Universities as Engines of Resilient Urbanism

Mountain University Partnership

The Mountain University Partnership (MUP), a flagship initiative of the Aga Khan Development Network’s University Improvement Programme, anchored at the University of Central Asia (UCA), offers a powerful example of how targeted higher education investments can rewire the development trajectories of remote mountain towns. Operating with four public universities across Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, MUP demonstrates how universities, often perceived as peripheral, can instead function as pivotal engines of urban resilience in geographies marked by climate volatility, economic isolation, and fragile infrastructure.

Central to MUP’s philosophy is the conviction that higher education must be not only academically rigorous but also strategically aligned with local and regional economies. This approach is visible in Khorog, Tajikistan, where MUP transformed Khorog State University (KSU) into a geological knowledge hub through the establishment of four specialised laboratories in geoinformatics, stone processing, resource sampling, and modelling. Enabled by partnerships with global academic and industry actors such as Russia’s Geological Prospecting University and Micromine, these facilities have introduced industry-grade software and methodologies into the curriculum. For students, this shift translates into tangible skills in mineral sciences and geospatial analysis, thereby expanding employment opportunities while supporting regional economic diversification away from remittance dependency.

A parallel story emerges in Naryn, Kyrgyzstan, where MUP accelerated the establishment of food-processing laboratories at Naryn State University (NSU). In a context where livestock farming dominates the economy but value-chain infrastructure is limited, the creation of milk-processing facilities in 2020 and subsequent meat-processing workshops in 2023 marked a significant departure from theoretical teaching. These laboratories serve as both pedagogical and entrepreneurial spaces: students acquire applied food-technology skills while the university itself generates income by supplying local markets, including UCA’s own Naryn campus. The blending of research, vocational training, and enterprise underscores how universities can embed themselves within local economies while strengthening community resilience in the face of ecological and market uncertainties.

Beyond sector-specific interventions, MUP has repositioned university libraries in Khorog and Naryn as civic digital commons. These spaces, once underutilised, were renovated through local investment and equipped with modern IT infrastructure through MUP support. They now function not only as repositories of digital knowledge but also as inclusive community spaces that foster youth engagement, lifelong learning, and civic participation in contexts of fragile internet connectivity. This reconceptualisation of the university library illustrates how higher education infrastructure can serve as a shared civic resource, extending the university’s role beyond the student body into the broader urban fabric.

At the same time, MUP has advanced the digital and entrepreneurial landscape of these towns by establishing IT Hubs and developing the conceptual framework for TechnoParks. At both KSU and NSU, students and faculty collaborate on software development, AI applications, and digital services oriented toward local needs, from tourism platforms to small enterprise support systems. This marks an important transition: universities are not simply spaces of knowledge transfer but are becoming innovation nodes embedded within local economies. The envisioned TechnoParks further institutionalise this shift by formalising university–industry linkages, integrating applied research, and creating a durable platform for private-sector engagement.

The initiative has also opened new futures for sustainable tourism in both Khorog and Naryn through the launch of undergraduate programmes designed with international experts and regional practitioners, including partnerships with Zurich University of Applied Sciences. These curricula are globally benchmarked yet locally grounded, embedding environmental stewardship, cultural heritage, and entrepreneurship into the academic core. In doing so, MUP positions universities not merely as training providers for the tourism industry but as active shapers of place-based, identity-driven tourism economies capable of resisting extractive and unsustainable growth models.

Underlying these interventions is a governance model rooted in ownership, sustainability, and capacity building. Local university leadership co-invests resources and assumes responsibility for institutional reforms; infrastructure and curriculum changes are embedded into long-term systems; and faculty and staff are continuously trained to maintain independence from external aid. This ensures that interventions are not externally imposed or donor-driven, but rather co-owned by universities and their towns. The resulting trust economies reinforce universities as reliable civic actors—institutions capable of anchoring community resilience, not just servicing academic demand.