CAREN CC participated at SEnECA Midterm Conference and Scenario Workshop on “EU and Central Asia Relations: Current Trends and Future Prospects” which was held on 29-31 January 2019 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Organised by the Central Asia Institute for Strategic Studies (CAISS) the third event of the Horizon 2020 project SEnECA took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 29-31 January 2019, after a kick off meeting in Berlin in January 2018 and a Networking Conference in Riga in April 2018.
Next to the researchers of the SEnECA consortium, a range of academics, government officials, practitioners and experts from Europe and Central Asia came together to discuss the current state of affairs of EU-Central Asian relations and ways to provide policy recommendations to decision-makers and to engage interested and powerful stakeholders within the new EU Strategy for Central Asia. Ambassador Peter Burian, the EU’s Special Representative for Central Asia, was among the conference participants, which highlights the project’s topicality and political relevance. During the scenario building workshop, the conference participants developed possible scenarios for future EU-Central Asia relations. The scientific exercise does not only allow to identity important drivers and trends in today’s Central Asia, but also to deepen the analytical skills of the conference participants.
Moreover, the conference was a great opportunity for researchers and stakeholders to meet exchange and strengthen the bonds between the two regions. An academic policy advice training enhanced the researchers’ capacities to transfer their research results into policy recommendations towards decision-makers. This is especially important at a moment when the European Union is formulating a new strategy towards Central Asia and is consulting relevant actors with regard to possible focus areas. The strategy is supposed to be finalized in 2019 and SEnECA will impact the strategy through its different project outcomes.
