From Drones to Terraforming: Bright Discoveries at PRO.NRG Fest 2025

In Astana, the annual popular science festival PRO.NRG Fest 2025 took place for the fourth time, bringing together over 6,000 participants — educators, researchers, schoolchildren, parents, and everyone who believes in the power of knowledge and ideas. The organizers were the corporate foundation «Caravan of Knowledge» and the company «Chevron». The main theme of the festival was Rooted in the Future, based on the metaphor of the «Tree of Knowledge»: the roots of the past symbolize traditions, the trunk represents modern education, and the branches stand for new technologies and approaches.

The festival program included more than 30 lectures and discussions, master classes, AI workshops, scientific quests, and interactive digital zones. The atmosphere resembled a lively campus, where one could encounter a historian, a teacher-blogger, and an engineer-astronaut side by side. Gamification was an important element: participants completed missions, earned points, and exchanged them for prizes, turning learning into a game.

The USTAZ section was dedicated to the role of the educator in modern education. Here, they discussed how new technologies help develop practical skills and critical thinking in schoolchildren. Special attention was drawn to the speech of Zarina Kutpanova, known as the «first female drone pilot in Kazakhstan», who teaches children and teachers how to operate drones and apply them in agriculture and rescue operations.

The Art&Science direction combined science and contemporary art: writers, musicians, artists, and theater troupes showed how scientific ideas become a source of inspiration for creativity. A traditional part of the event was the Caspian Artist Residency exhibition, and the climax was the «Field Notes After Terraforming» project by the EarthLings team, exploring the future through a combination of artistic imagination and scientific reflection.

The «AI in Education» section became one of the central ones. Experts discussed how artificial intelligence is changing the learning system, sharing practical cases and examples from literature, art, and science. The headliner was engineer and astronaut Justin Doore, who worked at the NASA Flight Control Center and participated in supporting the International Space Station and the Iridium satellite network. His lecture presented space as a real working environment where precise calculations determine mission success.

The international scale of the festival was highlighted by the lecture of Rabina Maharjan — director of the Saraswati Niketan school in Kathmandu and a researcher in the field of STEAM education. She presented the concept of contextualized learning, where science and technology are connected with culture, nature, and real societal challenges. This approach is particularly relevant to Kazakhstan, where the educational process can rely on local ecosystems, environmental challenges, and cultural traditions.

For the first time at PRO.NRG Fest, the «ARTiSHOK» theater performed with the play «The Law of Conservation of Energy», created together with schoolchildren and educators. The production explored the laws of physics as a metaphor for human relationships and became a vivid example of how art helps reinterpret science.

In addition, within the framework of the festival, the national stage of the European Science on Stage competition took place, where seven projects were selected to represent Kazakhstan in Lithuania in 2026.

PRO.NRG Fest became not just a meeting place for scientists, educators, and families, but also a platform that launches new international initiatives and elevates Kazakhstan's educational projects to a new level.