MSRI
The Mountain Societies Research Institute (MSRI) conducts Research for Development with the aim of improving the well-being of mountain societies in Central Asia. It also serves as a knowledge hub for scholars, development practitioners, and policy makers, and helps to build regional capacities through mentorship and trainings. MSRI is situated within the Graduate School of Development at the University of Central Asia, and is most closely affiliated with the Earth & Environmental Sciences major within UCA’s School of Arts & Sciences.
MSRI’s current/recent projects include the following:
Over-arching and cross-cutting projects
- World Mountain Forum 2018 (WMF 2018), co-hosted by MSRI/UCA and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic; see the IISD summary report of WMF 2018, as well as photos of WMF 2018 and photos of the Youth Mountain Forum 2018 co-hosted with UNICEF Kyrgyzstan
- Promoting Sustainable Mountain Development for Global Change (SMD4GC) (2013-18), under SDC’s Mountains Program
- Adaptive governance of mountain ecosystem services for poverty alleviation, enabled by environmental virtual observatories (or ESPA Mountain-EVO project)
- UCA’s Learning Landscapes Initiative
Natural Resources Management & Food Systems
- Addressing Climate Change in Afghanistan through Sustainable Energy and Ecosystem Management, funded by European Union, implemented with WCS and GIZ (2018-22)
- Thrive Tajikistan: Enhanced Integrated Socio-Economic Development for Men, Women, Boys, and Girls in Khatlon and GBAO (under umbrella of USAID-supported Tajikistan Transformed: Feeding the Future)
- Pathways to Innovation: Strengthening Mathematics, Science & Economic Policy in Afghanistan and Central Asia (IDRC and AKF Canada) (2017-20)
- Analysis and sustainable utilization of the nutritional potential and secondary plant compounds in underutilized plant species of walnut-fruit forests of Kyrgyzstan (or Sustainable Walnut Food | SusWalFood project)
- Potato Production Support and Research to Improve Food Security in Khatlon, Tajikistan (Phase II) (CIP) (2016-19)
- Remote Sensing for Food Security (RS4FS) project, under the USAID-supported MIAD Global Development Alliance’s Integrated Development for Quality of Life in Afghanistan project (2017)
- Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) in the Pamirs project, under the USAID-supported MIAD Global Development Alliance’s Integrated Development for Quality of Life in Afghanistan project (2017)
Social Dynamics, Transformations, Resilience
- Migration governance and agricultural & rural change in ‘home’ communities: comparative experience from Europe, Asia and Africa (AGRUMIG; starting Feb 2019), led by School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London
- Resilience to climate-related shocks and stressors in Kyrgyzstan: Developing resilience indicators to predict well-being, under the Pathways to Resilience in Semi-Arid Economies (PRISE) project
- The impact of migration and remittances on natural resources in Tajikistan, CIFOR
- Promoting Social Cohesion and Conflict Mitigation along the Kyrgyz-Tajik Border (US Institute for Peace)
- Improving Stability and Better Natural Resources Management in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (CSSF)
Environmental Monitoring, Conservation of Biodiversity
- Building Synergies between People and Nature through Mountain PAs in Central Asia (PSAKFE) (2018)
- Paleoclimate, Environmental Change and Social Interaction in Central Asia – Linking Citizen and Institutional Science (PALESCA)
- Hindukush – Karakoram – Pamir Landscape (HKPL) Transboundary Conservation Initiative (Tajik component) (2016-17)
- Kyrgyz Mountains Environmental Education and Citizen Science (KMEECS) project, supported by IDRC (2016-17)
Mountain Hazards & Disaster Risk Management
- Disaster Risk Management Summer School, under SDC-supported Creating Opportunities in a Safe Environment (COSE-II) (2017)