Sciences and Spirituality along the Silk Roads

Almaty, 18^th-20^th September 2002

Russian version

The international conference entitled "Science and Spirituality Along the Silk Roads" has been hold at the Academy of Sciences in Almaty between 18 and 20 September 2002.

This special conference has brought together cutting edge scientists from around the world, various economic and political personalities, as well as spiritual leaders representing the different religions of the region of Central Asia.

It has marked the conclusion - and undoubtedly one of the high points - of a series of international conferences organized as part of the program entitled Science and the Spiritual Quest in Harvard, Bucharest, Rome, and Paris.

The Science and the Spiritual Quest program was initiated by the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences at Berkeley with the financial support of the John Templeton Foundation, with the objective of promoting dialogue between leading scientists, philosophers and theologians of all confessions from around the world. The originality of this approach has been widely commented on by the media. It has also been given the support of various divisions and National Commissions of UNESCO (including the National Commission of UNESCO for Kazakhstan), since it is regarded as an example of the dialogue between civilizations which the organization is keen to promote.

As a follow-up of the conference, the UNESCO Chair “Sciences and Spirituality” will open in Almaty, in the Institute of Oriental Studies, National Academy of Sciences, in spring 2003.

The publication of the proceedings of the conference is on process. The document should be available in Spring 2003. Fore more information, please contact f.leduc@unesco.org

 

The conference has been organized with the support of:

-         UNESCO, division for Intercultural Dialogue, Paris

http://www.unesco.org/culture/silkroads/html_eng/conference.shtml

-         The John Templeton Foundation, www.templeton.org

-         Science & the Spiritual Quest (SSQ), www.ssq.net

-         Center for Theology & the Natural Sciences (CTNS), www.ctns.org

-         Universite interdisciplinaire de Paris, www.uip.edu

-         Soros Foundation Kazakhstan, www.soros.kz

-         Institute of Oriental studies, Almaty

 

The organizers wish to thank for their support:

The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The Ministry of Education and Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The Kazakh National Commission for UNESCO, http://www.natcom.unesco.kz

Program of the conference RUS

Program of the conference ENG

Photos from the conference

List of participants