Eurasian River Basin Portal

20.04.2016

14th September 2016, Almaty, Kazakhstan – The Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) in cooperation with UNEP, the Government of Norway, the Programme of the OSCE Office in Astana, USAID, and the European Union will hold the Seventh in a row Central Asian Leadership Program on Environment for Sustainable Development in Almaty, Kazakhstan from 19th to 27th September 2016. Started back in 2010, this flagship initiative of CAREC prepares environmental leaders for the sustainability of the Central Asian region and Afghanistan.

Turning 15 this year, CAREC is experiencing another milestone in its development as an organisation catalyzing collaboration in the field of environment and sustainable development in Central Asia. In this context, CAREC’s international conference held on June 21 has once more strengthened its position in the region as a knowledge hub and neutral dialogue platform involving a wide range of stakeholders in cooperation. Moreover, the conference launched a series of Central Asian Environmental Forum to be held annually focusing on different environmental topics. CALP of this year, in its turn, has also been furnished with additional elements in terms of its format and involved participants aligned with CAREC’s other major projects.

In consideration of the thematic aspects of the EU funded CAREC’s project CAWECOOP (Promoting dialogue for conflict prevention related to water and energy issues in Central Asia. Central Asia Water-Energy Cooperation) and the specifics of USAID funded Smart Waters project, the 7th CALP this year has certain alterations in its target groups, topic and CAREC’s approach to it.

The introduced changes to the 7th CALP are in accordance with environmental priorities of the region and donor community, and highlights the growing significance of CAREC’s activities in the region. It is expected that the results of the program will add on to the content of енknowledge products, methods and tools as well as shape innovative approaches in conducting events on water, climate, environment and sustainable development both within ongoing projects and planned initiatives, which are implemented by CAREC and other partners in Central Asia.

To be held under the slogan – Together, we are stronger - the 7th CALP will have two modules targeting different groups of participants. The first module targets young leaders of Central Asia and Afghanistan representing the state, non-governmental, academic and business sectors, while the second module involves representatives of ministries of foreign affairs and parliamentarians of Central Asian countries.

There are USAID, OSCE, the representatives of UNEP and the Secretariat of UNECE, the German society for international cooperation (GIZ), UNESCO, UN ESCAP and many others among the partners that are involved as lecturers, speakers and observers.

The main goal of the 7th Central Asian Leadership Programme is to demonstrate the benefits and advantages of cooperation at regional level and to develop the potential of leaders of Central Asia and Afghanistan for better regional cooperation. The program intends to provide also a comprehensive assessment of the issues of sustainable development in the context of global challenges, as well as the needs and priorities of Central Asia in regional collaboration.

The previous leadership programs prepared more than 200 CALP leaders, who are now employed by national and international environmental organizations and are currently promoting the idea of ​​environmental protection and sustainable development across the region. Drawn from this success, the 7th CALP will feature new elements involving mid-level decision-makers that will certainly be an asset to the further improvement of regional cooperation on environmental protection and sustainable development in Central Asia.

Contacts:

+7 727 265 4334; 2654327; 2654342 (вн.178) 
Alexey Kobzev, akobzev@carececo.org + 7 777 033 32 64 
Nina Kumambetova, nkumambetova@carececo.org

The participants of the CALP, September, 2015