On Tuesday, February 7, 2023, a panel of distinguished scholars and experts will meet to discuss a wide range of environmental and climate issues. China & Central Asia Studies Center (CCASC) is organizing this academic dialogue in collaboration with the American Councils for International Education and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), with the support of the US Consulate General in Almaty.

Format:
The morning session begins at 10:45 a.m. From 11 to 11:15 welcome remarks will be delivered by the Consul General of the United States in Almaty and the Dean of the College of Social Sciences at KIMEP University. Scholarly presentations will follow with 20 minutes of presentation and 10 minutes of discussion allocated to each topic. There will be a lunch and coffee break from 12:45 to 13:30 between the morning and afternoon sessions.

Participation:
The format of the event is in-person only, and participation is open to all interested parties. If you are interested to join the discussion and would like to reserve a seat, write to us via email.

Dr. Jennifer Turner has served as Director of the Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum for 23 years. She is a widely-quoted expert on U.S.-China environmental cooperation, as well as climate-related challenges and governance issues in China.

Dr. Turner is currently on a short visit from the United States to Almaty, and the title of her talk scheduled for 11:15 to 11:45 is: "Choke Point China: Confronting Water Scarcity and Energy Demand in the World’s Largest Country".

Dr. Kristopher White is an economic geographer and Associate Professor at KIMEP University. For about two decades, he has worked extensively on human geography and human-environment interrelationships across the region, and more recently, the Aral Sea, the Aral Sea crisis, regional economies of the Aral Sea basin, and regional nature-society linkages. 

Dr. White's presentation, "China, Kazakhstan, and a Transboundary Wildlife Resource: The Case of Panthera uncia," is scheduled for 11:45 to 12:15 during the morning session.

Dr. Larissa Kogutenko is the coordinator of the Water and Climate program at Kazakh-German University's Center for Natural Resources and Sustainability. Her primary research interests are in Central Asian climate change and its effects on water resources and ecosystems. She has written and co-written a number of articles on glacier degradation in the Tien-Shan Mountains and other parts of Central Asia.
Dr. Kogutenko will present a talk titled "Country Climate Development Report: Recommendations for Water, Rangelands, and Cropland" from 12:15 to 12:45.

Dr. Rafis Abazov has more than 20 years of teaching, researching, and managing experience at Columbia University, John Hopkins, Al Farabi KazNU, and KazNARU universities. He has published extensively and is currently a Professor as well as Director of the International Institute for Green and Sustainable Development and founding director of the MBA program at KazNARU.
His presentation, titled "Sustainable Development Goals and green campus project: The case of KazNARU in knowledge/research transfer from academia to organizations," is scheduled for 13:30 to 14:00 in the afternoon session.

Mr. Yernazar Kumar is a PhD candidate in KIMEP University's Public & Municipal Administration Program. He has written on environmental issues such as environmental awareness, eco-activism, environmental policy, and eco-tourism.

During the afternoon session, he will deliver a presentation titled "Analysis of environmental awareness aspects in Kazakhstan using EAS, EEV, and EAI models" from 14:00 to 14:30.

Mrs. Ekaterina Gorshkova works as a coordinator at the Environmental Lab in Kazakh-German University. Her primary scientific interests are climate change and Central Asian water resources, and she has taken part in a number of regional and international events concerning natural resources and climate change.
Ekaterina is currently leading projects utilizing NEXUS and IWRM approaches, as well as actively establishing collaboration with environmental NGOs, and will deliver a presentation on "Universities Sustainable lifestyle: DKU experience" from 14:30 to 15:00 in the afternoon session.