The long wait for the AMICAL on-site conference - the first after Kuwait in 2020, just before the Covid pandemic, finally came to an end. Not surprisingly, this was the most attended conference, with 135 attendees from 26 member institutions.

From June 25th to 29th, 2023, the Tian-Shan Policy Center organized a summer environmental camp for students "Sustainable Natural Resource Management and GIS in Chychkan."
 

 

On Saturday, May 24, the American University of Central Asia hosted its first Open Doors Event for Parents. A welcoming beacon for parents, the event aimed to familiarise them with the university’s vibrant culture, education system, robust academic offerings, and diverse community and a campus tour.

On June 26, the grand opening of the new building of the Institute of Seismology of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, built by AUCA specifically for a scientific institution, took place. David Lakhdir, Head of the AUCA Board of Trustees, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony.

  CASI is holding the first workshop of its Global Borderland Project this week from 23-27 June. Funded by an OSUN grant, the project is meant to coordinate network research and teaching expertise on borderland areas and those indeterminate spaces in which local and more distinctly colonial and/or global traditions have collided.

On June 3, 2023, AUCA Faculty Senate awarded Commencement speaker Dr Karim-Aly S. Kassam with Professor Honoris Causa of the American University of Central Asia in recognition of his contributions to the culturally grounded community-based research on climate change adaptation in Central Asia and sponsoring and supporting AUCA students.

Participating in an exchange program offers numerous benefits, such as cultural immersion, personal growth, and academic enrichment. The decision to participate in an exchange semester in Paris was driven by my desire to experience a new culture, enhance my language skills, broaden my perspectives, and develop a global network.

  As a result of the creative experiment of the Green AUCA & TСMA department for 2 months (April-May), 7 social videos were created on the topic of waste management in AUCA and in everyday life.

The ever-present topic of Big Data was once again in the spotlight with the talk by Chrys Margaritidis on the ethical implications of Big Data, particularly addressing the geographic information systems (GIS) field.

The ever-present topic of Big Data was once again in the spotlight with the talk by Chrys Margaritidis on the ethical implications of Big Data, particularly addressing the field of geographic information systems (GIS). This public lecture, organized by the OSUN GeoHub project, was held at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) on June 7 and gathered an audience both in-person and online.
The talk recognized the predominant role of Big Data and metadata in our daily lives. One day we are witnessing the positive impact of Big Data analytics on consumer experience and the management of global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The next day, we hear about the misuse of personal information by technology giants like Facebook and Cambridge Analytica or the reports about the effect of fake news on the electoral process.
Focusing more on the potential "dark" side of Big Data, the lecture discussed such examples as predictive policing, real-time surveillance, and pre-emptive punishment, showing how otherwise beneficial uses of Big Data can pose significant risks to our society if we don’t develop a comprehensive understanding of their importance and an ethical framework to handle their potential consequences. The last part of the presentation explored the challenges in the GIS field, particularly looking at the ways the geospatial data is gathered, stored, analyzed, and used.
The lecture sparked a lively discussion among both online and in-person participants about the ethical aspects of Big Data and GIS, highlighting the relevance and importance of the issue and encouraging further exploration of this crucial topic.