UniGe in Tajikistan to train ten Central Asian universities on sustainable development
The training week in Dushanbe
From December 8th to 13th, 2025, a delegation from the University of Genoa, consisting of Enrico Albanesi, professor of Constitutional and Public Law, Johan Augusto Bocanegra Cifuentes, researcher in Industrial Applied Physics, and Angelo Musaio, head of the International cooperation development Sector, visited the Tajik National University in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
The three UniGe representatives participated in a training week involving ten universities from five Central Asian countries (Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan). This initiative was part of the Erasmus+ CBHE project ESGCA – Bridging Environmental Concerns, Societal Needs and Good Governance in Central Asian Education and Employment Sectors, which focuses on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) risk management.
Enrico Albanesi delivered lectures on the legal approach to sustainable development within the European Union and its Member States. Augusto Bocanegra Cifuentes conducted sessions on risk assessment and mitigation methods. Angelo Musaio contributed to a round table discussion regarding the management of sustainable development by higher education institutions.
The round table
The week of lectures concluded with a round table involving various stakeholders and a coordination meeting where several core project topics were addressed. The project is set to enter its second year of activity in 2026. Significant attention was given to the design and development of Master's degree programs across the ten participating Central Asian universities. Discussions covered not only the administrative aspects of accrediting these programs but also, crucially, the joint efforts required to enhance the international dimension of higher education.
Attention was also drawn to the example of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and the Bologna Process, which currently counts Kazakhstan as the only signatory among the Central Asian countries. The seminar established a concrete path for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals, with the hope that this international partnership becomes a model for peaceful collaboration and mutual understanding.
The ESGCA Project and next steps
The Dushanbe event concluded the series of training seminars held in 2025 in Astana (Kazakhstan) and Bukhara (Uzbekistan), which focused on the environmental and social pillars of ESG, respectively. Funded by the EACEA – European Education and Culture Executive Agency, the ESGCA project is coordinated by the University of Genoa in partnership with the Universitatea Lucian Blaga of Sibiu (Romania) and the Slovenska Technicka Univerzita in Bratislava (Slovakia). This partnership consolidates a long-standing and productive cooperation with Central Asian countries initiated in 2006, strengthened by the Erasmus Mundus CANEM project, and now evolved into ESGCA.
Beyond the definition, accreditation, and implementation of pilot courses for Central Asian universities, the next project milestones include in-home training weeks. These sessions will involve the joint participation of EU and partner country faculty across four distinct events to be hosted in Astana, Bishkek, Dushanbe, and Tashkent.
Furthermore, the ESGCA project allocates part of its budget to a structural intervention: the establishment of RICs – Research & Innovation Centers at the ten partner universities, which will be provided with dedicated equipment and resources.
