The Green Deal of the European Union stems from the realization that climate change and environmental degradation are an existential threat to Europe and the world. Climate change hits the water sector of Central Asia particularly hard: per capita water availability may reach water scarcity levels of less than 1,000 m³ per person by 2040. A better managed water sector could play a crucial role in the sustainable and green recovery of the region. It could provide a solid basis for economic growth, prosperity and the reduction of social, economic and environmental inequalities. Building human capacity is the first, indispensable step towards achieving economic and environmental sustainability of the water sector. A comprehensive review of water-related academic and research capacity in Central Asia, prepared in 2019 by the World Bank with support by the European Union underlined the need for increasing the quality of curricula content, faculty members, research, innovation and international cooperation. In the framework of the project 5 HEIs from the EU and 11 from Central Asia will cooperate to increase the relevance, quality and responsiveness of MA/MSc curricula on water governance and water diplomacy offered by the latter. Teaching staff of Central Asian universities will receive training in the new curricula. The new programmes, inspired by European best practices and adapted to regional conditions and requirements will help train a new generation of experts, prepared to tackle the challenges faced by the water sector. Increased mobility and the development of a regional programme for continuous training and research support will guarantee sustainability of results. The new, modernized courses would increase the employability of and open up attractive career opportunities for graduates.

The relations to Central Asia are an important element of the changing transatlantic and geopolitical setting the EU is currently facing. They are influenced by the role the rest of Asia and other world powers play in the region, which the EU has to take into consideration while focusing on its comparative advantages. The main objectives of SEnECA are to strengthen and energize EU-Central Asia relations by establishing a sustainable, transdisciplinary SEnECA Research Network and the SEnECA Stakeholder Network to link European and Central Asian researchers, policy makers and stakeholders in order to improve research cooperation to develop a common SEnECA Agenda for Future Research Cooperation and EU’s Central Asia policy by setting up the SEnECA Policy Roadmap. The SEnECA Communication Plan for dissemination and awareness-raising will promote the importance of Central Asia to Europe among scholars, policy-makers, stakeholders in education, media, civil society and the EU public sphere notably through the SEnECA Exhibition. SEnECA will thus ultimately strengthen capacities in research and policy advice through the SEnECA Academic Policy Advice Training. Within two years, twelve consortium members from think tanks, universities and NGOs in Europe and Central Asia build on their Trans-European and Central Asian network with research institutions in 41 European, Central Asian and other Asian countries. Through its activities, SEnECA maps existing networks of researchers of Central Asian Studies in Europe and European Studies in Central Asia and key actors in education and media active in EU-Central Asia relations to analyse research cooperation, policies and communication on Central Asia to set up the SEnECA Research Database which forms the basis for recommending priorities and new forms of scientific cooperation following the “blended research” approach and demand-driven policy advice based on an inclusive approach to EU policy-makers and stakeholders active in EU-Central Asia relations.