American Journal Of Philological Sciences
13
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue06 2025
PAGE NO.
13-15
10.37547/ajps/Volume05Issue06-05
Youth and Environmental Awareness: Uzbekistan's
Experience and Prospects
Ortiqova Ruxsora
Master's Student at the University of Journalism and Mass Communications of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan
Received:
10 April 2025;
Accepted:
06 May 2025;
Published:
08 June 2025
Abstract:
Environmental degradation in Uzbekistan
—
from the shrinking Aral Sea to rising urban heat stress
—
has
intensified public concern and placed youth at the forefront of sustainability debates. This article explores how
environmental awareness has developed among Uzbek youth since 2021, identifies the educational, social-media,
and volunteer mechanisms that shape it, and assesses prospects for deeper engagement by 2030. Using a mixed-
methods design, the study triangulates (i) a systematic review of forty-three policy and research documents, (ii)
statistical analysis of national programme data, and (iii) a qualitative survey of 145 young eco-activists from six
regions conducted be
tween September 2024 and April 2025. Results indicate that the nationwide “Yashil Makon”
campaign, digital advocacy networks, and curriculum reforms have raised literacy on climate concepts and
stimulated tree-planting, waste-sorting, and eco-entrepreneurship initiatives. Nevertheless, knowledge depth
and sustained behaviour vary significantly between urban and rural locales, and institutional bottlenecks limit
scaling. The discussion situates Uzbekistan’s case within global youth
-environment literature and suggests policy
measures such as integrated green curricula, participatory budgeting, and streamlined certification for eco-start-
ups. Strengthening youth environmental awareness is shown to be essential to achieving national climate-
resilience targets and fostering a culture of ecological stewardship.
Keywords:
Environmental awareness; youth; Uzbekistan; climate education; Yashil Makon; eco-volunteerism.
Introduction:
Uzbekistan’s rapid socio
-economic
modernisation has occurred in tandem with mounting
ecological stress. Desertification now threatens forty
per cent of national territory, while airborne particulate
levels in Tashkent periodically exceed World Health
Organization guidelines. In response, the government
launched the “Yashil Makon” (“Green Space”) initiative
in 2021, aiming to plant one billion trees by 2030 and
explicitly positioning youth as principal agents of
change. By November 2024 more than two-hundred
million saplings had already been planted, many
through youth-led drives. Concurrently, international
partners have invested in youth-focused climate
programmes, including UNICEF’s nationwide network
of school eco-
activists and UNDP’s Youth Climate
Dialogues, which underscore the demographic
dividend in sustainability transitions. Yet scholarly
analyses of how awareness forms and translates into
action among Uzbek youth remain limited, often
confined to descriptive accounts of volunteer events.
This article therefore asks: How has environmental
awareness among Uzbek youth evolved since 2021,
what factors facilitate or hinder its consolidation, and
what prospects exist for deeper engagement by 2030?
A sequential exploratory design was adopted. First, a
systematic review covering January 2018
–
April 2025
retrieved forty-three documents that explicitly
addressed youth and environment in Uzbekistan;
sources included peer-reviewed articles, government
decrees, UN agency reports, and news releases
accessed via Scopus, the National Library of Uzbekistan
catalogue,
and
open-access
portals.
Second,
programme statistics were analysed: the Youth Affairs
Agency’s register of eco
-
volunteer clubs, UNICEF’s eco
-
activist network database, and progress reports on
“Yashil Makon”. Third, primary qualitative data were
collected through twenty-one focus groups and thirty-
nine semi-structured interviews with 145 participants
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
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https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
aged 15
–
28 drawn from Tashkent City, Fergana,
Samarkand,
Kashkadarya,
Khorezm,
and
Karakalpakstan. Participants were recruited from
university “Green Hubs”, accredited eco
-clubs, and
finalists of the 2024 “Green Spark” entrepreneurship
competition. Interviews explored definitions of
environmental awareness, information sources,
behavioural practices, and perceived obstacles.
Transcripts were coded in NVivo 14 using a hybrid
inductive-deductive approach, with member-checking
to enhance reliability. Ethical approval was obtained
from the Tashkent University of Information
Technologies ethics board (Protocol № 032
-E/24).
National survey data reveal a sharp upward trend in
climate literacy. A 2022 UNDP poll reported that only
41 per cent of youth could accurately define “carbon
neutrality”, whereas the present
study finds that 76 per
cent now articulate the concept correctly. Focus-group
narratives attribute this improvement to the inclusion
of environmental science modules in grades 5
–
11 since
the 2022
–
2023 academic year and to social-media
campaigns led by influencers who translate scientific
jargon into colloquial Uzbek. Participants cited
platforms such as Telegram “eco
-
channels” and TikTok
climate challenges as primary information conduits.
Urban respondents in Tashkent and Samarkand
demonstrated nuanced knowledge of renewable-
energy metrics, while rural counterparts often framed
environmental issues through agricultural water
scarcity and dust-storm frequency.
The Youth Affairs Agency registered 112 eco-volunteer
clubs by December 2024, a threefold increase from
2020, collectively mobilising more than 65 000
members. Flagship events such as the “Train to the Aral
Sea” campaign in May 2025 attracted over 600 youth
volunteers who planted saxaul saplings in Muynak and
installed solar-powered water pumps. Interviewees
highlighted that volunteerism fosters leadership and
interregional solidarity, yet complained of fatigue when
projects rely on short-term grants.
The Youth Climate Actions Network (YCAN),
headquartered in Tashkent, has emerged as a
transnational platform linking Central Asian youth
environmental organisations. Over 7 000 Uzbek
members participate in monthly webinars and policy-
drafting workshops. Hashtags such as #YashilMakon
and #Youth4ClimateUZ frequently trend on domestic
Twitter, occasionally pressuring local hokimiyats to
accelerate waste-collection reforms.
Green entrepreneurship is gaining traction. In the 2024
“Green Spark” competition, eight of twelve winning
projects were led by university students developing
biodegradable packaging, IoT-enabled irrigation
controllers, and solar drying units. Participants praised
tax holidays for start-ups but lamented ambiguous
certification procedures for eco-products, a barrier
compounded by limited domestic venture capital.
Comparative analysis shows that Karakalpak youth
exhibit heightened ecological concern due to direct
exposure to the Aral Sea disaster, yet possess fewer
resources for sustained engagement. Conversely,
Tashkent offers dense networks of NGOs and
incubators but struggles with volunteer retention as
eco-activism competes with lucrative IT internships.
These disparities underscore the need for region-
specific policy instruments.
The findings corroborate socio-environmental theories
that posit awareness as a prerequisite for sustainable
behaviour, yet caution that cognition alone does not
guarantee
action.
Uzbekistan’s
multifaceted
approach
—
combining curriculum reforms, mass
campaigns, and digital activism
—
has succeeded in
elevating baseline literacy, but structural constraints
hinder continuit
y. The “Yashil Makon” campaign
supplies a unifying national narrative, framing youth
contributions as patriotic duty, which resonates in a
country where state-led modernisation enjoys high
legitimacy. However, over-reliance on event-based
mobilisation risks superficial participation. Integrating
project-based learning into formal curricula could
anchor environmental knowledge in practical skill sets.
Likewise, participatory budgeting at the mahalla level
would allow youth to co-design micro-greening
projects, ensuring accountability and sustained
interest.
Digital networks amplify youth voices, yet algorithms
that favour sensational content may distort risk
perceptions and foster activism fatigue. Partnerships
between educators and content creators could curate
reliable information and promote critical media
literacy. On the entrepreneurial front, streamlining
certification for eco-products and expanding micro-
grant schemes would lower entry barriers for rural
innovators.
Finally,
mainstreaming
youth
representation into parliamentary committees on
environment
—
not merely consultative councils
—
would align Uzbekistan with global best practices and
fulfil commitments under the UNFCCC’s Action for
Climate Empowerment agenda.
Uzbekistan’s experience demonstrates tha
t rapid gains
in environmental awareness are achievable when state
policy, international support, and youth energy
converge. Since 2021, awareness has translated into
measurable actions
—
from large-scale sapling drives to
tech-based ecological start-ups
—
yet consistency and
depth vary across regions and socio-economic strata.
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
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American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
Addressing these gaps requires embedding experiential
environmental education into school and university
programmes, institutionalising youth participation in
budgetary processes, and cultivating an enabling
ecosystem for green entrepreneurship. Such measures
would not only advance national climate targets but
also nurture a generation for whom ecological
stewardship constitutes an intrinsic civic value.
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