Today, the Central Asian Leadership Programme on Environment for Sustainable Development (CALP), which has been organized by the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) together with its partners for the 10th consecutive year, is a widely known and recognized platform in Central Asia and beyond.
CALP’s success is based on the achievements and lessons of the CAREC Young Leaders Programme (2006-2008, EU and Government of the Netherlands), and the Leadership Program implemented by UNEP at the Tongji University, China. It is one of the most successful examples of the multilateral, intersectoral, interagency initiatives to build youth capacity in the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia and the Asia-Pacific regions.
Way back at the 6th Ministerial Conference on the Environment and Development of the Asian-Pacific Region in 2010 in Astana, the 1st CALP took place at the newly opened Nazarbayev University. In 2010, CALP experts represented the Asia-Pacific Regional University Consortium for sustainable development, comprising the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), the University of New South Wales (UNSW), CSR Asia, the United Nations University (UNU), Tongji University, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and CAREC.
The 1st CALP was designed for mid-career government officials interested in sustainable development in a way that combined three different dimensions at once: human, environmental and sustainable development. Hence, the integration of mind, body, and soul was considered in the contextual and relative aspects of leadership skills as part of the human dimension. Particular attention was paid to climate change issues, the efficient use of energy resources and renewable energy, as well as new technologies.
10 years have passed since then, and the CALP became a recognized platform to promote youth regional cooperation. The geography of the participants has been expanded, and the event itself has become more structured and dynamic. Over the past years it allowed to exchange experiences, build capacities and develop trustful partnerships among young people across Central Asia and Afghanistan young people across Central Asia and Afghanistan. The CALP also makes an invaluable contribution to strengthening regional cooperation and sustainable decision-making on environmental protection and development. Currently, thanks to the efforts of CAREC and its international, regional and national partners, CALP serves as an example of successful and effective platform for regional initiatives and dialogue, along with the Central Asian International Environmental Forum (CAIEF) and the Central Asian Conference on Climate Change (CACCC).
CAREC extends its sincere thanks and appreciation to all of those partners who supported, inspired and contributed to make the CALPs happen in 2010-2019: UN Environment, OSCE Programme Office in Nur- Sultan, Government of Norway, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), European Union, World Bank, Finnish Government, OSCE Secretariat in Vienna, Austria, Stockholm International Water Institute, and the OSCE Centers in Ashgabat and Dushanbe.