In the light of the implementation of the Global Energy Development Strategy in the XXIcentury, proposed by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.А. Nazarbayev, as well as the transformation of the Kazakh National University. Al-Farabi in the research university with one of the practical steps was the opening in September 2011, an international, interdisciplinary chair «Energy and Ecology."

In 2014 Kazakh National University Al-Farabi, launched an initiative to open a special center - UNESCO Chair for Sustainable Development. The basic activity of this department is to mobilize education, research and public activities of the university partners for a favorable solution of problems in the field of sustainable development and the environment in the Central Asian region.

This initiative was supported by the National Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan for UNESCO and ISESCO, and entered into the plan of its activities. In this regard, the department Energy and Ecologywas renamed to the UNESCO Chair for Sustainable Development in July 2015.

The al-Farabi spends a lot of work in the field of ecology and resource-based Eurasian Platform "Green Bridge across generations", which was presented at the World Summit on Sustainable Development Rio + 20 in 2012. Its main goal - to involve young people, scientific and academic community in the promotion of initiatives of the Head of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.A. Nazarbayev: Global Energy Strategy for Sustainable Development in the XXI century, the partnership program "Green Bridge" and to prepare for the World Exhibition "EXPO-2017.

The Department is the base and is actively working on the preparation of competitive and sought after in the labor market specialists in: 6D05202 - Ecology; 6B11201 - Life safety and environmental protection, 6B11202 - Environmental engineering, 7M05211 - Ecology (the scientific and pedagogical direction), 7M05216 - Ecological soil science, 7M05209 - Geoecology and environmental management, 7M05213 - Ecology and environmental management (double diploma with NRU BelGU), 8D05207 - Ecology, 8D05205 - Geoecology and environmental management, who own the modern methods of research, modeling and forecasting of ecological processes and are able to solve complex environmental problems. The chair is acollective ofteachers and researcherswhoare relatedtospecialty, experience and scientific developments in various areas: ecology, geography, biology, chemistry, physics, life safety,mathematics, philosophy, law, etc.