CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION IN KAZAKHSTAN: IMPLEMENTATION AND ADAPTATION IN GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

Abstract

Climate change education (CCE) has become a central component of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), aiming to equip learners with the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to address climate-related challenges. While international research highlights increasing integration of climate change into education curricula, Central Asian contexts remain underrepresented. This article examines the implementation and adaptation of climate change education in Kazakhstan’s geography education context. Drawing on international ESD and CCE literature and Kazakhstan-specific policy documents, the study adopts a qualitative document analysis approach. The findings indicate that climate change education in Kazakhstan is primarily embedded within geography and environmental science programs and remains largely knowledge-oriented. Competencies such as systems thinking, dealing with uncertainty, and socio-scientific reasoning are weakly developed. The paper discusses structural and pedagogical challenges and proposes pathways for strengthening climate change education through interdisciplinary integration, competency-oriented pedagogy, and digital tools.