ALMATY – The Kazakh National University of Water Resources and Irrigation (KazNUVHI) in Taraz has partnered with Hungary’s Corvinus University to launch a joint master’s program in water resource management with a focus on water diplomacy.
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The European Commission awarded a €60,000 Erasmus Mundus Design Measure grant in August to a consortium of three European and four Central Asian universities, including KazNUVHI, to design an integrated joint master’s program in water management and diplomacy, reported the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation on Sept. 11.
The consortium will hold its first meeting in Budapest at the end of October, where experts will begin developing the program. Over the next 15 months, the group will prepare a comprehensive proposal for submission to the European Commission.
When approved, the program will be launched with a budget of €5 million in a six-year implementation period. The consortium will also discuss the creation of a Joint Center for Water Resource Management and Water Diplomacy, with its headquarters at KazNUVHI in Taraz.
“The joint master’s program will introduce the latest concepts in the shared management of transboundary water resources, such as benefit-sharing, theories of international cooperation, the political economy of water, and conflict analysis,” said KazNUVHI Rector Kamshat Tusupova.
The initiative supports President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s call to prepare qualified specialists in this strategic field. It also includes the establishment of new research schools at KazNUVHI, covering areas such as water resource engineering, water supply and sanitation, agricultural water and irrigation systems, hydrology, ecology and environment, architecture and logistics, energy, public policy and management.
Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Nurzhan Nurzhigitov emphasized the importance of building human capital in the water sector.
“Today 2,500 students are studying in water-related specialties, and the number of students completing internships at water management enterprises has increased from 82 to 450 in 2025. In addition, domestic universities are introducing programs to train specialists in water diplomacy,” he said.
