Project description —

The majority of Russian Federation and Kazakhstan agricultural rural areas are characterized by sudden changes in agricultural and nutrition sections. It is caused by privatization, modernization and increasing differences between large agricultural holdings and small private farms. The importance of developing rural areas and the necessity of developing a perspective plan for agricultural land were admitted by both politicians and economists. In connection with this there is a lack of sustainable development strategies and integrated approaches at the regional or local levels. And also there is a lack of modern methods and qualified people for the assessment and the further agro-ecosystem services development which consist not only of agricultural products, but also of environmental and social services. It is necessary to train specialists to adopt theoretical concepts of the development for specific local conditions, access to the (international) experience, to apply modern methods for the agro-ecosystem and the natural resources and to plan the use of the agriculture land and management.

Project Objectives —

- development of a professional master's program in sustainable agriculture and rural development, taking into account the demand for specialists in public services, local and regional governments, private service providers, and businesses

- development and implementation of practice-oriented curricula by three Russian universities from different regions and three universities in northern Kazakhstan, together with partners in local working groups

- local and regional analyses and experiences are enriched and utilized through the building of a knowledge platform on sustainable agriculture and integrative rural development, involving national network partners

- the training of competencies for the agricultural sector and other faculties of education and their interregional network will be strengthened through project activities