The IWRM workshop for the joint development of a handbook on integrated water resource management and a certification course for prospective water resource managers took place from 21 to 23 October 2025 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. It was jointly run by the Department of Geoecology and the Department of Didactics of Geography at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and organised by GIZ. The MLU Halle-Wittenberg team consisted of Prof Dr Christopher Conrad, Prof Dr Anne-Kathrin Lindau, Dr Jolina Ulbricht and Matthias Völkel.
The workshop was organised in collaboration with representatives of Central Asian partner universities from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. During the three days of intensive cooperation, the status of work already achieved was reflected upon, the development of the certification course was specified and individual chapters of the textbook, which were written by the respective partners, were put up for discussion.
A particular focus of the event was on the presentation and application of the latest subject-specific teaching and learning methods, which were presented by Prof Lindau and Dr Ulbricht from the Department of Geography Education. In this context, Mr Alisher Saidmukhtorov, Director of the Research Institute of Political Processes, Diplomacy and Globalisation of Tajikistan, presented an application scenario for Kahoot!, an interactive learning platform that turns quizzes and surveys into exciting, playful experiences for schools, adult education and corporate training.
The methods presented were very well received by all partners and will form the basis of the certification course.
All partners reaffirmed the importance of raising awareness of the water availability and distribution problems caused by changing climatic conditions and of intensifying and professionalising transboundary water resource management through sound specialist training. They agreed to further intensify and expand their cooperation on this issue.
