THE GRAND OPENING OF THE FIRST UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT WAS HELD AT SATBAYEV UNIVERSITY
At Satbayev University, within the framework of the International Round Table “UN Sustainable Development Goals: Principles of Environmental Safety,” the grand opening of the Center for Sustainable Development took place – the first such center in Kazakhstan opened at a university. The event also included the adoption of the university’s strategy for the Sustainable Development Goals.
The event was attended by the Chairman of the Committee of Higher and Postgraduate Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan Gulzat Kobenova (online), UN Resident Coordinator in Kazakhstan Mikaela Friberg-Story, Director of the Department of Environment and Energy of UNDP in Kazakhstan Asel Nurbekova, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Almaty Zhang Wei and other officials.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals are a set of ambitious goals aimed at helping countries prosper.
As Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted in his new message, the key tasks of Kazakhstan’s development include ensuring the country’s water security and the quality of education. Work within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals is designed to primarily address these issues.
Satbayev University became the first and so far the only university in Kazakhstan to join the UN Global Compact. This enables the university to actively implement 17 sustainable development goals at the republican and global levels. Among them: eradication of poverty, eradication of hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, etc.
The initiative force for change will be the Center for Sustainable Development opened at the university, designed to develop practical solutions for the sustainable development of society. The center will develop new technologies and methods that help reduce the negative human impact on the environment and increase people’s awareness of sustainable development issues and ways to solve them.
Those present highly appreciated the opening of such an important center, which will play a key role in developing the economy and improving the living conditions of society. To support the university on the path of building a “green university” and in honor of the opening of the Center, the university’s business partner Dauren Sabdenov donated two electric cars to Satbayev University – 1st generation HONDA crossovers.
“To stay on track, we must all move in the same direction. Here we will jointly develop ways to solve problems that in one way or another affect each of us,” said the rector of Satbayev University, Meiram Begentaev, at the opening of the Center.
The first step was the international round table “UN Sustainable Development Goals: Principles of Environmental Safety.” The purpose of the round table was to unite the environmental community of Kazakhstan under the auspices of Satbayev University, as well as to accelerate and coordinate research to develop and promote reliable and effective solutions to environmental problems faced by humanity.