Kyoto University of Foreign Studies Signs MOU with Museum in Uzbekistan's World Heritage Site "Khiva," Accelerating "Field Museum Activities" to Address Severe Water Issues
Kyoto University of Foreign Studies signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 4, 2026, with the "Ichan-Kala State Museum-Reserve of Khiva" in Uzbekistan, a World Cultural Heritage site. This collaboration aims to intensify "Field Museum Activities" to resolve critical water problems affecting traditional buildings, combining research, education, and tourism for sustainable heritage protection.
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- 📰 Published: April 27, 2026 at 19:30
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## Press Release Information
Kyoto University of Foreign Studies (President: Hisao Kita, Location: Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City) International Cultural Museum signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 4, 2026, with the "Ichan-Kala State Museum-Reserve of Khiva," a World Cultural Heritage site in the Republic of Uzbekistan, regarding mutual cooperation. Building upon the "Field Museum Activities" continuously carried out in the region since 2017, the collaboration will now strengthen a tripartite cooperation system encompassing research, education, and tourism utilization to address "water problems" affecting traditional buildings, such as ground subsidence and salt damage.
### World Cultural Heritage Khiva: Survey of Kalta Minor Minaret
### Uzbekistan at a Turning Point for Tourism
The Uzbek government is actively promoting the expansion of visa exemption measures and attracting direct flights to regional cities. Particularly amidst infrastructure modernization under the theme of "Silk Road regeneration," maintaining historical landscapes and fostering sustainable tourism are urgent priorities. Kyoto University has been developing community-based conservation activities for approximately 10 years in "Ichan-Kala (the Museum City of Khiva)," Uzbekistan's first World Cultural Heritage site. The signing of this MOU aims to further strengthen the existing trusting relationship and realize heritage protection that "preserves while utilizing" amidst the national trend of tourism promotion.
### Solving Severe "Water Problems" and Resident/Tourist Participatory Conservation
Currently, Ichan-Kala faces a serious, though often unseen, crisis of declining groundwater levels and salt damage. This cooperation system aims for "sustainable development" not merely through restoration but through the following measures:
* Establishment of traditional building guidance rooms
* Establish a base within the museum to convey conservation techniques and history.
* Proposal for the establishment of a "Caravanserai Museum" led by residents
* Create a mechanism for local residents to rediscover the value of heritage and actively participate.
* Implementation of "Traditional Building Medical Records"
* Consider a system allowing tourists to participate in the survey process, an attempt to transform tourism into a force for conservation.
### MOU Signing by Director Adilbek Ibragimov
### "University-wide Project" Mobilizing Expertise in Language, Tourism, and International Contribution
This project will be developed as a university-wide international exchange activity centered on the International Cultural Museum. It will also be utilized as an educational platform for students to contribute to solving global issues through cultural heritage, overcoming language barriers, through activities such as local surveys, reading public documents, negotiations with government agencies, human resource development through Japanese language education for local guides and students, and building models for sustainable tourism.
### [Overview of the MOU]
(Cooperation Items)
* Research and education in World Heritage Studies and Museology
* Cooperation on the preservation, public display, and utilization of historic buildings
* Mutual exchange of researchers, curators, and scholars
* Holding joint research, exhibitions, and seminars
### [Related Links]
For the history of past activities, please refer to the following webpage:
Field Museum Activities in Uzbekistan
Kyoto University of Foreign Studies (President: Hisao Kita, Location: Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City) International Cultural Museum signed a Memorandum of Understanding on March 4, 2026, with the "Ichan-Kala State Museum-Reserve of Khiva," a World Cultural Heritage site in the Republic of Uzbekistan, regarding mutual cooperation. Building upon the "Field Museum Activities" continuously carried out in the region since 2017, the collaboration will now strengthen a tripartite cooperation system encompassing research, education, and tourism utilization to address "water problems" affecting traditional buildings, such as ground subsidence and salt damage.
### World Cultural Heritage Khiva: Survey of Kalta Minor Minaret
### Uzbekistan at a Turning Point for Tourism
The Uzbek government is actively promoting the expansion of visa exemption measures and attracting direct flights to regional cities. Particularly amidst infrastructure modernization under the theme of "Silk Road regeneration," maintaining historical landscapes and fostering sustainable tourism are urgent priorities. Kyoto University has been developing community-based conservation activities for approximately 10 years in "Ichan-Kala (the Museum City of Khiva)," Uzbekistan's first World Cultural Heritage site. The signing of this MOU aims to further strengthen the existing trusting relationship and realize heritage protection that "preserves while utilizing" amidst the national trend of tourism promotion.
### Solving Severe "Water Problems" and Resident/Tourist Participatory Conservation
Currently, Ichan-Kala faces a serious, though often unseen, crisis of declining groundwater levels and salt damage. This cooperation system aims for "sustainable development" not merely through restoration but through the following measures:
* Establishment of traditional building guidance rooms
* Establish a base within the museum to convey conservation techniques and history.
* Proposal for the establishment of a "Caravanserai Museum" led by residents
* Create a mechanism for local residents to rediscover the value of heritage and actively participate.
* Implementation of "Traditional Building Medical Records"
* Consider a system allowing tourists to participate in the survey process, an attempt to transform tourism into a force for conservation.
### MOU Signing by Director Adilbek Ibragimov
### "University-wide Project" Mobilizing Expertise in Language, Tourism, and International Contribution
This project will be developed as a university-wide international exchange activity centered on the International Cultural Museum. It will also be utilized as an educational platform for students to contribute to solving global issues through cultural heritage, overcoming language barriers, through activities such as local surveys, reading public documents, negotiations with government agencies, human resource development through Japanese language education for local guides and students, and building models for sustainable tourism.
### [Overview of the MOU]
(Cooperation Items)
* Research and education in World Heritage Studies and Museology
* Cooperation on the preservation, public display, and utilization of historic buildings
* Mutual exchange of researchers, curators, and scholars
* Holding joint research, exhibitions, and seminars
### [Related Links]
For the history of past activities, please refer to the following webpage:
Field Museum Activities in Uzbekistan