Ewa Wietsma has been named honourable professor of the National Agricultural University of Almaty, Kazakhstan. This honorary appointment recognises her contribution to the reform of the educational system of the country. Through her efforts it now conforms better with the Bologna Process, which aims to bring university education across Europe to a comparable level.
Wietsma has worked with the University of Kazakhstan since 2003. Among her activities have been several European Tempus projects aimed to improve education in the neighbouring countries of Europe. These have included efforts to raise the quality of education, to provide training and to introduce new PhD programmes in the field of water and environment. Most recently, a project proposal by Wietsma for an international exchange programme in Central Asia (CASIA) was approved.
The CASIA project falls under Erasmus Mundus, a European Commission initiative to advance the quality of European higher education, to promote it throughout the world and to advance cooperation with countries outside of the EU. For €2 million, some 101 students will take part in exchanges between universities in Central Asia and those in Europe. According to Wietsma, "CASIA offers BSc, MSc and PhD students at both Wageningen University and the University of Kazakhstan a great opportunity for international exchange."