“Integrating climate topics into school education is an investment in the country’s safety and sustainable development. The ‘Climate Box’ provides teachers with ready-to-use tools, while students gain clear knowledge and practical skills that foster responsible attitudes toward the environment and natural resources,” said Almaz Toktomambetov, Director of the Republican Institute for Advanced Training and Retraining of Pedagogical Workers under the Ministry of Education.

To date, the “Climate Box” is available in 17 languages and has been adapted for use in 12 countries and 3 regions, reaching more than 50,000 students and over 7,000 teachers worldwide.

Ivan Prokopenko, Counsellor of the Embassy of the Russian Federation, noted:

“The Russian Federation provides multifaceted support for the sustainable development of the Kyrgyz Republic through numerous bilateral and multilateral initiatives. In particular, Russia annually allocates between USD 3 and 5 million to support various projects of UN agencies in Kyrgyzstan. It is encouraging that the Climate Box project, implemented since 2016, has made it possible to equip virtually all schools in the Kyrgyz Republic with innovative sets of materials that raise environmental awareness among students and help develop responsible behavior. It is especially rewarding to see today so many talented children with shining eyes, who—thanks in part to our joint project—are bringing their own original ideas to life.”

Special attention during implementation was given to inclusiveness: the Kyrgyz Republic became the first among countries supported by the UNDP global project to develop “Climate Box” materials in adapted Easy-to-Read and Braille formats. This expanded access to learning for children with special educational needs and strengthened the toolkit available to teachers working in inclusive environments.

Alexandra Solovieva, UNDP Resident Representative, noted: 

“Climate education is an investment in the country’s future. By handing over the ‘Climate Box’ to the Ministry of Education, we are taking another step toward ensuring that every school student in Kyrgyzstan understands how climate change affects their lives and what decisions they can already take today. It is especially important that the materials are accessible to all children, including students with disabilities, making climate education truly inclusive and modern.”

As part of the event, an interactive exhibition titled “Climate Box in Action” showcased school initiatives. Student teams presented projects and practical solutions developed through the toolkit’s lessons and assignments — from ideas to improve air quality and monitor greenhouse parameters to initiatives on biodiversity, responsible consumption, and waste sorting. The exhibition format included short presentations, demonstrations of prototypes and models, posters, and students answering questions from guests.

A key moment of the programme was a presentation by students and a teacher who shared their personal experience participating in climate education activities and applying the “Climate Box” materials in practice — both during lessons and through project-based work, teamwork, and school-level initiatives.

Nurasyıl Abdyzhaparov, a student of Secondary School No. 94 in Bishkek, noted that climate issues previously seemed complex and distant to him. However, thanks to the “Climate Box,” he was able to better understand climate change through clear examples and practical tasks and realized that climate change directly affects the Kyrgyz Republic and people’s everyday lives.

Angela Ganyuk, a geography teacher at Secondary School No. 2 in Talas, emphasized that climate topics should be integrated across different subjects, as this develops interdisciplinary thinking. According to her, after participating in the conference, she began to more actively use project-based assignments, interactive materials, and real data in her lessons and sees a noticeable positive response from students.

Participants in the event included representatives of government institutions, development partners and the donor community, teachers and methodologists from general and specialized (correctional) schools, as well as specialists working with children with special educational needs.

For more than ten years, UNDP has been investing in the development and introduction of innovative educational solutions. One of these initiatives is the “Climate Box” — a global UNDP initiative demonstrating how international cooperation and adaptation to local contexts can increase climate literacy among younger generations. Launched in 2014 as a pilot programme in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the initiative has proven effective and is now being implemented in its second, expanded phase — with digital tools, inclusive versions, and broader international cooperation.

The project is implemented with financial support from the Russian Federation.

Background: The “Climate Box” has been implemented in the Kyrgyz Republic since 2016. In 2016–2017, the tool was piloted in 21 schools with the participation of at least 125 teachers. In 2017–2018, the programme expanded to at least 100 schools and 500 teachers, and by 2018–2019, it reached the stage of wide-scale implementation, covering nearly all schools in the country.