The UNESCO Chair on “Water Diplomacy, Water Resources Management and Environmental Protection” at TIIAME national research university

• Smart Waters - Water, Education and Cooperation in Central Asia (funded by USAID and coordinated by CAREC):
  • Training manual: BASIN PLANNING and MANAGEMENT of WATER RESOURCES (undergraduate level)
  • Integrated water resources management laboratory

• The EU programme Sustainable management of water resources in rural areas in Uzbekistan (funded by GIZ)
  • Elaboration of analytical paper with set of recommendations for improving existing training modules on development of river basin management planning
  • Textbook: Basin Management and Planning of Water Resources (graduate level) in collaboration with partners from German Institutions
• "SDGnexus network" project, funded by the DAAD (in collaboration with partners from EU, LA and CA)
  • Agricultural and livestock production practices and sustainable and equitable food systems
  • Freshwater and sanitation systems and resilient lives & sustainable livelihoods
  • Urban & rural development and sustainable communities and territories
  • Education & Innovation and SDG progress & monitoring

Establishment of the UNESCO Chair “Water Diplomacy, Water Resources Management and Environmental Protection” at the TIIAME (TUC-WDWRMEP) and development of its activities during the period under review has created new prospects for teaching and research in the region on emerging global issues related to water diplomacy, sustainable water resources management and environmental protection.

The growing effectiveness and attractiveness of the TUC-WDWRMEP was confirmed by the increased participation of students and employees of the institute as well as surrounding institutions in its work.

The development program of the TUC-WDWRMEP was elaborated and approved by the Academic Council of TIIAME.

Especial attention given to the problems of water diplomacy, sustainable water resources management and environmental protection in the face of uncertainties, such as growing scarcity and deterioration in the quality of water resources, allowed the department to function as a unique project to support the interaction of representatives of various specialties, science, education and production.

Scientific research at the department, together with the teaching process, promoted UNESCO's ideals and priorities in the form of special lectures and materials for students, specialists, decision-makers and ordinary members of the water consumer community developed on the basis of global education, on new methodologies and approaches to gender equality, migration and poverty as global social and ethical issues.

The TUC-WDWRMEP has participated in the research and formulation of draft documents for conferences and other events at the international, national, regional and local levels (conferences in Iran, Myanmar, Germany, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, etc.), increasingly gaining the quality of a think tank on global water-ecological, social and ethical challenges and problems. The direct involvement of students and young scientists in scientific research at the department contributed to the improvement of their qualifications.

The UNESCO Chair coorganized a Seminar “Our biodiversity - our food and health”, dedicated to the International Day for the Protection of Biodiversity. The seminar was organized jointly with the Legislative Chamber of the Parliament of Uzbekistan and the Ecological Party of Uzbekistan.

The UNESCO Chair members have participated in the International Conference “Water and Ecosystems in the Aral Sea Basin”, organized by the National University of Uzbekistan and the PRC Academy of Sciences (Uzbekistan International Conference on Water and Ecosystem in the Aral Sea Basin (WE – ASB). Members of the Chair made a presentation on the topics:

• Impact of irrigation, climate change and water salinization on fish fauna and fisheries in the Aral Sea and Amu Darya river downstream.
• Actual issues of capacity building and the development of science to solve water and environmental problems in the near Aral Sea zone

The UNESCO Chair participated in the 27th IHP Regional Steering Committee Meeting for Asia and the Pacific 28 October - 1 November 2019, Naypyidaw, with presentation

The UNESCO Chair contributed to the Symposium on Coping with Hydrological Extremes: Floods and Droughts during the 40th General Exhibition on 18th November and on the Digital Exhibition- Drought in the Anthropocene co-organized by UNESCO with NOAA and Grid Arendal with paper on Aral Sea – Conserving and rehabilitating a lost sea.

Following courses for the degree programs at TIIAME national research university are taught by the Chair:

• Basin Water Resources Management and Planning (core course for Water Quality Management graduate degree program)
• National and International Water Rights (elective course for Water Quality Management graduate degree program)
• Environmental Impact Assessment -Water Resources Option - (elective course for Water Quality Management graduate degree program)

Following trainings (short term) were organized (or jointly with different partners) by or where the Chair has participated:

• Regional training workshop on “Water Cooperation in Central Asia” on 20-22 November 2021 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan building up on the successful outcomes of the training workshop “Legal and Institutional Aspects of Water Governance: from the International to the Domestic Perspective” organized by UNESCO International Hydrological Program (IHP) on 6-9 July 2021 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
• Regional workshop on “The Water Initiative of South Asia” in Astana, Kazakhstan - (Exploring the Role of Research in Cooperative Management of Transboundary River Basins, 14th December 2018 - Developing Proposals for Research Opportunities) 
• Nature-Based Solutions for Water – UN WWDR 2018 within framework of International Conference in collaboration with UNESCO representation in Uzbekistan;

International Summer Schools organized on:

• • Water Resources Management: Integration of theory, practice and innovations. 2018 - 2022. Participants: Students of Kazakh-German University coming from 6 countries of the region, Students from Russian Moscow Construction University and TIIAME students
  • Summer Scholl on Water-Energy-Food nexus for PhD students from 8 countries (in collaboration with German Agricultural Research Institute and IWMI)
  • Summer Scholl on Water-Energy-Food nexus for PhD students from 8 countries (in collaboration with German Agricultural Research Institute and IWMI)

TIIAME became member of the University Partnership on Water Cooperation and Diplomacy (UPWCD)

• establishing a comprehensive trans-disciplinary program on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in graduate school-level and         implementing international collaborative researches utilizing existing UNESCO-Sites 
• Establishment of “TIIAME-Model of ESD”, through implementing Graduate-school-level ESD as the first in Uzbekistan
• Expanding international collaborative researches utilizing UNESCO-Sites as the application field
• Strengthening ongoing joint graduate degree program on Water Quality Management
• Offering following graduate degree program core and elective courses:
  • Basin Water Resources Management and Planning
  • National and International Water Rights
  • Environmental Impact Assessment -Water Resources Option –
• Organizing/co-organizing of summer schools, seminars, workshops and conferences on actual water related problems
• Conducting fundamental and applied studies on problems of on-basin and on-farm water resources management.

The UNESCO Chair in the Consortium with partners from Colombia and Ecuador in Latin America, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia as well as from Germany since 2020 is conducting an international project financed by DAAD EXCEED program.  The SDG^nexus Network project aims to establish a blueprint for SDG nexus analysis. We are set out to become a community of practice that explores and implements innovative approaches towards transformative change and builds bridges between science, education and development.

For these purposes, the SDG^nexus Network will follow three objectives:

-Research Framework for the Agenda 2030. It will be established by developing joint research projects, involving in particular young scientists from the beginning;

-Networking Activity promotes collaboration with extramural actors and dissemination of our work through joint projects and by developing various conference and publication formats. We plan to promote entrepreneurial and innovative early-stage researchers by making them part of an Integrated Training Network involving our collaborating partners and other extramural actors from the non-academic sector.

The SDG^nexus Network, consisting of partners from Colombia, Ecuador, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, provides a common research framework related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN) and aims to analyze synergies and trade-offs among individual SDGs (SDG nexus analysis).