Researchers from the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences hosted the 8th Tashkent Water Security Forum in Uzbekistan at the end of March. Around 100 participants from 19 nations gathered to learn and discuss the topic “From Knowledge to Action: Enhancing Science and Policy Dialogue for Improved Water Security in Central Asia”. The expert forum was held in Tashkent as part of the “Green Central Asia” collaborative project, funded by the Federal Foreign Office, in cooperation with TIIAME, Uzbekistan’s national research university, and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). The GFZ representatives were Dr Abror Gafurov, Project Manager of the Green Central Asia Programme in GFZ Section 4.4 Hydrology, and Dr Oliver Bens, Head of Operational Management at GFZ and Co-Director of the Central Asian Institute for Applied Geosciences CAIAG in Kyrgyzstan.

Background: Water security in Central Asia

Droughts, heat stress and extreme weather events are significantly altering the water cycle worldwide and have far-reaching consequences for people, the economy and nature. Central Asia is a hotspot for this development. There, water security is a more pressing issue than in Germany, as the water balance is under strain due to the consequences of climate change and the intensive use of water for supplying the population, for agriculture—which relies on large-scale irrigation—and for industrial and power generation purposes. Transboundary river basins such as the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya are therefore of crucial importance for the regional economy and ecosystems. However, their sustainable management requires coordinated, knowledge-based decisions across borders.

The aim of the Tashkent Water Security Forum is to bring together stakeholders from academia, politics and the field to exchange research findings, discuss perspectives and support evidence-based decisions in the areas of regional water management and climate adaptation to address the pressing water challenges in Central Asia.

The theme of the 2026 Forum, “From Knowledge to Action: Enhancing Science and Policy Dialogue for Improved Water Security in Central Asia”, underscores the urgent need to translate scientific findings into actionable policy and joint regional initiatives.
 

The programme can be downloaded here.