This year we hosted our annual forum in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, bringing together over 200 delegates including teachers from across the 10 Schools2030 participatory countries to dialogue with civil society, international organisations and government leaders on building teacher leadership for climate resilience. The pictures below tell the story of what happened over three days of discussion, collaboration and innovation. The forum also marked 100 years of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Day 1 – Ala Archa State Residence, Bishkek
Over 200 delegates from over 30 countries gather on the opening day of the third annual Schools2030 Global Forum in the beautiful Golden Hall at the Ala Archa State Residence, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.
The first day opened by Edil Baisalov, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic and Dogdurkul Kendirbaeva, Minister of Education and Science, Kyrgyz Republic as pictured above. As well as Dr. Barkat Fazal, Diplomatic Representative, AKDN, Kyrgyz Republic, Kanykei Anarbaeva, Student of School #70, Kyrgyz Republic and Michael Kocher, General Manager, Aga Khan Foundation.
A traditional Kyrgyz musical performance by students from General Secondary School 69 in Bishkek plays out the opening ceremony.
Opening panel addressing the question – What knowledge, skills, attitudes and values do children and
young people need to combat climate change and develop climate resilience in their communities and globally?
From left to right: Tarek Alami, Vice President, Children’s Learning and Development, The LEGO Foundation, Salome Maina, Director of Education, Office of the Director General, Ministry of Education Kenya, Dogdurkul Kendirbaeva, Minister of Education and Science Kyrgyz Republic, Nuria Abdrahmanova, Secondary School Teacher, Arykbai Osmonov School, Kyrgyz Republic, Rachel Outhred, Managing Director, Oxford MeasurEd and Chair, Andrew Cunningham, Global Lead, Education, Aga Khan Foundation.
The second panel of the day put a spotlight on teacher innovations that are supporting holistic learning for climate resilience, allowing the delegates to learn from their fellow educators.
From left to right: Elton Luz Lopes, State School of Professional Education Alan Pinho Tabosa, Brazil, Safo Gulomaseinov, on behalf of Anusha Amoni, School #4, Buston City, Sughd, Tajikistan, Iqbal Dad, Government Boys High School Mominabad Ishkoman, Pakistan Hellen Kibe, Manda Airport Secondary School, Kenya and Gulzat Isakova, Kerimbai uulu Sarybai Secondary School, Kyrgyz Republic. Chaired by Marlen Alishev, Schools2030 National Coordinator, Kyrgyz Republic.
The delegates break out into four concurrent workshops to innovate and exchange best practices on a range of issues such as integrating climate change learning across curriculums, nurturing ECD classrooms for climate resilience and empowering youth skills and entrepreneurship.
Ministerial Roundtable Meeting with teachers from across the world and governmental leadership including Dogdurkul Kendirbaeva, Minister of Education and Science, Kyrgyz Republic, bringing teachers to the centre of education transformation for people and the planet.
During the final panel of the day – spotlighting the work of Schools2030 strategic partner the Global Education Solutions Accelerator (GESA) – speakers discussed fast-tracking the advancement of climate resilience in and through education at scale.
Pictured: Esther Gacigi, Educator, Teach for Kenya said,
“It is so important to be able to teach and empower about climate change, but we need to make quality contextualised climate change resources available for teachers.”
Shamsh Kassim-Lakha, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, University of Central Asia closes the discussions giving his keynote remarks for Day 1.
Delegates take in traditional Kyrgyz folk music, performed by Aga Khan Music Programme, Central Asia, beautifully bringing the first day of the Forum to a close.
Day 2 – Hyatt Regency, Bishkek
Kicking off Day 2 of the Global Forum, delegates welcomed three fantastic keynote speakers including Zohreen Badruddin, Education Manager, Aga Khan Foundation, Tanzania (pictured in both), Colin Butfield, Founder and Chair, Open Planet (pictured right) and Toby Hunt, CEO, Earth Cubs who shared their expertise on the role of media and storytelling in creating better messaging for climate learning.
The first panel of the day looked into how our classrooms, schools and wider communities can foster a deeper understanding of climate change and climate resilience?
From left to right: Chair Nafisa Shekhova, Global Lead, Education and ECD, Aga Khan Foundation, Nazira Duisheeva, President of the Kyrgyz Academy of Education, Kyrgyz Republic, Nurbek Teleshaliyev, Education Specialist, UNESCO Central Asia, Marina Rodrigues de Castro, Educator, Teach for Brazil, Sanjaya Bhatia, Head of Office, UNDRR, South Korea and Nick McKinlay, Director, Global Programmes, Aga Khan Foundation.
Day 2 & 3 of the Global Forum took place at the Hyatt Regency in Bishkek. Delegates were able to visit Kyrgyz yurts, and browse traditional Kyrgyz crafts and exquisite handmade teaching games made by teachers from across the programme, all of which were exhibited during the event.
Day 2 Learning from our Teachers panel shared amazing teacher and student led innovations from Uganda to Pakistan, helping to drive improved teaching, learning and climate resilience in their schools and communities. We heard from Najibullah Montahez, on behalf of Sultan Ali Zamen Zada, Head Teacher of Sar-e-ahangaran High School, Afghanistan, and teachers: Racheal Akol, Kololo Secondary School, Uganda (pictured left); Mohammad Kaleem, UMS Singhi Kalan, India; Diana Quitério, Cluster of Santa Bárbara, Portugal; and Ally Said Shambi, Toangoma Secondary School, Tanzania.
Delegates taking part in the second round of concurrent workshops to explore how we might streamline pathways from school to systems level for climate learning.
Delegates enjoy some down time between sessions. The Global Forum not only gives our teachers an amazing platform to share their innovations and ideas, but is also a rare opportunity for educators, partners and Schools2030 country teams to meet in person and collaborate on the next steps for our shared vision!
The final panel of Day 2 spotlighted the work of Schools2030 strategic partner Teachers for the Planet. Speakers discussed how to build and grow a movement through teacher leadership for climate resilience.
Nikita Gidwani, Aga Khan Schools, Tanzania, Nouman Alam, Teach for Pakistan, Meera Balakrishnan, Educator, Teach for India (centre), Shiella Atto, Educator, Teach for Uganda, João Costa, Professor, Universidad Nova de Lisboa and Chair of the OECD Education Policy Committee, Jessica Cooke, Senior Climate Change and Education Advisor, Save the Children, BRACE Initiative (right), and Lennart Kuntze, Global Head of Climate Education and Leadership, Teach For All (left).
Delegates browse children’s exhibition of crafts and artworks opens and participate in Artisan Master Classes.
Dancers at a special evening cultural concert on Day 2 hosted by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic for delegates took place at the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Bishkek. The evening highlighted the music, drama, art and culture of the Kyrgyz Republic with performances in ballet, opera, symphony and traditional Kyrgyz dance.
Day 3 – Hyatt Regency, Bishkek
This panel on the final day of the Forum, turned the focus to translating evidence into practice.
From left to right: chair Bronwen Magrath, Schools2030 Global Programme Manager, Jessica Bergmann, Education Research Specialist, UNICEF Innocenti, Thaís Mesquita, Schools2030 National Coordinator, Brazil, Simon Sommer, Co-CEO, Jacobs Foundation, Nikhit D’Sa, Assistant Professor, University of Notre Dame and Ketki Saksena, Senior Programme Officer, Aga Khan Foundation, India.
A view of the delegates participating in the banana dance energiser!
During the lunch break, “Country Conversations” took place across ten groups, meeting Schools2030 teachers, teams and partners, as well as government representatives from Schools2030 countries.
Day 3 concurrent workshops took place, alongside an additional session hosted by HundrED, creators of Faved, the Schools2030 platform which allows teachers to share their innovations online, learning and interacting with other educators. Participants discussed how we can make the platform better for teachers.
Delegates collaborating during one of the concurrent workshops, addressing – what is the educational response to climate-related displacement. This session yielded a range of perspectives from Afghanistan, Uganda and Pakistan.
The above panel spotlighted the work of Schools2030 strategic partnership through the CO-CREATE (Collaborative Opportunities for Climate Resilience, Empowerment and Transformation through Education) initiative. Speakers discussed how to co-create evidence with and for educators and system leaders to transform learning systems for better climate resilience.
(Left image) Ben Ryan, Professor, Belmont University, Doris Kamathi, Regional Program Manager, Creative Action Institute, Reuben Chacha, Programmes Lead, Restless Development. (Right image) Shaibu Athuman, National Coordinator, Schools2030, Tanzania, Bethany Johnson, Gender Advisor, Education, USAID and Aneth Komba, Director General of the Tanzania Institute of Education.
Closing panel discussing next steps after the Forum.
From left to right: Davlatsulton Dorgabekova, CEO, Aga Khan Foundation, Kyrgyz Republic, Kira Boe, Global Education Lead, OXFAM, Salome Maina, Director of Education, Office of the Director General, Ministry of Education, Kenya, Rob Doble, Director, Building Future Generations Sector, Porticus, Hellen Kibe, Educator, Manda Airport Secondary School, Kenya and Suguru Mizunoya, Technical Team Lead, IIEP UNESCO.
A final wonderful performance of traditional Kyrgyz music by the Aga Khan Music Programme as part of the Global Forum 2024 closing ceremony.
The Global Forum 2024 Closing Ceremony and handover: Dogdurkul Kendirbaeva, Minister of Education & Science in the Kyrgyz Republic passes the Global Forum hosting responsibilities to Salome Maina, Director of Education, Office of the Director General, Ministry of Education Kenya, where the next annual Forum will take place in 2025!
Find out more about our annual Schools2030 Global Forums – including who attends, what happens each year and importantly, why we believe they are crucial to our overall goal of improving learning outcomes for students worldwide!
