On February 23, the Kick-off Meeting of the international Erasmus+ CBHE project GreenCA took place at the University of Niš (Univerzitet u Nišu). The project is implemented under the "Capacity Building in Higher Education" (CBHE) strand of the Erasmus+ Programme and is co-funded by the European Union. It will run from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2028.

The project aims to advance sustainable water resources management in Central Asia by modernizing higher education, strengthening cooperation, and integrating principles of the green and circular economy.

The overall objective is to modernize curricula, promote EU-certified programmes, and encourage the adoption of European best practices for long-term sustainability.

The specific objectives of GreenCA are:

1. Develop and implement by 2028 three EU-certified modules on green and circular economy in six Central Asian universities, training a total of 200 students and 50 staff members.
2. Update curricula by incorporating three 5-ECTS modules, integrating five active learning methods, and achieving 60% implementation in programmes by 2028.
3. Establish six digital laboratories and conduct nine practical workshops, train 200 students in entrepreneurship, and launch ten innovative projects by 2028.

4. Certify three modules according to ASIIN standards and harmonize systems in line with the Bologna Process, while training 40 staff members through two workshops by 2028.
5. Improve graduate employability by reducing the average time to first employment by 20% by 2028 through the development of the "science-industry-society" triangle (Triple Helix model), strengthening partnerships, establishing feedback mechanisms (including employer feedback), and engaging 20 key stakeholders.

The project is coordinated by Norges Miljø- og Biovitenskapelige Universitet (Norwegian University of Life Sciences – NMBU, Norway).

The consortium includes:

• Univerzitet u Nišu (Serbia),
• Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie (Poland),
• M. Auezov South Kazakhstan University (Kazakhstan),
• Khoja Akhmet Yassawi International Kazakh-Turkish University (Kazakhstan),
• Mining-Metallurgical Institute of Tajikistan (Tajikistan),
• Tajik Technical University named after Academician M. Osimi (Tajikistan),
• Kyrgyz National University named after Jusup Balasagyn (Kyrgyzstan),
• Kyrgyz State Technical University named after I. Razzakov (Kyrgyzstan),
• Excellent Educational Centre (Kazakhstan).

The three-day event brought together 22 representatives from the project consortium. During the first session, participating organizations presented themselves, their roles, and their contributions to the initiative.

Participants thoroughly discussed the tasks of each of the five work packages:

• Project planning, reporting, and implementation;
• Development of action plans incorporating EU best practices;
• Curriculum modernization and active learning;
• Innovation, entrepreneurship, and employability;
• Impact, dissemination, and quality assurance.

By collaborating with universities and organizations in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan) and Europe (Norway, Poland, Serbia), the GreenCA project seeks to build capacity in sustainable management of water and energy resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.