On October 20, 2023, the 6th Tashkent Water Security Lecture (TWSL) was held at the National Research University “Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers institute” (TIIAME), Uzbekistan. The TWSL were launched in 2020 in the frame of the Green Central Asia Program as a platform to discuss climate change related problems among different actors (researchers, policy makers and stakeholders). The 6th edition of the event focused on the theme of “Decision Making Support to Improve Water Security Under Climate Change in Central Asia.”
The proceedings commenced with a warm welcome speech from Prof. Baxodir Mirzayev, the Rector of TIIAME, followed by an online greeting from Dr. Oliver Bens, a member of the Executive Board of the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, German Research Centre for Geoscience. Additionally, Ms. Alice Wolken from the German Embassy in Tashkent addressed the gathering, which comprised more than 75 attendees. The event was further graced by a welcome note from Mr. Azim Nazarov, First Deputy Minister from the Ministry of Water Resources of Uzbekistan.
The main segment of the event featured eight insightful talks that shed light on various aspects of water security in Uzbekistan and Central Asia as a whole. These talks delved into a wide array of issues, ranging from the monitoring of water resources and their availability to social aspects such as farmers’ readiness to adopt sustainable practices. The event concluded with a lively panel discussion moderated by Dr. Abror Gafurov. The panelists included Mr. Bakhtiyor Pulatov, a representative from the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change in Uzbekistan; Ms. Caroline Milow from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Tashkent; Ms. Dilorom Fayziyeva from the Legislative Chamber of the “Oliy Majlis” (Parliament) in Uzbekistan; and Prof. Iskandar Abdullaev, a Guest Professor at the Justus Liebig University Giessen, within the framework of the SDGnexus Network Project in Germany.
During the panel discussion, Mr. Bakhtiyor Pulatov elaborated on the bottom-up approach that the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change intends to implement in Uzbekistan. Their strategy primarily focuses on initiatives related to clean energy, recycling, and sustainability. Ms. Dilorom Fayziyeva shared valuable insights into the ongoing and future activities of the Legislative Chamber of the “Oliy Majlis” concerning the topic of water security and climate change. She also emphasized the importance of scientific knowledge in policy making in the field of climate impact on water resources and called for more exchange between scientific community and decision-making level. Ms. Caroline Milow, in her discussion, highlighted the challenges in bridging the gap between scientific research findings and their practical implementation in policy-making processes. Mr. Iskandar Abdullaev shared his valuable experience, as a scientist and at the managerial level, in bringing scientists and policy makers closer together.
A detailed list of presenters and their respective topics can be found in the program on the cawa-project.net events page.
