Rural schoolchildren, mentored by Nazarbayev University students during SDSN Youth Kazakhstan training, contribute insightful reports that make a difference.

From July 10 to July 13, the Graduate School of Public Policy at Nazarbayev University hosted a conference dedicated to the problems of climate change with the participation of rural teachers and school students. Schoolchildren presented their vision of solving local climate problems using entrepreneurial skills.

Earlier, in May 2023, as representatives of the international youth network SDSN Youth Kazakhstan for sustainable development solutions, Nazarbayev University students completed a five-month training of trainers program focused on climate change science and entrepreneurship education. Subsequently, they conducted 2-day trainings in Kazakh and Russian for high school students in Orazak and Bestamak villages. Notably, six proactive students from each region, who had been actively developing projects to address local environmental issues, were specially invited to participate in the conference.

Representatives of the Kazakh Ministry of Education, the World Bank, professors from Nazarbayev University, as well as the main partner of the project, the University of Central Asia, were invited to evaluate projects, discuss problems, and select the best project. This SDSN project is being implemented in a pilot mode on the territory of four Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The main goal of the program is to support countries in responding to climate change in ways that contribute to sustainable development, Baigenews.kz reports.