CAWa Green Summer School in 2022 was held under the topic "Linking scientific knowledge of water and land resources management into decision-making support in Central Asia" in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on July 11 – July 20.
Twenty applicants from five Central Asian countries were accepted to participate in the school: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Kyrgyzstan (12 men and 8 women). Nineteen of them passed the summer course of study.
Participants were introduced to innovative methods and tools for the analysis and monitoring of water and land resources in Central Asia. The Summer School was hosted by the Kazakh-German University (DKU) in Almaty with lecturers from the GFZ, Martin Luther University Halle Wittenberg, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), DKU and the Institute of Geography of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The opening ceremony was moderated by Dr Abror Gafurov (GFZ-CAWa Green project lead), followed by in-person speech from the General Consul of Germany, Mr Mario-Ingo Soos, Head of Kazakh political Cooperation Sector, Ms Almasha Arenova, and online speeches from Dr Caroline Milow, Green Central Asia Program Director and Dr Barbara-Janusz Pawletta, DKU vice-president.
As part of the summer school, students were trained in the following programs: R programing, GRACE, GRACE-FO, WUEMoCA, GEE, Jupyter NB Workspace, Basic Python, and Radar Remote Sensing.
Over the course of 10 days, participants were deeply engaged in lectures and exercises, both as individuals and in groups. Interactive activities such as a climate quiz and a final group presentation were included. Additionally, the group took part in a traditional excursion, where they went on a hike to a nearby nature reserve to see a waterfall.
In addition to learning new tools and methods and discovering their practical applications, the students had the opportunity to actively participate in a round table discussion on "Global Food Security on a Global Scale." Dr. Ophelia Nick, the Parliamentary Secretary of State to the German Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture, visited the school, along with representatives from the Department of International Cooperation and World Food, the Department for International Work on expanding cooperation with Eastern Europe, Central and East Asia, and scientists from the Julius Kuhn Federal Research Institute of Cultivated Plants.
