The event “Seeing the Global from the Local on the Way to COP30 - The Future of Izmir: Green Belts” was held at the Historical Gas Factory in cooperation with the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and the Izmir Office of the Turkish Healthy Cities Association.
The Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and the Izmir Office of the Turkish Healthy Cities Association organized an event titled “Seeing the Global from the Local on the Way to COP30 - The Future of Izmir: Green Belts” in order to contribute from the local to the global on the COP30 journey and to share the vision of nature-based green transformation. The meeting at the Historical Gas Factory also included presentations, interactive activities and roundtable meetings. The fourth COP Izmir program, which was held within the scope of the “one health” and “well-being” approaches, was also attended by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Secretary General Prof. Dr. Pınar Okyay and urban planner Ali Faruk Göksu, who made speeches.
Okyay reminded that they organized the fourth COP Izmir organization and emphasized that COP organizations have been held on a country basis to date and that there is a need for strengthened structures at the local level. Okyay said, “The dynamics of countries may be different for each city. What is said at the center may sometimes not be valid at the local level. Therefore, the idea of putting forward our own needs and priorities as cities developed. Izmir initiated the first COP in Türkiye. We will take all this information and present it at the Healthy Cities Association meeting of the World Health Organization in Bursa. We will also make a presentation at another meeting organized by ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) and try to incorporate it into our action plans. Your professional knowledge will illuminate this path. We have to be the pioneers of these studies together in Izmir.”
Göksu made a presentation titled “Blue-Green Infrastructure and Ecological Corridors in İzmir”. Stating that the highest temperature ever recorded was experienced in 2024 and that 2050 million people could migrate due to climate change by 216, Göksu said, “Our planet can no longer bear the burden created by human beings. They say that global COPs can no longer find a solution to this problem, so local action is needed.”
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay, Göksu, who stated that he started the Beautiful Izmir Movement, said, “In the Beautiful Izmir Movement, some public areas are being revitalized. We tried to do these with the thought that these small touches would contribute to the big picture. If a blue-green cover is going to be designed for Izmir, we need to look regionally, set our big goals by looking at the big picture with Gediz and Küçük Menderes. We need to develop three colors and three strategies, and design the eastern edge of Izmir considering the edge effect. We need to see how that system will work with micro green solutions.”
