EKTU Delegation Participates in the CirculEC Project Monitoring Meeting in Tashkent and Signs Cooperation Agreements

On 9 October 2025, a pilot monitoring meeting of the Erasmus+ CBHE project “Development of Innovative Study Programmes and Modules on Circular Economy and Sustainable Development” (CirculEC, Project No. 101129169), funded by the European Commission, was held at Westminster International University in Tashkent (WIUT). The event took place in a hybrid format, bringing together more than 50 faculty members and experts from universities in Central Asia and Europe, and formed part of a series of monitoring visits to universities in four countries of the region that began on 6 October 2025.

The session focused on presenting and assessing the integration of circular economy principles into modules and courses at the bachelor’s, master’s, and lifelong learning (LLL) levels, as well as discussing the role of universities in the region in building competencies for sustainable development. Participants concentrated on designing educational solutions that equip future specialists with the skills to respond to the challenges of the “green” transition and sustainable growth. In turn, the WIUT team presented existing and new modules, showcasing practices for embedding circular economy principles and campus “green” transformation initiatives.

Another block of the agenda addressed strengthening inter-university cooperation between Central Asia and Europe and exchanging experience on piloting the modules. Within the series of monitoring visits, meetings at each host institution are held in a two-day format:

• 6–7 October — Karaganda University of Kazpotrebsoyuz (Kazakhstan);
• 9–10 October — Westminster International University in Tashkent and Central Asian University (Uzbekistan);
• 13–14 October — Tajik State University of Commerce (Tajikistan);
• 10–13 November — Turkmen State Institute of Economics and Management and Turkmen State Institute of Finance (Ashgabat, Turkmenistan).

An important outcome of the meeting was the signing between WIUT and EKTU of a Memorandum of Understanding and an agreement on implementing a PhD training programme in the field of Management. The agreements expand opportunities for academic mobility, joint research, and the co-development of educational modules, and they establish additional mechanisms for training personnel for the “green” transformation of Central Asia’s economy.

The CirculEC project, for which EKTU is the grant holder, aims to develop innovative interdisciplinary modules on the circular economy for existing bachelor’s and master’s programmes, as well as programmes of continuing education. The consortium unites 11 universities from Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan) and 3 European universities. More than 1,100 students are expected to be trained through the introduction of 27 new modules and the renewal of a further 27 study programmes. EKTU is using the monitoring results to update its own curricula, expand partnership formats, and serve as a driving force for embedding circular-economy principles into the educational landscape of East Kazakhstan and the country as a whole.