Prospects of post-pandemic sustainable development discussed at int'l online forum
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the forum, which was supposed to take place in London this March, was hosted online by the Kazakhstan PhD Association in the UK with the support of the Embassy of Kazakhstan in the UK and the Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy.
The forum’s main goal is to provide a platform for talented researchers from Central Asia to present and discuss ground-breaking scientific projects on the region’s sustainable development. The forum also facilitates detecting and involving potential partners from among governmental bodies, businesses and non-governmental organisations in research projects aimed at the sustainable development of Central Asian countries.
During the forum, the participants discussed the most relevant topics in science and industry. PhD students and scientists from leading European and Kazakh universities, such as Nazarbayev University, University College London, Loughborough University, Cardiff University, University of Manchester, Eurasian Technological University, and Wageningen University, presented cutting-edge ideas and developments in robotics, artificial intelligence, education, health, energy, and other fields.
The pre-forum session themed «How to build a successful, enjoyable and socially responsible research career in Kazakhstan: tips for agile researchers» took place on 10 April. Sergey Stanovkin, Head of BBC World News Commercial Representative Office in Eurasia, hosted a media and communications workshop the same day.
On 13 April, the forum continued with a session on gender equality with the participation of Irina Smirnova and Nurzhan Altayev, members of the Kazakh Parliament, as well as Saltanat Tursynbekova, member of the National Commission for Women, Family and Demographic Policy under the President of Kazakhstan. Kazakh researchers who spoke at the session delivered reports on gender equality in Kazakhstan and Central Asian countries.
A session themed «The role of robotics and AI in sustainable development» was hosted on 14 April. Bukeikhan Omarali, a doctoral student in robotics at Queen Mary University, spoke about a virtual reality research project which allows the operator to manipulate a robot’s movements at a remote distance to perform complex tasks.
The session on 15 April discussed sustainable development in education, covering inclusive education, protecting children from cyberbullying, and entrepreneurial ecosystem in universities.
The session on health and sustainable development on 16 April inevitably focused on the developments in creating a cure and a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. Mukhit Kulmaganbetov, a PhD candidate at Cardiff University, presented a project on using the external membrane of SARS-CoV-2 (novel coronavirus) as treatment and vaccine.
The session on «Energy and resource efficiency» on 17 April was devoted to the challenges of the transition to renewable energy sources.
During the discussions, the representatives of both public and private sectors concluded that there is vast potential for cooperation with scientists in promising research projects.
Speakers of the plenary session on the final day of the forum were: Erlan Idrissov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the UK; Rupert Goodman, Chairman of the British-Kazakh Society; Farkhad Kuanganov, Head of the Elbasy Academy; Professor Alexander van de Putte, Chief Strategy Officer of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC); Lyazyat Askarova, Executive Director of «EXPO&WOMEN»; Professor Steve Rothberg, Pro Vice Chancellor for Research at Loughborough University; Vlastimil Samek, Head of the United Nations Information Centre in Kazakhstan; Aliya Galimova, Chair of the Committee on Civil Society of the Ministry of Information and Social Development of Kazakhstan; Richard Everitt, Director for Education and Development in Wider Europe at the British Council; Sergey Stanovkin, Head of BBC World News Commercial Representative Office in Eurasia; Professor Volker Roeben, Professor of Energy Law, International Law and Global Regulation at the University of Dundee; and Tessa Daling, Associate Director for Development at One Young World.
The session aimed at discussing ways to bring together as many stakeholders as possible in achieving sustainable development goals, both locally and globally, such as representatives of governmental agencies, the industry, including venture capital, and scientists.
In his opening speech Ambassador Idrissov noted that the current COVID-19 pandemic unearthed the true issues and challenges of the modern world, such as lack of trust, lack of coordinated action, and mass disinformation. He highlighted that because of this, the forum and similar platforms are even more important in terms of finding answers to questions about life after the pandemic.
The forum is held for the third consecutive year and was organised by the Kazakhstan PhD Association in the UK with the support of the Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in the UK, the United Nations Information Centre in Kazakhstan, the British-Kazakh Society, JSC «Centre of International Programmes», the Eurasian Technological University, the AIFC Bureau of Continuing Professional Development and the Loughborough University.
The in-person forum is scheduled to take place this October at Loughborough University London.