On June 16-27, 2025, the 2nd International Summer School "Regional and Global Dimensions of EU Soft Power" was held

On June 16-27, 2025, the 2nd International Summer School "Regional and Global Dimensions of EU Soft Power" was held in accordance with the implementation of the plan of the Jean Monnet EUROSOFT Center of Excellence project on Erasmus+ funded by the EU which has been implemented at the Faculty of International Relations of the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University since 2023. The Summer School was organized in a hybrid format. Representatives of the teaching staff, master's students, and doctoral students of the faculty attended the school. More than 70 teachers and researchers from the universities of Astana, Karaganda, Pavlodar, Shymkent, as well as representatives of educational institutions of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan took part online.

In organizing the summer school priority was given to lectures by representatives of the diplomatic institutions of the European Union and EU member states. The EU Delegation to Kazakhstan was represented by Johannes Baur, Head of Cooperation of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Kazakhstan, First Counsellor who gave an interesting lecture on the role of soft power in the EU's relations with the countries of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Ottó Ivan Rona, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Hungary to the Republic of Kazakhstan, was not only a guest at the opening ceremony of the school, but also shared his vision of the development of Kazakh-Hungarian relations in the cultural and educational context. Xavier Le Torrivelec Regional Attaché for Cooperation in the Field of Education of the Embassy of France in Kazakhstan presented a lecture on the topic "French Policy in the Field of Education and Culture in Kazakhstan". The lecture by Irina Buchinskaya, Senior Counselor for Political Affairs and Human Rights of the Embassy of the Netherlands in the Republic of Kazakhstan, dedicated to gender issues in diplomacy, in the dissemination of soft power, caused great excitement among the audience.

The lecture delivered by Laura Paluanova, Coordinator of the National Erasmus+ Office in the Republic of Kazakhstan on the topic "About the Erasmus+ programme in Kazakhstan" was valuable both in the informational and practical aspects for those wishing to participate in EU-funded projects.

In the work of the school, the European partner universities of the L.N. Gumilyov ENU were represented b the Sofia University of St. Kliment Ohridski. Viotletta Dobychina a professor of this university in her lecture particularly emphasized the academic partnership between universities as a component of the EU's soft power. Lectures by researchers from the fraternal countries of Central Asia, namely, Doctor of Political Science, Professor, Head of the Department of International Relations of the Institute of Social and Political Sciences Farkhod Tolipov (Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan), Nargiza Sodikova, teacher of the same department and Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Institute of History and Regional Studies of the J. Balasagyn Kyrgyz National University Momosheva Nazira (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) gave a complete understanding of the effect of the EU soft power on Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The members of the project team (Medeubayeva Zh.M., Kenzhalina G.Zh., Tashtemkhanova R.M., Zhanbulatova R.S., Nigmanov T.) also shared their visions of current issues on the topic of the summer school.

The work of the school was summarized in interactive communication, exchange of opinions offline and online. The school attendees along with gratitude to the organizers, expressed their wishes for improving the efficiency of the school (priority to give sectional work and diversify the location of the school). All students who actively participated in the work of the summer school were awarded certificates.