Target Awareness Raising for Enhanced European Union – Central Asia Partnership

The Central Asian region, comprising Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan is characterized by a unique geographical location, links Europe and Asia, and plays a significant geopolitical role.  

The Central Asian states are extremely vulnerable to changes in shared ecosystems on which they also significantly depend. The current environmental situation in Central Asia demands urgent solutions in the areas of water resources management, energy efficiency, environmental management and integration. Raising awareness on these issues is a key precondition of proper application and performance of environmental management systems. 

To a substantial degree, awareness-raising is linked with the expansion of regional cooperation and partnership within the framework of the EU strategy for its new partnership with Central Asia (CA). The project is aimed at raising awareness of 4 target groups in Central Asian countries, including state officials, civil society, private sector and Mass Media representatives. These efforts are associated with the ongoing interventions of the European Union in Central Asia, which additionally promotes and distributes project outcomes. 

Overall objective: To build the capacity of all stakeholders as to the development and implementation of a comprehensive awareness-raising program based on the 3-component goal: 

• To focus interventions on a limited number of urgent environmental issues of special importance for the Central Asian region;

• To simultaneously cover all 3 civil (civil society, private and public) sectors, thus, creating a synergy between them and maximizing the efficiency of investment, and

• To coordinate project awareness-raising activities with the ongoing interventions of the EU in Central Asia and, thereby, establish a platform to apply their results and ensure the widest possible distribution of corresponding project results.

• To raise awareness on return and reused water application to eliminate in water resources management;

• To expand opportunities for cooperation between the EU and CA on environmental management issues by way of raising awareness on the most effective and applicable practices such as the shared environmental information system (SEIS);

• To engage the private sector by raising its awareness on sustainable production and consumption (UPC) and energy efficiency (EE) as important elements of public-private partnerships (PPP).

• Increased awareness of authorized agencies and the public on project issues and cooperation opportunities between the European Union and Central Asia;

• Establishment of the regional Green Business Club;

• Engagement of the private sector through joint pilot activities;

• Establishment of a network of “green” Mass Media outlets for regular coverage of project-related issues.

Project manager – Ms. Arailym Shulgauova

E-mail: ashulgauova@carececo.org

Tel.: +7 727 265 43 33 (ext. 180)