Project 561775-EPP-1-2015-1-DE-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP Trans-Regional Environmental Awareness for Sustainable Usage of Water Resources

(TREASURE-WATER)

Bringing high school in line with the specific demands of society is of strategic importance for Russia, Kazakhstan and the European Union. The "Trans-Regional Environmental Awareness for Sustainable Usage of Water Resources" project overcame a rigorous competitive selection process of the European Commission and was one of the 13 approved projects with Russia as a partner. The project consortium received an "Erasmus+" programme grant to the amount of 996,500 Euros for its implementation. The project is dedicated to solving an urgent problem – improving coordination between the two border countries, Russia and Kazakhstan, in the field of transboundary water management through the development of inter-institutional partnerships.

Underlying  the project is the need to modernize and improve the professional competence in both countries in accordance with the needs of international, national and regional labour markets, improving the quality of training of graduates, as well as addressing the key issues of sustainable development and safety of border regions with a shared water use. This project will unite the efforts of universities and companies in Russia, Kazakhstan, Germany, Great Britain, Greece and the Netherlands.

The Goal of the Project is to contribute to quality improvement of higher education and capacity building of institutions of higher education in Russia and Kazakhstan by strengthening the educational partnership between universities and enterprises in the sphere of management of transboundary water resources, based on regionally-specific  national and European standards.

Duration: 3 years

Co-ordinators:

For the EU:

Prof. Dr. Ralf Reski, Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg (Germany)

Prof. Dr. Edgar Wagner, Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg (Germany)

For Partner countries Russia and Kazakhstan:

Dr. G. Telegina, PhD, Director of the Regional Institute for International Cooperation at the Tyumen State University

For Russia: Dr. N. Zherebyatyeva, Instuitute for Earth at the Tyumen State University

For Kazakhstan: Dr. Raihan R. Beisenova, Head of the Chair of Management and Engineering, Eurasian National University named after L.N. Gumilev

Partners: 

1.  Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg (Germany) (the project coordinator and the EU subcontractor)
   
2. Tyumen State University, Tyumen (Russia) (non-EU partner coordinator)
3. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
4. University of Athens (Greece)
5. Radboud University, Nijmegen (The Netherlands)
6. University of Wolverhampton (UK)
7. Altai State University, Barnaul (Russia)
8. Tomsk State University, Tomsk (Russia)
9. Yugra State University, Khanty-Mansiisk (Russia)
10. East-Kazakhstan  State University,   Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan)
11. Eurasian National University, Astana (Kazakhstan)
12. Institute for Water and Ecology Problems, Barnaul (Russia)
13. Zweckverband Bodensee-Wasserversorgung (Germany)
14. Tyumen Municipal Company Vodokanal LLC, Tyumen (Russia)

Tyumen State University has been cooperating with the British University of Wolverhampton and the Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg since 2000 in the field of ecology and water management, initiating and implementing three large international European Tempus projects during this time: "Restructuring teaching at Universities subjects related to environmental protection", "Security of Water Resources through Educational Exchange", "Qualifications Framework for Ecology and Environmental Management" (with a total budget of 1.97 million Euros). TSU faculties and institutes of natural sciences were the beneficiaries of these projects.

International cooperation will continue in the new project with the aim to strengthen cooperation between universities, enterprises and other social institutions of Western Siberia, Altai and Kazakhstan, in order to preserve the priceless natural resource - clean water in the basin of the Ob and Irtysh rivers, having a catchment area of 2,972,000 km². In conditions of a high anthropogenic load on nature (intensive development of mineral resources, agricultural growth, industrial development, the growing public utilities, etc.) it is particularly important to develop reliable cross-border cooperation in the field of water management.

The Objectives of the Project:

1. Creation of a dynamic model of cooperation between universities, enterprises and other social institutions in the field of transboundary water management.
2. Modernization of educational resources and professional retraining of academic staff on the basis of an interdisciplinary approach to sustainable water use.
3. Strengthening the capacity of businesses related to the management of transboundary water resources through the development of effective methodological tools and training courses.
4. Introduction of new modules and courses based on the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) in the professional training of specialists in the indicated direction.
5. Creation and equipping of coordination and resource centres in all university- partners.
6. Quality control of developed programmes.
7. Wide dissemination of positive experience of the project.

Project Activities:

1. Consultations with relevant professional and administrative structures in order to create a dynamic model of cooperation between universities, enterprises and other social institutions in the field of transboundary water management.
2. Round tables and workshops in the indicated sphere.
3. Retraining courses for teachers of the institutions participating in the project, with the involvement of experts from the European members of the consortium.
4. Development and publication of new teaching materials.
5. A programme of academic mobility for members of the consortium.
6. Creation of a project web site.
7. Project management activities.

The objectives of the new Erasmus + project are based on the achievements of previous European projects. The project will contribute to the development of universities in the following areas:

• Improvement of the training quality of graduates, enhancement of their competitiveness in the labour market and the level of their congruity with social and environmental needs of the region;

• Internationalization through the modernization of curricula and exchange of knowledge;

• Development of innovative integrated approaches to solving social and environmental problems through cross-border cooperation.

Presentation of the project (Power Point document)