Insufficient qualifications of nursing teachers, lack of experience in nursing research, undeveloped leadership and involvement in the management process of nursing, insufficient state support for Master and PhD level students in nursing may result in shortage of highly qualified scientific personnel in nursing in Kazakhstan, if no structural reform is done in higher education. The State Health Development Program of the Republic of Kazakhstan has emphasized the necessity of strengthening the status and role of nurses, nursing research and education on postgraduate level to increase the quality of healthcare services, however the support is weak due to the lack of expertise in nursing education and research development.AccelEd gathers international experts in postgraduate nursing education with the overall aim to strengthen nursing education on Master level and establish and launch PhD nursing science in Kazakhstan through changes in policy and institutional structures, involving ministries, universities, healthcare institutions, associations (both in healthcare and education), and international nursing communities. Best international practices and expert knowledge will be employed to build the capacity of academic staff, healthcare institutions, research centres and national policy makers by developing expertise in nursing science, qualitative nursing research methodologies, Master and PhD theses assessment, collaborative structures and network creation, leadership, policy reforms in education and healthcare. Potential PhD students will be engaged to ensure sustainable development of nursing science and research. Study courses, benchmarking reports, workshops, seminars, masterclasses, conferences, pedagogical/research internships, workshops, publishing, webinars, mentorship sessions and policy discussions with concrete recommendations will be delivered by AccelEd international team to initiate transformation and modernisation of postgraduate nursing education.

ProInCa consortium consists of European(4) and Kazakhstan(5) HEIs, and associated partners(13) representing variety of different stakeholders. The project is led by JAMK(FI), and supported by the Kazakhstan(KZ) Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health. ProInCa strives for solving the defined problems in KZ nursing HEI and nursing practice: lack of collaboration and knowledge sharing between the HEI’s, health service sector and international nursing research community; lack of capacity of HEI’s teaching staff teaching for evidence based nursing, nursing research and nursing management; absence of nursing research; undeveloped leadership in nursing. The wider objective of the project is to develop the sustainable innovation capacity of KZ Medical Universities for the modernization of nursing. Significant results and long-term benefits are expected within the 3-year project: • Sustainable mechanisms for collaboration and knowledge sharing between national and international academic nursing community and society• Increased relevance of HEI nursing education for the labor market through the implementation of EBN• Strengthened role of Medical Universities in building evidence based nursing research activities in health services• Improved capacity and relevance for the labor market on nursing leadership and management in health care transition• New sustainable system of nursing leadership and management in health care with collaboration of HEI's and Health care facilitiesFour development work packages generate several outcomes, which provide sustainable results as collaborative structures and persistent bodies to the HEIs and health care facilities (e.g. Center of Nursing Excellence, Nurse Leaders´ National Network); national capacity building materials for HEIs and HCF (e.g. nursing research, evidence based nursing, leadership), and reports with policy recommendations (e.g. nursing research infrastructure, nursing management system).

In the framework of the decentralisation policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan policymakers and university leaders are looking for a strategy for greater institutional autonomy.The Consortium wants to undertake this project in order to provide insights about models of University Autonomy (UA) of EU universities, offering a bottom-up approach, which is new compared to previous experiences. The planned activities for the achievement of the goals are:Needs analysis. The method is by a survey among universities using the EUA University Autonomy Scorecard.Development of the model of autonomy. This is the core activity of the project. The aim is to create a common space for the exchange of ideas and visions about UA.Discussions between the Partners and the Ministries. The EU perspective in the field will help to find feasible alternatives and to reach consensus about the basis for a model of UA for Kazakhstan.Development of a basic model of autonomy. The Model will define the degree of freedom of decision in the areas of Financing, Academic, Organization and Staffing.Implementation. Pilot Universities will start the process and introduce the changes.Guidance material. The material will provide practical elements to support HEIs in Kazakhstan in their efforts to implement the governance reform.Formation of the Autonomy Implementation Consulting Group. The aim is to provide consulting to other Kazakh universities during their implementation phase.A National Conference in Astana to disseminate the Autonomy Model and the Pilot Implementation experiences.The project will promote an inclusive approach to UA by foster dialogue between the HE sector and the public authorities, to ensure ownership of the reforms. It will foster the transfer of good practice from EU countries to Kazakh institutions, to promote efficient and effective governance reforms. These aspects are made possible only through a large-scale, structural project under E+ CBHE actions

The BERNICA project is aimed at fostering education and research capacities of the Central Asian region in the promotion of healthy nutritional habits in order to improve the health of the population. Ten Central Asian medical universities with the support of two European Universities will build local expertise in the development and running of innovative curricula in Nutrition & Dietetics in line with Bologna principles and ENQA standards through a series of training sessions. All Partner Countries’ universities will develop different future-oriented courses/modules with innovative learning scenarios targeted for the various auditorium – undergraduate, graduate students, working medical doctors, and nurses.European partners will share their knowledge and good practice with the purpose to Increase research and innovation capacities of target universities in this field.The fulfillment of the project activities will lead to fostering regional and international networks through joint initiatives, and sharing of good practices in education, research, and practice in Nutrition & Dietetics.

The key problem for all partner countries in FOR21 Consortium is the absence of consistent communication training for future doctors.The Institute of Medicine identifies patient-centered care as one of the essential elements of high quality care. Patients assess the quality of their care largely through their experiences of talking with their physician and they go to practitioners they feel comfortable with. Physicians recognize it is important to acquire new information and technical skills as part of their professional activities, but have paid less attention to learning how to communicate effectively, particularly in challenging situations, such as helping patients make choices, disclosing errors or breaking bad news. They have also not regarded it as a skill to learn. What is needed is significant change in the early training of doctors to embed these new skills sustainably. Above all, the new approaches need to be more patient-centered.FOR21 will start the development of medical curriculum together with educational strategies, methods and tools for building communication competence and social responsibility, aimed to improve doctor-to-patient communication.New system of communication skills training will be introduced into the PC HEIs and will address needed changes in the mode and habits of communication training. Communication Development training Centres (CDCs) will be set up at Partner Universities to train academics to use innovative approaches in their teaching practices and support newly created Patient Centered Communication Skills Programme (PCCSP).PCCSP will bring PC HEIs to transition from lecture-based teaching to learning activities, such as Flipped Classroom, Standardized and Virtual Patients, ICT methods in a fully integrated training regime.Network of CDCs will consistently stimulate curricula of partner and non-partner medical HEIs, to modernise and innovate, in accord with the latest trends in communication competency development.