Boğaziçi University's Information and Support to Local and Regional Governments on Climate Change Disasters and Risks

Boğaziçi University plays an active role in informing and supporting local and regional governments on early warning and monitoring of climate change-related disasters and risks. Through a number of institutes and centres specialised in this field, our university provides critical information to relevant institutions and carries out collaborative studies.

Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI), as an important centre in this field, plays an active role in disaster preparedness and early warning systems, including climate change disaster education. KOERI operates Istanbul Earthquake Rapid Response and Early Warning System, through which it shares rapid response information with various local and regional organisations such as IMM-AKOM, Ordu, Governorship and İGDAŞ. KOERI also hosts the Regional Earthquake Tsunami Monitoring Centre, which contributes to disaster monitoring and early warning efforts.

Boğaziçi University is among the institutions participating in the preparation of the Climate Change Mitigation Strategy and Action Plan (2024-2030) published by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change. This co-operation is critical for the measures to be taken against climate change at both national and regional level.

Our university also organises events such as ‘Cities for Climate Workshop and Climate Action Plan Training’, bringing together local administrators from different cities of Turkey and informing them about developing solutions against climate change. In these workshops, participating municipalities committed to prepare local climate action plans in line with the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Following the workshop, ‘Sustainable Cities and Climate Change Online Training Programme’ was organised for local government employees in partnership with Union of Marmara Municipalities, 350 Turkey, Localiz, SDSN Turkey and Boğaziçi University Lifelong Education Centre (BÜYEM). This programme aims to provide training and support to local governments on climate change.

You can find more information about Boğaziçi University's efforts to provide information and support to local and regional governments on climate change disasters and risks from the links below:

• Boğaziçi University Meteorological Laboratory
• Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI)
• Cities for Climate Workshop
• Climate Change Mitigation Strategy and Action Plan (2024-2030)

2024 Sustainability Report SDG-13 (Related Section)

Climate Change Local Training Programmes and NGO Collaborations İklimBU Studies

Boğaziçi University Climate Change and Policy Research and Application Centre (iklimBU), established in 2014, conducts interdisciplinary research on climate change and related policies. The centre brings together researchers from different disciplines such as Physics, Environmental Sciences, Economics, Geography and Tourism:

• It supports the implementation of climate change research in Turkey and neighbouring regions such as the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and Central Asia.
• It organises informative trainings for relevant units in the public and private sectors and creates a sustainable information platform on climate change risks.

On its website, it offers open educational materials such as articles, blog posts, newsletters and video series that can be utilised by individuals outside academia.

Click here to reach İklimBU page:

https://climatechange.bogazici.edu.tr/

Climate Change Local Training Programmes and NGO Collaborations Trainings for Children, Youth, Parents and Teachers

İklimBU, Boğaziçi University Lifelong Learning Centre (BÜYEM) and United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN Turkey) organise climate change trainings for children, youth, parents and teachers in cooperation with various NGOs and companies.

Climate 2030: Climate Change Training with Children and Youth

Organised in cooperation with İklimBU, BÜYEM and UN SDSN Turkey to raise awareness of children and young people about the risks posed by climate change, the training addresses the causes of climate change, how excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere affects the world and how this increase can be prevented. Within the scope of the training, the roles of states and institutions in this regard as well as the measures that can be taken individually are also conveyed. Prof. Dr. Levent Kurnaz not only provides information to the participants during the training, but also listens to the suggestions of the students, answers their questions inside and outside the classroom, and guides them on the actions that can be taken.

Click here to read the related news:

https://bogazicindebilim.bogazici.edu.tr/content/bogazicinden-cocuklara-ve-genclere-iklim-degisikligi-egitimi

Parent 2030 for Our Children's Future: Climate Change Education

The training, organised in partnership with Yuvam Dünya, İklimBU, BÜYEM and UN SDSN Turkey, aims to raise awareness of parents about the climate crisis and future challenges, to convey these challenges to their children in the language of hope, and to provide them with the knowledge, skills and emotional resilience for the innovative solutions they will need to cope with the climate crisis.

Climate Change Local Training Programmes and NGO Collaborations

With the guests hosted every week during the training, the physical causes of climate change, its historical development, what individuals and organisations can do to combat the climate crisis are discussed and parents are informed about the climate crisis.

Teachers 2030: Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Mobilisation Training

Organised in cooperation with BÜYEM, UN SDSN Turkey and Schneider Electric, Teachers 2030: Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Mobilisation Training aims to inform teachers working in K12 schools about the work carried out on sustainability in the field of education. The United Nations 2030 agenda, sustainable development goals and education for sustainable development concepts, lesson plans and classroom practices are discussed with current examples. Within the scope of classroom practices; activities that will develop students' creativity and entrepreneurship by enabling them to focus on the solution are conveyed.

Teachers 2030: Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Mobilisation Training

Trainings for Local Authorities

Boğaziçi University Center for Lifelong Learning (BÜYEM) organises training programmes to strengthen the role of local governments in combating climate change through various collaborations. These programmes encourage the development of solution-oriented approaches to climate change.

Cities for Climate Workshop and Climate Action Plan Training

Boğaziçi University UN SDSN Turkey, 350 Turkey and Local Monitoring Research and Practices Association (YERELİZ) brought together local administrators from different cities of Turkey in the ‘Cities for Climate Workshop and Climate Action Plan Training’. During the three-day workshop, practical climate solutions that cities can implement, preparation of Climate Action and Adaptation Plans and basic information for municipalities to create their own action plans were discussed. At the end of the workshop, the participating municipalities presented the ‘We are for Climate’ declaration they signed against climate change to the public.

Trainings for Local Authorities

Click here to read the related news:

https://haberler.bogazici.edu.tr/tr/news/kampus/2/yerel-yonetimler-iklim-krizinde-cozumun-parca/1866

https://haberler.bogazici.edu.tr/tr/news/kampus/2/24-belediye-bogazicinde-ayni-hedefte-bulustu-/1869

Sustainable Cities and Climate Change Online Training Programme

This programme, carried out in cooperation with Union of Marmara Municipalities, 350 Turkey, YERELİZ, UN SDSN Turkey and BÜYEM, encourages municipalities to start mitigation and adaptation works rapidly. Within the scope of the training, topics such as general assessment of climate change and urban climate justice as well as thematic solutions such as energy transformation, transport and urban planning in cities were addressed. In this training, which is intended for local government employees at metropolitan, provincial or district level, participants had the opportunity to reinforce what they learnt in practice by participating in project writing workshops with small working groups.

Introduction to Climate Change Expertise Training

The certified ‘Introduction to Climate Change Expertise Training’ offered through BÜYEM in cooperation with Yuvam Dünya and İklimBU provides a comprehensive basis for the participants with the lectures of Prof. Dr. Levent Kurnaz. After each lecture, small interviews with guest speakers provide participants with different perspectives.

Through these educational programmes and campaigns, Boğaziçi University plays an important role in combating climate change at both local and national level and aims to become a regional hub for sustainable development.

Weekly Bulletin

‘Dünyahali’ is a weekly digital magazine bulletin prepared in cooperation with İklimBU, Yuvam Dünya, BMWi and APOSTO. It provides content on solutions that can be implemented within the scope of combating the climate crisis, studies around the world and current developments in this field. In addition, the summaries of the bulletin are also delivered to the listeners in podcast format.

Click here to access the newsletter and podcasts of Dünyahali:

https://dunyahali.com.tr/

Collaborative Planning for Climate Change Disasters

Boğaziçi University contributes to collaborative planning processes for climate change disasters at both national and international level and takes an active role in various projects in this field. The studies carried out by the University in this context are as follows:

Contribution to the National Climate Change Mitigation Strategy and Action Plan

Boğaziçi University is among the institutions participating and contributing to the Climate Change Mitigation Strategy and Action Plan (2024-2030 ) prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change. The scope of the plan consists of the following elements:

• Main Mitigation Sectors: Energy, Industry, Buildings, Transport, Agriculture, Waste and Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF)
• Cross-cutting Theme Areas: Just Transition and Carbon Pricing Mechanisms
• Targets To identify strategies and actions for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in order to achieve the National Contribution Declaration (NDC) targets under the Paris Agreement, and to provide a roadmap for relevant organisations

This co-operation is critical for the measures to be taken against climate change at national and regional level.

Click here to read the Climate Change Mitigation Strategy and Action Plan:

https://iklim.gov.tr/db/turkce/icerikler/files/%C4%B0klim%20De%C4%9Fi%C5%9Fikli%C4%9Fi%20Azalt%C4%B1m%20Stratejisi%20ve%20Eylem%20Plan%C4%B1%20(2024-2030).pdf