The purpose of this study is to determine the features of regional differences in social development, the ways of their cognition and regulation. Regional differences in the level of social development from the perspective of inclusiveness are understood as inequality of individuals or groups in access to material goods and services. The receipt of monetary income by the population is only an instrument of access to them. Therefore, in order to develop methodological approaches and make managerial decisions, it is important to answer two questions: what specific material goods and services are considered within the framework of social inequalities, how to assess the level of the latter? However, the presence of regional differences in social development contributes to the search for real opportunities of regions in smoothing or leveling imbalances, identifying the sources of their occurrence. This approach made it possible to develop specific mechanisms to overcome social imbalances that will ensure inclusive regional development. From the totality of the sources of social inequalities in the regions, the problems of poverty of the population are chosen as the subject of research. Solving this problem is a key position in an integrated approach to regulating regional differences in social development. The methodology of the study is based on the calculation of the population poverty index according to the recommendations of the UNDP on four indicators. Based on these indicators, the calculation of the integral poverty index of the population and the grouping of regions of Kazakhstan are made. This approach will make it possible to introduce adequate tools for state support of various territories. Today, the identification and assessment of the level of poverty of the population is very relevant, since ensuring the sustainable development of regions does not allow ignoring situations of social inequalities in society.

The dynamic development of the world economy, the change of technological patterns, the search for highly efficient ways of doing business to maximize accounting and satisfaction of the economic benefits of society have actualized the problems of irrational nature management, predatory attitude to natural resources, as well as manmade accidents and catastrophes, which have become more frequent in recent years, accidents cause irreparable damage to the environmental safety of territories and regions. In this regard information efficiency, and environmental safety in the 21st century is recognized as one of the main factors ensuring the sustainable development of the region. The socio-ecological principles of the World Bank, the UN Green Economy Concept, the European Green Course Program, the Strategy 2050 for Environmental Safety of the Republic of Kazakhstan and other important provisions indicate that the problem of ensuring environmental safety in the context of sustainable development of the region is not national, but international, global. The consequences of climate crises, weather anomalies, man-made accidents and catastrophes carry threats and risks for the entire planet, which confirms the importance of taking into account the environmental component to achieve sustainable development goals. The necessity of applying the criterion "safety-stability" is shown. Therefore, the study suggests the factors for ensuring environmental safety in a closed-cycle economy and the principles of its implementation.

In recent years, inequality in the economic and social development of regions and population has increased in Kazakhstan. The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of differences between the regions of Kazakhstan in the field of social, economic, innovation, and infrastructural inclusion and offer recommendations for reducing regional inequality. The research hypothesis is that the high level of economic inequality of the regions determines the high level of differences in the field of social inclusion, inclusion in the field of infrastructure and innovation. The assessment of regional differences was carried out according to four groups of economic, social, innovative, and infrastructural indicators; private and integral indices of inclusive development of regions were calculated. The gaps between the highest and lowest index by groups were revealed: social inclusion – 3.37; economic inclusion – 7.45; infrastructure inclusion – 2.96; innovative inclusion – 6.67. A map of inclusive development of the regions of Kazakhstan is developed. Estimates showed that despite the large gap in the economic development of the regions, the gap in social and infrastructural development remained smaller. In cases where the gap between the maximum and minimum values of the index in the regions increased, more and more regions found themselves in the group with a low level of inclusive development. AcknowledgmentThis study is funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Grant No. AP09259004 “Priorities and mechanisms of inclusive regional development of Kazakhstan in the context of overcoming the economic recession”).We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and issue editors for their helpful comments.