From 21 to 23 October 2025, a workshop on the joint development of a handbook on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and a certification course for future water resource managers took place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The event was organized by the Department of Geoecology and the Department of Geography Education at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg with the support of the regional program ‘Climate-sensitive Water Resources Management in Central Asia‘, implemented by GIZ.
The workshop was held in cooperation with representatives of partner universities from Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Over three days of intensive collaboration, participants reviewed the progress achieved so far, refined the structure of the certification course, and presented individual textbook chapters prepared by the respective partners for discussion.
A key focus of the workshop was the introduction and practical application of modern, subject-specific teaching and learning methods, presented by Prof. Lindau and Dr. Ulbricht from MLU’s Department of Geography Education. In this context, Mr. Alisher Saidmukhtorov, Director of the Research Institute for Political Processes, Diplomacy, and Globalization in Tajikistan, demonstrated the use of ‘Kahoot!’, an interactive platform that transforms quizzes and surveys into engaging learning experiences for educational and professional training.
The methods presented were enthusiastically received by all participants and will serve as a foundation for the upcoming certification course.
All partners emphasized the importance of increasing awareness about water availability and distribution challenges caused by climate change and the need to strengthen and professionalize transboundary water resource management through solid, subject-specific education.
