends training courses on e-learning system. The project is assessed by the European Commission as “good”.
On March 1-2, 2018 the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna hosted the 4th management meeting of the ECAP project "Enhancing competences of Central Asian universities in agricultural policy focused on environmental protection and land management". The participants of the meeting discussed the results of the project, dissemination activities and defined the tasks for the forthcoming period.
For two years of the project implementation, 30 lecturers teaching students of Ecology major have attended professional development trainings at European universities, namely Czech University of Life Sciences, Slovak University of Agriculture and University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU). Two new courses on "Environmental Monitoring" and "Land Use Planning" have been prepared and electronic platform has been created.
The participants of the management meeting are head of the project Zh.Zharlygassov, Vice-rector for Scientific Work and Internationalization, project coordinator N.Kalimov, Dean of Agrobiological Faculty and a member of the working group, A.Abdibekova.
The project coordinator from the EU Pavol Schwarz highly appreciated the work of Kostanay State University, he noted that all the documents and materials on the project by our university were prepared with high quality and in time.
The final meeting of the project is planned for June 2018 in Almaty at KazNAU.