Unesco chairs

The UNESCO Chair for "Sustainable Development of Mountain Territories" (hereinafter referred to as " the Chair") was established according to the Agreement between the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Gorno-Altai State University signed on December 10, 2021. 
The Chair belongs to the worldwide network of UNESCO Chairs in accordance with the UNITWIN / UNESCO Chairs Program, established by the decision of the 26th session of the General Conference of UNESCO in 1991 to develop inter-university cooperation at the global, interregional, regional and subregional levels in certain areas of education, science, culture and communication.

New strategic guidelines for the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Program were approved by the 176th session of the UNESCO Executive Board in April 2007. This decision focuses on the transformation of UNESCO Chairs into structures such as "think-tanks" and "bridge-builders", that is, centers for the formation and transfer of new knowledge, including at various levels of decision-making.

The overall objective of the proposed Chair is to assist in the sustainable development of socio-, bio-, and geosystems of the Altai mountain region in the context of global climate change.

The activity of the Chair will be focused on but not limited to solving four interconnected problems:
- Studying the influence of climate change, the manifestation of adverse natural conditions, and the human impact on socio-, bio-, and geosystems of Altai;
- Studying and preserving the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the Indigenous peoples living in the Altai Republic and its neighbouring regions and countries; 
- Studying traditional knowledge of the indigenous peoples inhabiting the Altai Republic about their relationship with nature and their traditional land management practices; involving their experience in the scientific research process to develop new approaches to environmental conservation;  
- Assisting in the social and economic prosperity of the region within the framework of the Grand Altai international project (Russia, Mongolia, China, and Kazakhstan);
- Developing a system of lifelong and accessible education on the issues of sustainable development of mountain territories.