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On March 25 to 26 a meeting took place at EMÜ between university and governmental partners in an EU Tempus project called EPASAT, the purpose of which is to develop curricula at undergraduate and postgraduate level in the agricultural subject area. It was a follow-up to a successful workshop in the autumn at EMÜ where delegates from central Asian universities were given instruction and guidance on the writing of university-level programmes.

The EU partners included universities in Italy, Portugal, Hungary and Poland, while the central Asian countries represented were Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Portuguese partner commented: „This TEMPUS project is important because (as a result) we can have similar degrees in European and central Asian countries“. It is also possible that some of these students will come to EMÜ to complete part of their studies. Two of the students from the National Association of students in Kazakhstan certainly seemed to be keen, among their positive comments about the possibilities offered thay also said: “People in Estonia are very kind and nice, we are very happy to participate in this project. We are looking (forward to) further cooperation”.

The meeting took place in the Baeri Maja, a house named after Karl Erns von Baer, the founding father of embryology, an appropriate venue for a project aimed at increasing knowledge and understanding across states and across disciplines. As a delegate from Poland remarked: „This was an approriate environment to prepare plans for new curricula for future generations of students, some of whom will follow in von Baer’s scientifc footsteps“ .