IIASA and Kazakhstan strengthen scientific cooperation through new agreement

Signed by IIASA Director General Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber and Minister Sayasat Nurbek, the agreement follows their meeting on the sidelines of the Regional Ecological Summit in Astana in April 2026, where they discussed opportunities for scientific cooperation and capacity development. The MoU provides a framework for collaborative research and educational initiatives, with an emphasis on environmental sciences and sustainable development. It also paves the way for academic exchanges through the Bolashak international scholarship program, providing for visiting fellowships and scientific internships in these and other areas.

The agreement builds on decades of cooperation between IIASA and Kazakhstan, including Kazakhstan’s former associate membership of the Institute during the late 1990s and early 2000s, represented by the Ministry of Science and the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan at that time. A recent highlight is the report Carbon Farming in Kazakhstan: Unlocking the Opportunity, developed with Kazakh and international partners. The report explores how carbon farming could help restore degraded land, enhance carbon sequestration, and generate additional income for farmers and rural communities through improved agricultural productivity and carbon credit sales, while identifying opportunities and barriers to implementation in Kazakhstan.

Water governance is also becoming an important focus of the partnership, aligning with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s initiative to establish an international water organization. At the Regional Ecological Summit in Astana in April 2026, Schellnhuber contributed to the high-level roundtable on this initiative, calling for an integrated, science-informed approach that recognizes the connections between water, climate, ecosystems, and society. This engagement builds on IIASA’s research on regional water security, including its leadership of the World Bank-funded Water Security Initiative for Europe and Central Asia and contributions to the report A Blueprint for Resilience: Charting the Course for Water Security in Europe and Central Asia. Through this work, IIASA developed and tested a methodology for assessing water security at national and regional levels and identifying priorities for action.

Looking ahead, the partnership offers opportunities to translate shared ambitions into joint action, from emerging carbon farming initiatives in the Abai Region to IIASA’s contribution to the debate on global water governance in support of Kazakhstan’s international water agenda. The MoU and prospective exchanges through the Bolashak program provide a foundation for broader engagement across areas of mutual interest.