Central Asia & Russia

The Central Asian and Russian development highly depends on water resources and dry steppes cover a vast area. Although some of those steppes function as the Eurasian breadbasket, many of these lands have been abandoned after the collapse of the Soviet Union with strong impacts on land-use, agricultural production, water availability and the storage of GHGs. To cope with these challenges, capacity building and implementing risk transfer mechanism can support a resilient economic development.

Our Work in the Region

On the one hand, land-use change and climate change in the dry steppes of Russia and adjacent countries caused concern about intensifying erosion in an area, which is highly important for food production. On the other hand, these sensitive steppes hold the potential for carbon storage in the soil and vegetation and therefore play a vital role in climate change mitigation. Sustainable land management strategies and erosion control in agricultural production foster the economic value of these ecosystems and help to mitigate climate change and adapt to its adverse effects.

Selected Ongoing Projects

  • AQUASIA Advancing Hydrological Modeling for Improved Water Availability Forecasts in Central Asia; funded by GIZ; 15.12.2023-31.12.2025; contact: I. Didovets
  • CWEH Usbekistan Climate change, renewable energy potential and population health in Uzbekistan; funded by BMBF, PT DLR; 01.12.2022-30.11.2024; contact: I. Didovets
  • GVCA Green Vision Central Asia: bridging science and capacity building for climate security; funded by Auswärtiges Amt; 01.07.2020-30.06.2024; contact: I. Didovets

Selected Finished Projects

  • CAREC 2 Climate projections and climate risk assessment
  • CARECO Climate projections and climate risks assessment; funded by World bank; 22.05.2017 - 15.10.2017; contact: Anastasia Lobanova
  • CLIMASTEPPE the potentials of the Russian steppes to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions; funded by BMBF, PT DLR; 01.11.2018-30.06.2021; contact: C. Müller, S. Rolinski
  • EXTRA Impact of EXTreme events and climate change on Russian Agriculture, economic implications and adaptation; funded by BMBF, PT DLR; 01.01.2016 - 30.06.2015; contact: Frank Wechsung
  • Kulunda Process-based Modelling of the Carbon Cycle and the Impact of Land Use Changes on the Regional Carbon Balance of the Kulunda Steppe; funded by BMBF, PT DLR, 01.01.2012 - 31.12.2016; contact: Hermann Lotze-Campen
  • PROGRESS-RD2 Potsdamer Forschungs- und Technologieverbund zu Naturgefahren, Klimawandel und Nachhaltigkeit (Progress), Teilprojekt D1: Systemanalytische Ansätze in der Risikoforschung; funded by BMBF PTJ; 01.11.2009 - 31.10.2014; contact: Jürgen Kropp
  • SuMaRiO Sustainable Management of River Oases along the Tarim River / China / Nachhaltige Bewirtschaftung von Flussoasen entlang des Tarim Flusses in China; funded by BMBF, PT DLR; 01.03.2011 - 31.05.2016; contact: Zbigniew Kundewicz
  • 4x4 Vier Partner, vier Blickwinkel: Unsere Kompetenzen in Integrierter Wasserressourcenforschung (IWRM-Forschung) in China; funded by BMBF; 01.09.2017 - 31.12.2017; contact: Tobias Conradt
  • World Bank Turn Down the Heat III: Regional Analysis – The Case for Climate Resilience; funded by the World Bank Group; 16.12.2013 - 30.04.2015; contact: Christopher Reyer

Working Groups (alphabetical order)