The Protect Environment – 2026 International Summer School has ended

The 3rd international summer school Protect Environment ‑ 2026 on the topic "Methods of assessing anthropogenic impact on the environment: geosystems, society, education, culture and worldview" was successfully held at al-Farabi Kazakh National University. The 72-hour academic program brought together students and young researchers, becoming an international youth platform for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and developing an environmentally responsible worldview.

The summer school was attended by students from Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which highlighted the development of Kazakh-Chinese cooperation and the role of the joint remote sensing laboratory in training young specialists in sustainable development and environmental monitoring.

Over the course of two weeks, the participants completed an extensive academic program at the Faculty of Geography and Environmental Sciences and the joint Laboratory for Remote Sensing and its Applications. Within the framework of lectures and practical exercises, basic theories of anthropogenic impact on geosystems, methods for assessing the impact on urban ecosystems, modern approaches to water resources management and sustainable development were discussed.

The practical block included work with geospatial platforms based on PostGIS and SEBAL for modeling evapotranspiration and climate scenarios, spatial assessment of flood hazards, analysis of land use changes in suburban areas, as well as familiarization with modern unmanned aircraft systems, 3D laser scanning. Special attention was paid to the issues of climate change, extreme weather events and their impact on society and the environment.

Field study days in the Almaty State Nature Reserve and the ile State National Nature Parks became an important part of the program.‑Alatau" and "Sharyn". The participants walked along ecological trails, visited the Asai Visitor Center and the Valley of Castles in Sharyn Canyon, getting acquainted with biodiversity, geological heritage and the practice of sustainable tourism in specially protected natural areas.

The key event of the final part of the school was the participation of students in the annual scientific conference of the Chinese-Kazakh Joint Laboratory of Technologies and Applications of Remote Sensing of the Earth and the First Central Asian-Chinese Symposium on Technologies and Applications of Remote Sensing of the Earth, held on the basis of the Kazakh‑Chinese Joint Laboratory of Remote Sensing of the Earth.

During the conference and workshops, participants got acquainted with advanced developments in the field of remote sensing of ecosystems, monitoring of agriculture and water resources, GeoAI and analysis of large geospatial data, as well as remote sensing of natural hazards in arid regions of Central Asia.

At the end of the program, the organizers emphasized that the Protect Environment 2026 summer school was an important step in developing international cooperation, supporting Sustainable Development Goals and training a new generation of specialists who are ready to work to reduce anthropogenic impact on the environment.

During the closing ceremony of the summer school, Aliya Aktymbaeva, Dean of the Faculty of Geography and Environmental Management, presented certificates to the participants, noting their activity, interest in interdisciplinary environmental research and contribution to the development of international cooperation between KazNU and partner organizations.

Press-service of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University