16-20th October 2023, UNESCO Office Almaty, Kazakhstan
The International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (ICWRGC), in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), organized a seminar and a series of workshops focused on critical themes including glacier hydrology, data science, and droughts for Central Asia. The event featured notable presentations from a range of esteemed international organizations, including GIZ Tashkent, the German Kazakh University in Almaty, National Water Observation and Forecasting Services of Central Asian States, GFZ Potsdam, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC), International Soil Moisture Network, Global Runoff Data Centre, GEMS/Water Data Centre, IWMI Tashkent, CAREC, Hydromets of Central Asia, and the OUTLAST project team (comprising KIT Karlsruhe, University of Frankfurt, University of Gottingen, and ICWRGC). This comprehensive initiative brought together a diverse community of scientists, researchers, and practitioners to engage in discussions surrounding current knowledge and identify existing data gaps. There was a concerted effort to explore strategies for mutually addressing these gaps in the future. Additionally, specific attention was devoted to local requirements pertaining to environmental data and science. Extensive deliberations took place, and valuable input was gathered to develop robust, targeted tools for addressing droughts in Central Asia, particularly in the context of evolving climate conditions. During the OUTLAST drought workshop, Dr. Muhammad Usman from Martin Luther University delivered a keynote address on drought tool “Droughtmap-ASB” and provided insights into the ongoing activities of Green Central Asia in the region. More detailed information about the drought tool can be seen from https://droughtmap.geo.uni-halle.de/droughtmap.