History in brief The Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) was established in accordance with the decision of the 4th Pan-European Conference held in 1998 in Aarhus (Denmark). CAREC commenced its operations in 2001, after the Republic of Kazakhstan ratified the Agreement on Operating Conditions of the Centre as an an independent, non-political and non-for- profit international organization. Founders of CAREC are Central Asian countries consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan , as well as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Commission (EC). The CAREC headquarters are located in Almaty, Kazakhstan with country offices operate in all the five member Central Asian countries. Mission Promote multi-sector cooperation in addressing environmental problems in Central Asia at the local, national and regional levels. Objectives •Establish an inter-sectoral dialogue in Central Asia involving the donor community; •Create opportunities to attract to Central Asia the advanced knowledge, best international practices and technologies in the field of environmental management and sustainable development; •Enhance the role of the civil society in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development in Central Asia.