Water is considered a fundamental resource to ensure future sustainable and inclusive economic growth; while access to water is vital as a basic human right. And we view young water leaders as future decision-makers, who are going to influence development of both the Central Asian region and beyond. Thereby, we aim the summer school to become a tool to empower and inspire youth to choose nature-based solutions when addressing environmental challenges.
The First Aral Sea summer school
Date: August 10 – 18, 2019
Venue: Almaty, Kyzylorda, Aralsk
Objectives
• Expand knowledge of future water leaders in the field of nature-based solutions and promote dialogue between the youth and civil society;
Official program of the Summer school included field trips around the Aral Sea Basin and thematic trainings from experts from Central Asia, Germany and Japan, the opening and closing parts of the event were hosted by the Kazakh-German University (DKU) in Almaty. During the free hours participants had a chance to get acquainted with the lives and cultural habituation of locals, share findings from the world’s youngest desert – Aralkum, and camping in the wilderness between the sea and desert.
Among the main topics covered in details during the expert sessions and discussions were:
- Water security and cooperation;
- Innovative approach to IWRM;
- Youth empowerment for Water.
The topics have been structured to develop a better understanding of transboundary and regional cooperation, as well as discover potential of youth for water and peace
Field trips lasted for 6 days and included visiting places of interest of Aral region. In addition, every day on Aral Sea was endowed with its own agenda. Topics to mark are conservation agriculture, climate change adaptation approaches and DRR. In this regard, field lectures were conducted by international experts participating in the event. The stay of the summer school participants in Kyzylorda and field trips around the Aral Sea Basin were organized in cooperation with the “Barsakelmes” State Nature Reserve.
You can also watch a short film from our school here
The full program of the summer school can be downloaded here