Urban Forum Kazakhstan
Initiatives
In 2016 and 2017, Urban Forum Kazakhstan in partnership with the New Civil Initiatives Program of the Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan held city project contests in Almaty.

In the first year, the selection was for the projects aimed at increasing civil engagement, transparency of urban processes and promoting sustainable city development. Eight out of 80 applications received grants.

The next round of the contests in 2017 identified new criteria: projects had to be implemented in off-center areas of Almaty, should engage local communities and build partnerships with other stakeholders. Six out of 53 applications were short-listed.
2016
Architectural Identity Stock-Taking
The study of the city's architectural identity resulted in a catalog of 100 most significant buildings of the southern capital created in the Soviet period and Architectural Pop-Up Museum exhibition in Almaty. The ArchCode project filled the existing vacuum with activism in architectural heritage, having played an important role in popularizing this topic in public consciousness and discourse.
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2016
Travel to the Balapan Country
The project is about creating interactive guidebooks on 10 city museums for children and teenagers. It was created by museum workers and designers. The project transferred printed materials and source files to the museums that could print and update them on its own. They are also available on the website for download. Within the project, children were invited to visit museums.
2016
Educational Eco-Project "Learning to Love, Learning to Cherish"
The project aimed at increasing the environmental awareness of students from off-center schools in Almaty. During the autumn of 2016, about a thousand schoolchildren visited the Kok-Zhailau plateau. The documentary Let's Meet in the Mountains was also released about the value of natural resources and how to preserve them when one goes to the mountains. The Young Tourists Station was the project partner.
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2016
Illustrated Guide to the Meanings of Almaty
The collection of works in various literary forms with stories about Almaty was a kind of research on urban identity through artistic narrative and author's illustrations. By combining modern literature and urbanism, the Guide to the Meanings has become a real event in the cultural life of the city. In 2018, the project was continued to search for new texts and develop a mobile application with routes and audio versions of texts.
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2016
AUA Working Group
The project aimed at creating the expert community that would analyze current environmental situation of Almaty's air basin, develop indicators and recommendations for air quality improvement. The interaction took place both remotely and at regular meetings, and the information campaign was promoted on the group's official website.
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2016
URBAN TALKS
Regular meetings on urban planning and development were held as informal expert discussions, lectures and master classes for caring citizens and the professional community. A variety of discussed topics helped to expand the circle of people engaged in urban dialogue.
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2016
Sport for All
Within the framework of the project, the SportConcept Foundation together with local communities built athletic fields at 10 sites. A survey on children's leisure in the city was also conducted. The survey results were presented in August 2016 and later used as an advocacy tool with government agencies and for the promotion of mass sport for children.
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2016
City Solutions
The project launched the City School of Decisions (a series of lectures and an online course from the Strelka-Vector Moscow Institute of Urban Studies) in Almaty and also conducted a number of hackathons on topics related to urban development. Hackatons based on design thinking principles attracted citizens and activists to the development of non-standard solutions for pressing problems of Almaty.
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2017
Karasu Project
The project is about creation of an ecological community and restoration lakes and rivers in the Karasu microdistrict. The community did not only clean the lake shores, but also set up an amphitheater on the shore and developed a landscaping master plan supported by the Public Council and Almaty Akimat. Community expects the project to be implemented in 2019-2020.
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2017
Inventory of Stops in Almaty's Off-Center
The youth organization Kazakhstan's Youth Information Service conducted a large study on availability and conditions of public transport stops in Almaty's off-center. The photographic recording and evaluation were carried out against the criteria of comfort and compliance with the standards developed by the project. A catalog with recommendations was transferred to the city akimat.
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2017
New Public Spaces
Over 8 months, the project of a group of architects from the Basire Design Group and students of architectural universities completed 8 albums of a detailed architectural analysis of the Tastak district. After studying the district's potential and community surveys, it was proposed to set up a public area in one of the streets. Akimat partially landscaped a street section on the basis of recommendations by project architects.
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2017
Neighbors Theatre
The initiators set a goal of creating a community around a new cultural venue in the Tastak district, holding various events on the stage built within the project, and creating an amateur theater troupe from amongst local residents. The project continued its work and included activities in Kazakh language and public discussions in its program.
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2017
Microdistrict #3 - the House of the Artist
The project was conceived as part of the campaign "The City of Genius", dedicated to the works of the artist Sergey Kalmykov. Renowned director and producer Rustem Begenov planned to create an art installation in the courtyard of a house in Almaty's microdistrict, where Kalmykov lived, and in other city areas. The project was not implemented as such, rather as a multimedia theatrical performance.
2017
Grow Gardens
The project proposed to create a community of urban gardeners - local lone activists who grow small gardens outside the house - through various activities and the development of a common agenda. The project succeeded in taking the first steps to overcome their disunity. Lectures, thematic meetings, fairs, as well as the final traveling exhibition were held.
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