Articles
Participatory stakeholder approaches to and systemic thinking in agricultural production and resource use in Central Asia
Henryk Alff
Rural development across the Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) is predominantly shaped by top-down decision-making in which powerful state bodies take centre stage.
Group Model Building with Rural Youth for Social Ecological Systems in Karakalpakstan
Robert Willard, Muzaffar Ismailov
This study offers an original contribution by applying GMB with youth in the Aral Sea region to examine how local perceptions of water and land degradation can inform resilience strategies, while also exploring the role of solastalgia in shaping human–nature relations. Workshops were conducted with 53 high school students in Janbasqala to collaboratively map factors affecting water quality and access, using the Social Ecological Systems (SES) framework as the guiding theoretical lens. Preliminary findings suggest that addressing current farming practices and water consumption trends requires multi-faceted interventions. In this context, GMB functioned not only as a research tool but also as a platform for training youth in systems thinking and enabling them to identify causal relationships and feedback loops shaping their everyday environmental challenges. The findings support the viability of GMB for environmental education and capacity-building in resource-constrained rural settings. Socially, the process fostered ecological awareness and cohesion among participants, helping them articulate pathways for community-based adaptation and innovation. The resulting mappings also indicated broader trends of solastalgia negatively influencing the adaptability of the SES.
Mestre Irene
This paper examines how local-level actors in Kyrgyzstan’s community-based pasture governance system have organised themselves to influence knowledge generation and policy-making.
Alff, H., Spies, M., Zakirova, A.
The present article concisely reviews the outputs of a transdisciplinary research with the active engagement of local farmers aimed to enhance understanding of human wellbeing factors, provisioning of eco- and social system services, as well as risks and threats to social-ecological environment and strategies to tackle them.
Henryk Alff
In this contribution, the author scrutinises his observations from co-facilitating and observing a participatory scenario-building exercise based on the Resilience Framework methodology in a steppe area of Western Kazakhstan.
Murat Zhumashev & Mestre Irene
This paper explores the establishment and governance of Baiboosun, the first community-led micro-reserve in Kyrgyzstan integrating biodiversity conservation and sustainable pasture management in mountain ecosystems.
Sergey Gulyayev
In Central Asia, participatory stakeholder approaches and citizen engagement in self-governance have been so far applied rather sporadically. This brief essay thematizes the lessons learnt from executing multiple projects in this field of participation in the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK) over more than two decades.
Ankit Garg, Sai Krishna Akash Ramineni, Neelima Satyam, Askar Zhussupbekov
Soil salinity in Central Asia negatively impacts soil structure, leading to degradation and reduced water infiltration. This not only hampers agricultural productivity but also makes the land less suitable for construction due to its high susceptibility to deformation.
Alisher Mirzabaev, Yessengali Oskenbayev, Alisher Sansyzbayev
Land restoration in Kazakhstan plays a pivotal role in addressing both climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation.
Balzhan Azibek, Andrii Biloshchytskyi, Mohammad Alhuyi Nazari, Nurkhat Zhakiyev
Energy consumption and shares of different types of energy sources in the total energy supply play a critical role in CO2 emissions in various countries.
Belyy A.
Energy efficiency represents a key factor in building design and operation. In the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK), where buildings occupy the first place (43%) in terms of energy consumption, the residential sector plays an important role, especially considering its cold climate with long winters.
Shovkat Kholdorov, Zafarjon Jabbarov, Catalina Garcia, Bakhrom Jobborov, Nuriddin Samatov
This study has examined Uzbekistan’s environmental assessment framework, focusing on the challenges impeding Strategic Environmental Assessment implementation, as well as how international practices and pilot initiatives can guide the establishment of a robust and sus-tainable domestic SEA system.
Moye Eric Kongnso
As any other Sub-Saharan country, Chad is highly vulnerable to climate variability and change. This research aimed to examine climate change communication pathways and the extent to which they have transformed and strengthened adaptive capacities of farmers based on the case of Mont Illi in Chad.
Kamalbek Karymshakov, Dastan Aseinov
Environmental practices by private businesses are important for transiting to green economy.
Susan Legro
Countries in Central Asia, which are highly vulnerable to climate change, experience a variety of health-related impacts to which they must adapt. At the same time, climate mitigation interventions in the health sector in the form of reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions may also generate co-benefits.
Hans Holzhacker, Botagoz Rakisheva
In July-August, 2023, CAREC Institute, Public Opinion Research Institute, and Asian Development Bank Institute conducted a sociological survey on household energy use in the Fergana Valley spanning over the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Aliya Tskhay, Nazilya Kulpeshova
Recycling is one of the key components in reduction of carbon emissions and improving environmental conditions, especially in the urban context. In Central Asia, the legislation and infrastructure necessary for waste management is still under development.
Nina Miholjcic-Ivkovic
Central Asia is considered a region highly vulnerable to climate change impact and susceptible to climate-induced migration.
Sergey Vassilyev, Galym Iskakov
The study aimed to evaluate the economic and financial viability of a coal mine methane (CMM) utilization project in Central Kazakhstan, demonstrating a methodology for similar initiatives.
Trofimov G.G., Nasirov T.Kh., Khamidov Sh.V.
This research has aimed to investigated the environmental aspects of the further development of energy systems in Central Asia (CA) based on traditional and renewable energy (RE).
Maksim Kulikov, Evgenii Shibkov, Erkin Isaev, Azamat Azarov, Roy Sidle
Understanding forest phenology is essential for monitoring global carbon budgets and managing vegetation resources in a changing climate. In southern Kyrgyzstan, walnut and wild apple trees dominate the forest landscape.
Borissova Yu. S.
Climate change processes are occurring on a global scale, accompanied by the emission of substantial greenhouse gas quantities into the atmosphere, with carbon monoxide and dioxide as their predominant components.
Saniya Akhmetova, Svetlana Polyakova, Kassym Duskayev, Aleksandr Chigrinets
Water resource vulnerability in urbanized areas due to the impact of climatic factors manifests a complex and urgent challenge, assessing which is of great scientific, social, and applied significance.
Ankit Garg , Bharat Rattan, Sreedeep Sekhara
Soil desiccation is an important process that happens mainly in semi-arid regions especially in Central Asia. Soil desiccation leads to higher loss of moisture at shallower depths and also deeper penetration of water, which ultimately reduces water availability and hence impacts the growth of plants for the application of agriculture and green infrastructures. Therefore, minimizing soil desiccation will help maintain higher water availability for plants for agricultural productivity and green infrastructure in Central Asian Region.
Christopher Conrad, Gerd Schmidt, Maira Kussainova
The increasing demand for food, bioenergy and other agricultural products, as well as the intensification of climate change, pose special challenges for Central Asia’s agricultural sector in terms of implementing sustainable land management.
Kalashnikova O., Nurbacina A., Niyazov J.
The investigation of climate and hydrological changes, encompassing the assessment of flood hazard, as well as flood prevention and forecasting capacities, took place in the Zhabay Riv-er Basin.
Marat Karatayev
In transitional countries with arid climates, water stress is rising as the demand for water rises with population, economic growth, and intensive development of agriculture and energy and change in climate environment.
Arsen Tleppayev, Saule Zeinolla
This study aims to identify the relationship between CO2 emissions and economic growth to assess the influence on climate change.
Rahat Sabyrbekov, Indra Overland
Climate change poses a formidable threat to the Central Asian region, exacerbating preexisting vulnerabilities and necessitating enhanced adaptation efforts.
A. Eralieva
The UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include an extensive range of targets. This research aimed to analyze the current state of SDG9 in the countries under consideration, identify unresolved issues, and propose priority development avenues.
Temirbek S. Bobushev
From 1990 until today, diversification and in some cases a sharp decline of industrial production in Kyrgyzstan have not been properly accompanied by proactive planning and/or management strategies.
T.I. Sultonova, U.A. Ulugov
The article aims to trigger the discussion on one of the most pressing issues of modern power-related legislation extremely important for the further development of the power sector of the Republic of Tajikistan and other states possessing significant hydropower potential. In particular, the article raises the problem of the unsoundness of the generally recognized perception of large-scale hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) as not belonging to renewable sources of energy.
U. Ulugov, T. Sultanova, B. Sharipov, F. Azizov
In 2021-2022, with the support of the Pure Land public international organization the Peshsaf Public Association launched the project to investigate the content of toxic metals in consumer goods in Tajikistan’s large cities, mainly focusing on lead.
Aislu Taisarinova
This research aimed to identify the implementation level of Task 9.1 (Sustainable Development Goal 9) in the Republic of Kazakhstan.