Personality Potential Development Methods Proposed by the Investment to the Future Charitable Foundation are in the TOP-list of UNESCO and UNICEF’s Recommendations

On May 23, 2024, at the international symposium in Lusaka, Zambia attended by Ekaterina Khaustova, Program Manager of the Investment to the Future Charitable Foundation, UNESCO and UNICEF announced joint launch of the Building Strong Foundations initiative aimed to educate children and adolescents (5–12 years of age) for health and well-being and develop essential life skills. The aim is to promote a holistic and coordinated approach to this issue by highlighting common goals and objectives in primary schools.

The symposium, which was broadcast live in four languages, included participants from UNESCO and UNICEF, other international organizations, national ministries of education, scientific communities, etc.

Ekaterina Khaustova acted as a keynote speaker at the session "Fostering transversal skills, including social and emotional skills for health and well-being in primary school" where she presented approaches and research findings obtained by the Investment to the Future Charitable Foundation.

For two years UNESCO has engaged in consultations to develop education recommendations that can promote children's health and well-being. The process began in 2022 with a review of published research on this topic, followed by regional online consultations involving approximately 215 stakeholders. Then, a global meeting was convened, attended by 60 experts from different countries and sectors, including a representative of the Investment to the Future Foundation. The Foundation's approaches, starting from the first consultations, are considered as promising experiences and recommended for international study as best practices.

The findings and recommendations of the consultations are summarized in four summary reviews prepared by UNESCO, in partnership with UNICEF, as evidence-based guidance for the introduction or improvement of basic education in primary school:

1. What is fundamental education for health and well-being?
2. What to teach for basic education for health and well-being?
3. How to involve the entire school?
4. How to put this work into practice in the classroom?

The Foundation's methods are presented as the first of the 9 recommended practices in Review 2.

The Investment to the Future Foundation is expected to be further engaged as an expert under this initiative. One of the effects of this cooperation was the opening in 2024 of joint programs to create a personal-development educational environment in educational institutions of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as the launch of joint research initiatives.

About UNESCO’s Building Strong Foundations initiative

Ekaterina Khaustova Head of the Personality Potential Development Program at the Investment to the Future Charitable Foundation

“The Building Strong Foundation program produced its first results even before its official launch. During previous working meetings, we met colleagues from various countries and initiated joint projects. Our program, thanks to the support of UNESCO regional curators, has been adapted in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The staff of 23 schools and kindergartens have already completed training, and have since developed their own projects to transform the educational environment. They are preparing to start teaching from September 2024. This experience has been a truly valuable lesson for me. We may belong to different national cultures. We may speak different languages. But we share the same values. The values that guide us in our work in Russia prove to be equally important in other countries: respect and attention to each individual’s personality, professional skills, and a human-centered culture.”