KORKYT ATA UNIVERSITY – WINNER OF THE EUROPEAN UNION’S ERASMUS+ PROGRAMME

♦️ Korkyt Ata Kyzylorda University, together with the Consortium members, has become a winner of the European Union’s Erasmus+ competition ERASMUS‑EDU‑2025‑CBHE‑STRAND‑2 with the project “101237042 – MECAS: Development of Master’s Degree Programmes in EcoInformatics for Assessing the Impact on the Aral Sea Basin.”

♦️ The project belongs to Strand 2 – Capacity Building in Higher Education (CBHE). Its goal is to develop, pilot, and implement a Master’s programme in Ecoinformatics aimed at addressing the environmental challenges of the Aral Sea region through the use of geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing technologies.

♦️ The three‑year project involves universities from Europe, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan:

- Politecnico di Torino (Italy);

- Universidade da Beira Interior (Portugal);

- OBREAL-GLOBAL OBSERVATORY Association (Spain);

- Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (Kazakhstan);

- Korkyt Ata Kyzylorda University (Kazakhstan);

- Nukus State Technical University (Uzbekistan);

- Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers (Uzbekistan);

- Urgench branch of the Tashkent University of Information Technologies named after Muhammad al-Khwarizmi (Uzbekistan).

♦️ Expected outcomes: development and implementation of a Master’s programme in Ecoinformatics; training of specialists capable of applying GIS and remote sensing technologies; establishment of sustainable academic and research cooperation between the EU, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan; enhancement of graduate employability; attraction of donors and investors to the Aral Sea region.

♦️ The MECAS project is not only a contribution to the advancement of higher education, but also an important step toward a sustainable future for the Aral Sea region.

♦️ We are confident that its implementation will bring significant benefits both to the university and the region as a whole.