From January 20 to 24, the first meeting of the partners of the project "Bridging Environmental Concerns, Social Needs and Good Governance in Central Asian Education and Employment Sectors" (ESGCA), implemented under the Erasmus+ program of the European Union, was held in Genoa, Italy.  

The meeting was attended by representatives of higher education institutions from participating countries and partner organizations of the ESGCA project from Romania, Slovakia, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.  

At the invitation of the University of Genoa—the coordinator of this project—delegates from the International Oil and Gas University named after Yagshygeldi Kakayev and the State Energy Institute of Turkmenistan took part in the event.  

During the meeting, participants discussed the structure of the project and its implementation stages, as well as the development of a strategy for introducing master's programs and innovative solutions.  

Presentations on Turkmen universities and their work within the framework of the project were delivered by Gadam Akmyradov, a representative of the State Energy Institute of Turkmenistan, and Maksat Churiyev, a representative of the International Oil and Gas University named after Yagshygeldi Kakayev.  

As part of the meeting, a preliminary version of the ESGCA project website was prepared and published at. It includes materials and photographs from the meeting as well as information about the universities participating in the project.  

The project coordinators presented participants with an action plan for developing and implementing an ESG master's program, which will be launched in the near future. It was also announced that special training courses and seminars for specialists involved in ESG development would be held in Romania and Slovakia.  

It is worth noting that the ESGCA project was launched on December 1, 2024, and is designed for three years. The main goal of the project is to strengthen regional cooperation with Central Asian states, particularly through joint activities in effective environmental management, social support, training specialists in these areas, developing and improving educational programs, promoting scientific research and innovation, and analyzing labor market needs for specialists.