Institute of Sustainable Human Development
The concept of sustainable human development in the modern world implies that the social progress of the present generation should also meet the needs of future generations. The use of natural resources, preserving the environment and its rational use, and knowledge, technologies and their development must be carried out in such a way as to make it possible for future generations to use them in the same way as we do today.
WCU has included this critical subject in its curriculum since 2001. Four years before the decision of the UN and UNESCO, the Ministry of Education began to teach this subject based on sustainable human potential in higher and secondary schools throughout the country.
Since 2003, the world’s first curriculum on this subject was developed for higher and secondary schools in Azerbaijan, and textbooks and teaching aids were approved and published by the Ministry of Education. Azerbaijan was the first country in the world to include development based on sustainable human potential in general education.
Information on the achievements of Azerbaijani education were disseminated around the world by the UN Headquarters (New York) via their official website. They also posted content from a textbook compiled in our country, and published in English, to allow easy access for people and organisations around the world.
All these activities are carried out on the basis of the country's education strategy. In recent years, the Republic of Azerbaijan has made great strides in the field of planning and management of sustainable human development. According to the classification adopted by international organisations, Azerbaijan is included in the group of countries that have achieved high results in the development of human potential.
This successful approach to development supports the general idea of human beings carrying out economic, ecological and social activities at the local level within the context of national strategies. From this point of view the creation of the national development institution is one of the most important elements of the implementation of the concept. The Institute of Sustainable Human Development has been established in Azerbaijan to study human evolution and the country’s scientific accomplishments. The activities of the institute are as follows:
- Studying and investigating the modern condition of human development and taking cognizance of economic, environmental and social factors influencing the process
- Considering and monitoring regional and gender issues, revealing current regularities to assess the conditions of human development based on data and the dynamics of its components
- Developing and executing numerous projects, particularly among the disadvantaged sections of society, for promoting human potential and speeding up human development
- Participating in the implementation of the national human development strategy and its conception
- Carrying out different programmes of education in the sphere of human development.
The institute provides a complex curriculum to promote human development and organises and coordinates research in this field. One of our most important tasks is to raise public awareness about human development among members of our society, particularly the youth. The Institute is committed to promoting cooperation with other state and private bodies, government and non-government organisations, and national and international institutes. The Institute is also committed to carrying out studies in the following areas:
- Natural, economic and social environments and their influence on human development
- Modern living conditions and the monitoring of same
- Gender aspects of human development
- Human conditions among the less privileged of our population (refugees, the disabled, the elderly and women)
- Regional differences in levels of human development and their prevention
- Safeguarding non-renewable resources by sanitising rainwater to obtain safe and clean stored water for indirect human consumption. This stored water is used on the farms and plants at the University.