On 11-12 April 2018 Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, UNAI’s Global Hub on Sustainability, in partnership with School of Geography and Environment of the University of Oxford (Great Britain) and the National Committee of the UNESCO Programme “Man and the Biosphere” are going to conduct International Scientific Conference "Arid Lands: Environmental and Social Sustainability", dedicated to the current problems of sustainable development of arid lands in the central part of Eurasia.

The Conference programme includes:

v Plenary thematic session “Sustainable development of Arid Lands of Central Eurasia” and several overview reports.

v Three sections in the following thematic areas.

1. “Environmental Issues in Arid Lands of Central Eurasia”

(Climate resilience, desertification, biodiversity conservation, nature protected areas, ecological legislation, remote sensing, spatial analysis, land degradation, water resources, etc.)

1. “Sustainable development in Arid Lands of Central Eurasia”

(Land management, technosphere, tourism, problems of local communities, strengthen sustainability and reduce inequality, SDGs and endemic challenges, UNESCO/UNEP initiatives, global cooperation and perspectives, etc.)

1. “Silk Road in the past and present”

(History, archaeology, World Heritage, transboundary issues and environments, corridors for development and cooperation in Asia and beyond, etc.)

We invite everyone to take part in this conference!