A lecture on SDGs was held at KazNU

The Kazakh National University named after Al-Farabi hosted a leadership lecture by Estelle Payen, President of XCSS - Cross Country Skiing Sand (Paris, France).

The topic of the lecture was dedicated to the UN initiatives aimed at achieving the SDGs - "Promoting the values of sport and cooperation to preserve the living heritage of Kazakhstan, key elements of sustainability and community adaptation to climate: the example of the XCSS project "Climate can't wait".

Having introduced the lecturer to the audience, Zhamilya Aitzhanova, Member of the Board - Vice-Rector for Scientific and Innovative Activities of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, noted that the President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Jomart Tokayev recently participated in the UN summit on the Sustainable Development Goals.

"In his speech, Kasym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized that for Kazakhstan, achieving the SDGs is a national priority and 80% of the state budget is synchronized with the SDG goals. Achieving a common sustainable future is a priority for every society and requires joint efforts. And today's lecture is the most relevant for all of us", - emphasized the Vice-Rector of the university.

Lecturer Estelle Peyen - Master's degree in agro-food industry management, certified specialist of sports nutrition and pharmacology of nutrients, author of articles on nutrition, health, performance, expeditions. The lecturer thanked the management and staff of KazNU for a warm welcome and spoke about the main problems of the ecosystem, which require immediate intervention of mankind. Company XCSS - Cross Country Skiing Sand (Paris, France) today is active in raising awareness and finding solutions to combat climate change.  For example, this year the company's representatives traveled to Morocco (North Africa) where, as part of a project, they studied the country's ecosystem and proposed a number of important measures that would contribute to solving environmental issues. In particular, the lecturer emphasized water scarcity. Today, more than two billion people on earth lack drinking water resources and joint efforts of all countries of the world are needed to solve this issue. Water shortage, climate change, drought are global challenges for many countries including Kazakhstan. As Estelle Peyen noted, in order to "preserve the ecosystem of a region or village it is important to use national local technologies that do not harm nature and humans. It is important to practice sports and develop ecotourism, thus contributing to sustainable development. The company, based in Morocco, offered the local community a unique approach to sport - using cross-country skis on sand made of wood. The safe form of transportation through the desert was tried out by locals who gave good feedback. According to the lecturer the proposed cross-country skis on sand, can also be used on other surfaces. The third phase of the company's project will continue next year in Kazakhstan, in the Balkhash Lake area. It will be aimed at promoting ecotourism and demonstrating the useful possibilities of remote areas to adapt to climate change.

Press-service of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University