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Hugh MacLean

Hugh MacLean

Senior Advisor at NORRAG and CAPS Unlock; education justice advocate with 30+ years in advocacy, teaching, and grantmaking across Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia

Jul 21, 2026

CAPS Unlock Podcast

CAPS Unlock Podcast

From population boom to AI diplomacy: Central Asia's next chapter

Jul 21 · 38m

Peter LeonardHOST
20:26
But could you just give us a sense of, of, of the breadth of the problem?
Hugh McLean
Hugh McLeanGUEST
20:29
Peter, we're sitting in Almaty, and it's thirty-nine degrees.
Hugh McLean
Hugh McLeanGUEST
20:32
It's probably going to be one of the hottest summers on record.
Hugh McLean
Hugh McLeanGUEST
20:35
There's the strongest El Niño building, which probably means that twenty twenty-seven will be an even hotter year than, than this.
Hugh McLean
Hugh McLeanGUEST
20:42
So just from the point of view of the climate, we can see that there is huge change, uh, in the region.
Hugh McLean
Hugh McLeanGUEST
20:47
And this, of course, is a change that affects not only Kazakhstan, but every country in the region will have some effect on this.
Hugh McLean
Hugh McLeanGUEST
20:54
The most important thing, I think, to say is that we're just not built for these kinds of temperatures.
Peter LeonardHOST
25:04
How do you develop a, a curriculum which prepares young people for such a challenging future without overwhelming them with anxiety?

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