Eco-trend: Youth for a clean country

With the support of the Ministry of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the NGO "United Children's and Youth Organization "Zhas Ulan" implemented a social project aimed at implementing a set of measures to strengthen environmental culture among young people.

Dinara Sadvakasova, the chairman of Zhas Ulan, told us about how to develop ecological thinking and introduce "green" practices:

"The goal of the project is environmental education of the younger generation in schools and universities. Now being eco-friendly is becoming a trend, a fashion. Three years ago, almost no one used words like "eco-activist" or "environmentalist". But now people are proud to say that they are eco-volunteers or eco-activists. This can be seen from the statistics of our eco-projects. If earlier it was difficult to "pull out" people for subbotniks or tree planting, now Kazakhstanis are actively interested, and even organize such events themselves. For example, last year, with the help of eco-activists, we managed to organize the actions "Garden of Memory", "Clean Rivers, lakes and Ponds", "Clean Parks", "Plant your tree" throughout the republic. More than 100 thousand people took part in them."

The campaign "Clean Parks" was implemented in Aktobe, Kyzylorda, Akmola, Almaty, Karaganda, Mangystau, Turkestan regions within the framework of the Republican ecological month "Kieli Tabigat". The action was organized on the initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan jointly with akimats, the children's and youth organization "Zhas Ulan", their branches, eco-volunteers and youth activists. More than 80 thousand Kazakhstan people took part in the eco-month.

Also, online video courses were developed in the state and Russian languages on the formation of environmental ethics and culture based on the principles of eco-philosophy on the following topics: "Separate collection of solid waste at home", "Eco picnik", "Labeling", "6 rules of eco-friendly life", "Composting". The organizers of the project held an ecological marathon "Eco-Asar", the purpose of which is to increase the level of ecological culture of separate collection of solid waste in the country, support social initiatives in the regions.

At the same time, eco-educational movements were created in each region, within the framework of which more than 1,000 eco-activists from all over the republic were trained. Certified eco-trainers, experienced eco-activists and leaders of the country's environmental movements were involved in the courses.